Brave has shitty leadership and pushes crypto and AI, ddg is owned by a former ad company CEO.. both are not great but im currently using ddg because at the very least has a no AI image filter... I too am looking for a better option so any suggestions appreciated. Self-hosted is currently not an option for me.
(Usually when I mention anywhere that I'm using either of those two, the comments just blow up how awful they are and that I'm supporting whatever bad stuff by using them... But they never suggest an alternative)