25+ Best Dark Web Sites for 2026 Tor, Onion Links

Facebook joined the dark web way back in 2014, and it remains a viable way to access the website in China and other countries that block it. Facebook’s dark web portal also provides end-to-end encryption, which Facebook Messenger only enabled in December 2023. Your traffic is relayed and encrypted three times as it passes over the Tor network. The network is comprised of thousands of volunteer-run servers known as Tor relays. Countries differ in how aggressively they monitor Dark Web activity. In some authoritarian states, accessing Tor nodes can flag you for surveillance.

What is the Surface Web?

All you’ll need is an 8GB thumb drive, an installation package, and a couple of minutes to get things up and running. I strongly recommend surfing on the dark web using virtual machine software instead of your locally installed Windows. Because it’s easier to contain malware in a virtual environment, which can be fully controlled. There’s no broad consensus on dark web safety, but you at least need to use Tor and VPN together.

Facebook Onion site

That may seem an extreme way to browse the web, but such protections are increasingly worth considering, says Sarah Jamie Lewis, executive director of the Open Privacy Research Society. Onion sites aren’t indexed in central registries like regular websites. You can’t access them through regular browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. While some dark web links lead to genuinely useful websites, others lead to highly illegal or malware-ridden sites. You can’t access these .onion sites from your normal web browser like the one you’re probably viewing this page on.

Quick Guide: These Are the Best Dark Web Links in 2026

Just remember to proceed with caution because you should only use services you feel comfortable with, and that have a low risk of leading to scams or illicit content. You can use this community-edited link database to find everything from anonymous chat rooms, to Dark Web social networks, and blogs about various interesting subjects. However, this does not provide any extra security for your device or information. The best way to find out is to check the “Have I Been Pwned” (HIBP) website. This website allows you to type in your email address or phone number and see if it’s been compromised in any data breaches.

Financial Services

Riseup is a volunteer-run social movement organization that offers email, email lists, a VPN, online chat, and other online services for political activists engaged in various causes. Riseup’s services can be accessed on the surface web or via Tor websites if users want to protect their anonymity. The Hidden Wiki is the dark web’s unofficial Wikipedia, where you can find “.onion” links for many dark web pages, services, and other content.

Added security: Use a VPN

So, it’s only natural to find ways to keep in touch with your darknet buddies and/or customers. There are several email and IM services which you can use, and it’s highly recommended to pick one if you want to step up your dark web game. The major issue with these websites is that a whopping 50 percent are fake, and there’s no way of telling for sure if they’ll deliver or not. Services like Random Chat connects you with random people using the same service. If the signal goes through the Tor network first, your ISP will be able to see that you are attempting to connect to a Tor node.

VPN (The PS Solution) – Your foundation of security

The dark web contains numerous security risks, from malware to scams and illegal content. Thankfully, there are effective measures that keep you secure on the dark web and ensure you remain protected and anonymous while accessing .onion sites. The dark web hosts both valuable resources and significant risks. While some .onion sites provide essential services like secure communication and censorship-free journalism, others spread malware or run scams. With this in mind, finding verified links is crucial for avoiding threats on the dark web. Anonymity of the dark web is one of the main draws for using onion sites, and most dark web links use a “.onion” domain.

Best Dark Web Sites

• So, search results won’t be based on your browsing history, location, or anything else.
• Since academic research is often fenced off behind paywalls, Sci-Hub aims to democratize knowledge by allowing people to see publicly-funded research for free.
• Telegram channels where serious criminal activity happens are invisible to them.
• By monitoring hidden forums and marketplaces, teams can detect early warning signs of breaches, planned attacks, or data exposure involving their organization.
• It also provides a safe haven for whistleblowers, journalists and those seeking free expression under oppressive regimes.
• Before clicking any of the dark web links below, you’ll need to get the Tor Browser (also called the Onion Browser) or another service that provides dark web access, such as the Brave browser.

It is specifically designed to make hidden services on the Tor network more accessible. It offers a clean, user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of searching for hidden services. Combining these tools effectively requires careful consideration of their compatibility and your specific security needs. Advanced users often employ multiple security layers, such as running a secure operating system alongside a VPN and specialized browser.

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It describes itself as a tool for social change and “a project to create democratic alternatives.” Riseup requires you to have the onion link as well as an invitation. SecureDrop uses Tor to provide a safe way for whistleblowers to contact various news outlets. Prominent organizations like The Guardian, The New York Times, and ProPublica have implemented it. The software requires two-factor authentication to receive what’s been uploaded by the whistleblower and allows two-way communication between the anonymous contact and the media outlet.

• Adamant offers blockchain-based secure messaging without needing phone numbers or email addresses.
• It publishes a newsletter in multiple languages and not only runs onion services for its website but all its email and chat services.
• Links posted to the clear web, in particular, are often malicious.
• Ultimately, your safety on these sites is your responsibility, so please keep your wits about you as you navigate.
• Below, we list some onion sites you can explore relatively safely.
• It’s a bit of a contradiction to talk about search engines for dark web sites because, by definition, these are not sites that get indexed by traditional search engines.
• It supports Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, ensuring safe transactions between parties.

How to Access Dark Web Websites Safely

It aims to expose abuses of power and betrayal of public trust through investigative journalism.

Anyway, if you’re in this sort of thing, someone can help you get inside a Facebook account for 250 euros. It goes without saying that I do not advise you to seek this sort of service. Try ZeroBin, a covert, dark web-based, communication platform that allows you to send media and text messages to your confederate.

Stay away from questionable sites

Indeed, Facebook, The New York Times and now even the CIA have sites on the dark web, hosting “onion” versions of their pages that can be accessed via the Tor browser. The spy agency is hoping to securely and anonymously collect tips, though its entire website, including job listings, are available on the onion service. The Dark Web is a dangerous place – You should exercise extra caution when exploring.

