How DuckDuckGo’s New Encrypted Voice AI Chat Compares With ChatGPT and Gemini

While OpenAI serves ads to its free users, DuckDuckGo’s Duck.ai portal takes a different path. Duck.ai is a privacy-focused AI chatbot that doesn’t use your data for training purposes, but still gives you AI responses using popular models, including those from OpenAI. The data privacy feature also goes beyond that. DuckDuckGo removes all private metadata (like your location and IP address) before inviting the AI ​​model, and doesn’t share anything about you or your device. Your questions, as well as DuckDuckGo’s answers, are never used for AI training.

Since its launch in 2024, the portal has only offered a chatbot interface, but now DuckDuckGo has also added a voice mode. With voice chat, instead of reading long, winding responses, the AI ​​responds with short, sharp snippets that are relevant to your query. Duck.ai’s version of this feature competes with that of companies like OpenAI and Google, and it’s free, although extended limits are offered to DuckDuckGo subscribers.

How Duck.ai Voice Chat Works

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Duck.ai voice chat is optional and not required. In fact, you can even use it without a DuckDuckGo account. To try it out, go to the Duck.ai portal, then in the sidebar choose the voice chat option and enable it for your account.

Now, when you click the “New Voice Chat” button in the sidebar, the Duck.ai bot will appear. You can start talking and the bot will respond to you. Just like ChatGPT or Gemini, it’s a continuous voice chat, so you don’t need to take any action to ask follow-up questions. You can also interrupt the AI ​​response to add clarifications or ask further questions.

Although text prompts allow you to choose templates (including OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5-mini), it’s unclear what exactly powers voice chat. DuckDuckGo says it uses an OpenAI model, but doesn’t specify which model it is.

When it comes to AI voice chats, ChatGPT is still the king

Of course, the real question is how Duck.ai voice chat holds up against Gemini and ChatGPT. When it comes to general knowledge questions, Duck.ai holds its own, but it falters when it comes to breaking news. I asked all three services the same questions, and while some of the answers were similar, ChatGPT’s voice mode offers by far the best overall user experience.

I tested the voice chat features using three different question types. First, I asked about the upcoming Samsung S26 series; secondly, we talked about the Roman Empire; and finally, I asked for some advice on how to get started with coding.

When it comes to asking about current events, like Samsung’s S26 release, DuckDuckGo’s limitations are immediately obvious. Sometimes he flatly refuses to answer, saying his knowledge deadline is 2023. Other times he gives vague answers about the upcoming event, suggesting I check news sites for the latest information. When asked for details, like the date of the event or the rumors surrounding it, he reverts to his deadline excuse.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The ChatGPT app, however, gave me a detailed answer with all the latest rumors, as well as articles to read for more information – basically what you would expect from an AI assistant. Gemini Live provided shorter responses than ChatGPT, even though they were accurate. I was able to ask Gemini to give me more details in the normal text mode, which reads the results aloud if you ask questions using the Mic button, but that defeats the purpose of back-and-forth voice mode.

Samsung event rumors according to ChatGPT Voice (left) and Gemini Live (right).
Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Duck.ai didn’t fare much better when I asked about the Roman Empire. I asked for a brief overview of the topic, before interrupting to simply ask who the last emperor was. He answered correctly (Romulus Augustulus), and his overview was good, but lacked details on the transition period and exact dates.

Duck.ai’s answer to Roman history question.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Again, ChatGPT gave me a much more detailed response (as demonstrated in the screenshot below). Gemini Live’s response, however, was devoid of real dates or meaning. Mic mode offered more detail, but Google voice mode was quite limited.

History of the Roman Empire in Gemini (left) vs ChatGPT Voice (right)
Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Duck.ai performed best when I asked about learning to code. It followed a very similar script to ChatGPT and Gemini, suggesting that I learn Python, even offering the same learning sources (e.g. freeCodeCamp and Harvard CS50 courses).

Duck.ai Coding Question Answered.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Gemini Live was the outlier here though, asking follow-up questions about what I’d like to build or practice. He then changed his answers based on my project ideas (moving from Python to JavaScript as the first language I should learn to create web projects). ChatGPT provided an overview, again focusing on Python, and expanded on the language’s barrier to entry when I asked for more information.

Introduction to programming languages ​​in Gemini (left and middle) vs ChatGPT Voice (right).
Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Duck.ai’s voice chat feature is a mixed bag. It can be fast, doesn’t use any personal information, and allows you to interrupt it. But its limited knowledge base and inability to give detailed answers make it difficult to recommend. For the smoothest voice mode experience, ChatGPT is still king. Although DuckDuckGo has the privacy advantage, you can still use ChatGPT when you are offline or in temporary mode to limit the data you share with OpenAI.