A hidden wiki is one of the first sites a user chooses while exploring the dark web. It’s a directory of sites you cannot search on the World Wide Web. It is used by Censorship-resistant wikis operating as Tor hidden services that anyone can secretly edit after registering on the site. The main page here serves as a links directory to other onion sites.
Many people moved their whole lives online after the pandemic. That means the dark corners of the hidden internet are also more crowded than ever before in the history of the Darknet. But what exactly is a hidden wiki? Why is it more popular than other onion search engines? Dark web links act as a directory for finding active search engines, dark web markets, and other odd onion services we can find online. Read on further to know more about the hidden wiki and its alternatives.
However, you must be cautious while using onion sites and deep web link directories. As Google does not index dark websites, you must use the Tor network and a VPN to secure yourself. Let’s jump to the next section.
About Uncensored Hidden Wiki
Hidden wiki is one of the oldest link directories on the Darknet, popular for listing all important .onion links; from drug marketplaces to financial services, you can find all the important deep web services on the hidden wiki.
However, the hidden wiki became pretty famous amongst the Tor community and has been known for its dark web links directory, leading to the sites offering stolen credit cards, drugs, counterfeit identity documents, child pornography and smuggled chemicals, weapons, and much more.
The hidden wiki was started back in 2006 and was closed in June 2007 by the FBI; it then moved to a different domain. Again it fell in May 2009. After that, ION launched its active domain, which was treated as the most popular hidden wiki.
Why is Hidden Wiki More Popular than Other Onion Search Engines?
The Hidden wiki is one of the best options for accessing dark web sites; it’s the best alternative to dark web directories and other onion search engines. It is one of the oldest link directories on the dark web with a complete list of active dark links and has gone through various iterations.
Still, the hidden wiki has a massive range of dark websites with zero censorship. It has community access, which means you can update or add information to the site. It will help with this if a reliable person, when they find scams, will update the site; or if the primary admins feel the info is unsafe, they will erase or change it.
Earlier, there have been many sites with the name hidden wiki, but many are full of fake links, so ensure to only use authentic link directories like Hiddenwiki.com. As it is authentic and provides complete anonymity and security to its users.
Benefits of Using the Hidden Wiki
There are lots of advantages of using the hidden wiki over other onion search engines or link directories. One of the main benefits is that it is a popular as well as the oldest site that has been running for many years, with active updates always happening and more users connecting to it to compel the community-updated information & links about darknet sites.
However, with a famous site like hidden wiki, the info is more probable to be updated & correct. So whenever you are looking for the best site on the Darknet, you will likely get a good starting point on the site.
Although, many dark web directories will offer you a small collection of sites that a single person maintains. So you may run into obsolete information or simply won’t find what you are looking for. But hidden wiki has a huge list of working v3 sites. You can find various bitcoin sites, marketplaces, forums, social networks, and hosting providers there.
Understand Onion Network (TOR) & Private Browsing
Before accessing the hidden wiki, you must know what .onion sites are. The dark network is a series of sites that use a special, high-level domain name. Instead of “.com,” these sites end with .onion and don’t have a simple name to remember. Since these URLs look like random strings of characters, it’s simple to use directories such as hidden wiki to find the related sites. The issue with these onion sites is that you can’t access them via traditional search engines. You have to install the special TOR browser & VPN to access these sites securely, as their domains are not registered with a central authority.
Safety Measure for Visiting Dark Web Links
As we are all aware, dark sites are unregulated and risky. This boosts the risk of malware infections and hacker attacks. So you must be careful while tapping on any link without a solid security tool. Absolute antivirus and a reliable VPN are necessary to access dark web links.
A VPN will encrypt and unidentified your traffic. This will secure your identity and protect you against cybercrime. I suggest you use Tor + NordVPN software; then, you are literally untraceable. Your browsing habits, location, and everything else are hidden (via Tor) and encrypted (via the VPN).
Although, Tor+NordVPN makes double security layered and encryption for you, and Tor conceals all your network traffic by Tor routing, which changes your IP address.
– Why NordVPN?
I personally prefer NordVPN as it’s one of the best VPN services. It offers a zero-log policy & this has been audited and verified by third parties, which means that the VPN can’t keep logs. Despite the No-logs policy, the majority of VPNs keep logs.