That’s why many people choose to do so anonymously on the dark web, rather than using the clear web version of the site. However, unlike the surface web BBC, the Tor version is accessible in countries like Iran, China, and Russia, with language options in Persian, Mandarin, and Russian. Download Tor Browser to experience real private browsing without tracking, surveillance, or censorship. The Dark Web refers specifically to websites and services hosted inside Darknets.

It contains 7,500 terabytes of information, compared with only 19 terabytes of information in the “surface” web. To look at it in a different way, it makes up between 90% and 95% of the internet. Founded by security researcher Juha Nurmi, Ahmia is essentially a list of “hidden” sites that do want to be found. Onion sites are “crawled” and added to the list provided their “robots.txt” file permits it, and if it is not on their blacklist of sites with abuse material.

Dark Web Links: The Best Onion and Tor Sites in 2026

Many users overlook basic security protocols, thinking they’re already well-protected simply by using Tor, but this false sense of security often leads to significant vulnerabilities. The dark web is a hidden part of the internet where users are anonymous and can access illegal marketplaces and hacking forums and partake in illicit activities. In some cases, it’s also used for private messaging, cybersecurity training, whistleblowing, and other legitimate uses. Some dark web search engines are designed specifically for darknet browsing, while others also work on the clear web. All are fine as long as they can retrieve information from the non-indexed dark web and protect your privacy.

What Is the Dark Web & How to Stay Safe

These offerings support laundering operations for cybercrime groups. If the VPN connection fails, the automatic kill switch will kick in, temporarily breaking your traffic. ExpressVPN is an excellent choice for Tor and accessing the Dark Web.

Using onion-location headers

Despite some skepticism about its origins and privacy due to its military development, Tor remains the preferred choice for safe dark web navigation. Professional dark web monitoring platforms solve the limitations of manual search. They maintain access to private forums and monitor infostealer channels in real-time.

While the deep web comprises about 90% of the total web, the dark web makes up just a tiny fraction of the deep web total. Yes, governments can still monitor onion sites if they really want to. Local offices frequently monitor suspicious activities that involve their jurisdictions, so authorities might be closer to your anonymous communication than you know. SecureDrop is designed explicitly for journalists trying to preserve the privacy of their sources.

• Reddit is also a valuable resource for finding the dark net or deep website you’re looking for.
• Browsers with the appropriate proxy can reach these sites, but others can’t.
• You need The Onion Router (Tor) to access dark web websites, also known as .onion sites.
• Wikipedia manages one of the best Tor sites for encyclopedic knowledge.
• If you’re sensitive (or just a normal person, really), you might want to completely avoid the dark web.

The Tor network allowed safe communication channels for political dissidents and American intelligence operatives around the world. If you use Tor to access the dark web or unblock websites, connect with a VPN for extra security. Because of the dark web’s association with illicit activity, darknet markets legit your use of Tor may be tracked by your ISP, drawing unwanted scrutiny to your browsing behavior. As always, protect yourself from online threats with mobile Android security or iOS security software. And use a VPN for Android or a VPN for iOSto get a secure, private connection.

Chrome’s Incognito mode, Safari and Firefox’s private browsing, and private mode of Opera (the… However, you can check out this guide for the best ad blockers to avoid annoying ads. Since Tor has to pass your traffic through several nodes, it will slightly slow your speeds. You can use the Smart Location feature for the fastest connections. On top of that, the provider offers perfect forward secrecy (PFS). A reliable, fast, and user-friendly VPN service offering lots of customizable options for privacy geeks.

Their dark web presence also creates a secure platform for whistleblowers to submit material without the risk of retaliation. Sci-Hub has nothing to do with science-fiction literature, but with science itself. The first website on our list is, allegedly, the largest repositories of scientific papers on the dark web.

Many social media platforms keep their presence on the dark web, and it is no surprise that Facebook has a .onion portal. Facebook’s dark web version allows users to access the site where it is banned or restricted. Although the social application is known for collecting data on its platform, it does not like sharing the information with others. Unlike most other similar search engines, even though it gives you access to that (hidden) part of the internet, it still blocks dangerous and illegal stuff like child exploitation material. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide monitor the dark web to identify and apprehend criminals.

This ensures that your traffic is routed through the secure tunnel and your real IP address isn’t exposed. The Tor Project recommends that iPhone users install Onion Browser — you can download the app directly from the App Store. Although Onion Browser helps route your traffic through Tor on iOS, it may not match Tor Browser’s protections on its official apps. Tor Browser isn’t available on iPhones due to Apple’s App Store rules. Apple requires all iOS browsers to use its WebKit rendering engine, which Tor Browser doesn’t support. Avoid jailbreaking your device or installing apps from untrusted sources.

The extra connection layers can act as a significant burden to your browsing experience if you’re doing something that is bandwidth intensive. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the best tor and onion links for you to check out, in no particular order. Using a VPN also means your ISP can only see that you’re using a VPN — not Tor.

• Indeed, Facebook, The New York Times and now even the CIA have sites on the dark web, hosting “onion” versions of their pages that can be accessed via the Tor browser.
• While it’s famous for being a haven of criminality, it also has legitimate uses.
• However, DuckDuckGo doesn’t index dark web content — it only accesses surface and deep web sites through Tor.
• However, in the event of a dispute don’t expect service with a smile.
• If you connect to your VPN and fire up Tor Browser, you’re using Tor over VPN.

This search engine will get you to the sites you need, though you can also go directly to dark web addresses if you know what they are, as with standard URLs. Ruheni Mathenge specializes in writing long-form content dedicated to helping individuals and businesses navigate and understand the constantly evolving online security and web freedom worlds. His articles have appeared in many respected technology publications.