Nord also includes various protocol support, unlimited bandwidth, TCP/UDP protocol support, ultra fast-speed server, customization DNS support, and 3600 server support, etc. Hence, it is the best and fastest VPN out there, as it is the only VPN that offers onion over VPN, a protocol specially designed for accessing the deep web. However, it offers its service in highly censored states. And also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Top 8 Alternatives: Best Onion Search Engines for Dark Sites
The dark web is notorious for hosting all manner of illegal content, and there’s a lot of stuff on the hidden wiki and the wider onion network to discover, but here are a few recommendations for sites that you might find useful in your search. Here are some of the top .onion sites on the dark web.
1. Hidden Wiki – The Oldest Directory of the Dark Web
The Hidden Wiki is a dark web version of Wikipedia that provides links to multiple sites and is the oldest directory on the dark web that indexes & Onion links to help you navigate the Tor network. It offers you access to dark web social networks, blogs, chatrooms, and more. Being a combination of letters and random numbers, many onion links might seem ridiculous. This makes sites very challenging to find.
The hidden wiki provides informative pages on different topics that might be interesting for readers. The service used to be well-known for hosting, or at least indexing, a bunch of pedophile sites. It lists the URLs and explains what the sites offer, helping users know what they are getting into before actually tapping on links.
Remember that as the hidden wiki is a famous resource, there are many counterfeit versions of the hidden wiki. So it’s best to evade from these spin-off sites, as they have links to nasty sites you wouldn’t want to visit.
Note: The hidden wiki is unrestricted, which means it indexes both authorized and prohibited websites—you will find legal websites alongside those that cater to money launderers and scammers. Not all the links on the site may be working or safe either because anyone from anywhere can edit the URLs showcased on the hidden wiki. So ignore the illicit categories and protect your private data using a trustworthy VPN.
2. TorLinks- A Backup Link Directory of Hidden Wiki
Torlink is quite similar to the hidden wiki; it lets you find darknet sites quickly. If, in any case, hidden wiki is unavailable, you must consider Torlink; it lets you find alternatives to many websites that aren’t available on the dark web. If we compare it to the hidden wiki, Torlinks isn’t as detailed and is difficult to navigate.
However, it has a better user interface, excellent graphics, and a moderated replacement for the hidden wiki, concerning the fact that quite a few of the hidden wiki links are dead, and you can find more of those “working” links here when compared to the hidden wiki. However, the database is not very impressive; only hundreds of websites may currently exist.
3. DuckDuckGo – A Surface Web Search Engine That Doesn’t Track You
The DuckDuckGo is a leading private internet search engine on the open web that doesn’t track your location or any other data. DuckDuckGo doesn’t assemble or share your personal details and guarantees personal privacy. If you wish to access the surface web via Tor, then you will be able to view the dark sites because it also shows. Onion links. Hence, it’s an ideal choice if you wish to boost your online anonymity; it’s so privacy oriented that the tor browser uses it as the default search engine.
4. Ahmia
It is another onion search engine you can use on the Darknet. It helps the users of the Tor network explore multiple user sites on the dark web. Furthermore, Ahmia can also be used to check statistics, insights, and news about the Tor network. It lets anyone add new addresses to its database and maintains an active abuse blacklist, which prevents illegal porn and other malicious content from being indexed. This search engine aims to protect the identity of every person. Hence, the platforms also share information about the Tor network.
5. Riseup
Riseup is a darknet site that offers secure email and chats options. The purpose of creating the site is to allow people & groups working on liberatory social change to communicate privately with each other. So for this, Riseup does not store communication records, and the platform is secured against nasty attacks & government interference. However, you have to register yourself to get in, but they have amazing security systems with tricks to secure your privacy better.
Moreover, getting into the onion network doesn’t have to be scary or challenging. It’s just a matter of getting a private network that can access it. So use your common sense and find a directory like the hidden wiki to assist you in navigating the sites that you wish safely & anonymously.
6. Torch
This is a V3 domain for the very famous & well-established torch search engine and has one of the prime databases, nearly a million sites! The platform has a very simple layout, only having one text for searching one button. Here you just have to enter the query, and you will get tons of results.
However, it is the oldest darknet search engine and is indexed over millions of pages on the dark web. Also, revisit earlier indexed pages to maintain the sites, and do not record or track user activity.
Torch is the oldest as well as the most popular deep web search engine, and the other important factor is that there is no censorship or filtering with this search engine. As many others search engines will filter out details they believed to be illegal (rather than unsafe), which lost the purpose of the Darknet.
7. Haystak
It is the latest deep web search engine started by a group of privacy campaigners. Who considers the internet should be free from government surveillance. Haystak claims to have over 1.5 billion pages in its database, which makes it the best onion search engine. Where you can search needed deep web links with the help of any particular keyword. It also offers a premium version that lets advanced search, email alerts, and access to historical content.
8. ProPublica
It is a popular investigative journalism organization that has won multiple awards for its work. This outlet has a presence on the surface web as well as on the dark web link. In this way, users of the site can remain unknown if they want to. The platform comes in handy for individuals who are living under oppressive regimes. However, ProPublica doesn’t prevent covering controversial or abusive topics such as child labor, child porn, and corrupt politicians.
Moreover, ProPublica is a place for those who dare to challenge corruption and abuse of power. They are entirely non-profit and have a dedicated onion URL you can access using the Tor browser. Searching ProPublica work via its .onion sites works well, and the website’s presence is a big win for free speech and privacy.
What Would You Like to Use: The Hidden Wiki or Darknet Link Directories?
Darknet directories are mainly wiki sites run by a single or a group of people. Unlike the hidden wiki, this has a management team but is heavily updated and added to by the community of people who have been using it for years.
Until a severe search engine that can imitate the likes of Google enters the dark web, it will be difficult for dark web directories or search engines to stay updated on the continuously changing darknet landscape.
One of the great advantages of hidden wiki & similar sites is that anyone can make updates & notes on the websites listed. Although, nobody should ever remove the sites, so you have an entire record of what has happened and where things have been moved.
2023 Newest Update of Hidden Wiki
However, the hidden wiki has been updated to new v3 onion links in 2023, and the Tor project will no longer hold the old type of links because it will drop support for the old short hidden service domain name, and the old domain cryptographic strength is no longer strong enough to bring back the onion domain of other people. Moreover, not all sites have modified their URLs to the new version, but some of them have already changed it.
FAQ’s
Q1: Discover the differences between Hidden Wiki, onion search engines, and link directories. Which is best for your browsing needs?
Hidden Wiki is a website that provides a directory of links to other websites on the dark web. It differs from onion search engines and link directories in that it only focuses on websites hosted on the Tor network, known for its anonymity and security features.
Onion search engines, on the other hand, are search engines that are specifically designed to index and search for content on the Tor network. Link directories, meanwhile, are collections of links to various websites but may not necessarily be restricted to the Tor network.
Q2: Are onion search engines and link directories safer than Hidden Wiki?
It isn’t easy to make a blanket statement about the safety of Hidden Wiki versus Onion search engines and link directories. While Hidden Wiki may be more likely to host illegal or dangerous content, this doesn’t mean all content on Onion search engines and link directories is safe. Users should exercise caution when browsing any of these websites and be aware of the potential risks of accessing content on the dark web.
Q3: Can I access illegal or dangerous content through Hidden Wiki or Onion search engines?
It is possible to access illegal or dangerous content through Hidden Wiki or Onion search engines, as these websites are often used to host illegal or objectionable content. Users should be aware of the potential risks of accessing these websites and should take appropriate precautions to protect themselves, such as using a VPN and avoiding clicking on suspicious links. It’s important to note that accessing illegal or dangerous content can have serious legal and personal consequences and should be avoided.
Wrapping Up
Hidden wiki is the first site users get to while exploring the hidden layer of the internet. It is the link directory of all the sites on the dark web. However, the dark web sounds puzzling and even scary, so it’s essential to stay safe when accessing dark web marketplaces too. Keep in mind that many illegal businesses are going down on the dark web. So be cautious and don’t tap on any links you don’t trust.
However, there are numerous tor sites on the Darknet for you. And hidden wiki is the most reliable option to access lots of onion sites links with zero censorship. We have mentioned some of the best alternatives to hidden wikis that you can use if the platform is unavailable. Whatever you do with these deep web & darknet directories & search engines, don’t ever compromise your security and privacy. However, you can get complete anonymity through a Tor browser along with a VPN. Do let us know if you ever use Hidden Wiki. Share your experience with us.