The best StumbleUpon alternatives for discovering websites
StumbleUpon is gone, but the urge to press a button and land somewhere unexpected is not. Here are the alternatives that still make the web feel explorable.
By Bored Hoard
StumbleUpon closed in 2018, but the thing people miss was never just the brand. It was the feeling of clicking once and arriving at a website you would not have thought to search for.
That experience still exists, although it has split into several different products. Some send you to a random website. Some learn your interests. Others concentrate on personal pages, independent blogs or deliberately useless corners of the web.
This guide was last checked in November 2026.
A transparent note: Bored Hoard is one of the services in this list, so we are not pretending to be neutral about our own product. We have included alternatives that solve different versions of the same problem and explained where each one is stronger.
The short answer
- Choose Bored Hoard if you want human-picked websites with descriptions, categories, Stashes and a Random button.
- Choose Cloudhiker if you want a very large curated collection and a direct random journey.
- Choose Mix if you prefer personalised recommendations, mixed media and collections.
- Choose Wiby if you want to explore the smaller, older-style web.
- Choose The Useless Web if you want a quick hit of pointless fun.
- Choose Kagi Small Web or Marginalia Search if independent writing and personal websites matter more than pure randomness.
There is no perfect StumbleUpon replacement because the original combined several jobs: random discovery, personalisation, social recommendations, saving and a browser-like next button. The right alternative depends on which part you actually miss.
1. Bored Hoard: curated website discovery
Bored Hoard is built around websites rather than an endless content feed. Each entry has a short explanation, categories and a profile page, so you can decide whether a site sounds worth opening.
Use Random when you want the one-click surprise. Use Stashes when you want a themed collection instead of a completely random jump. An account lets you save and vote on discoveries.
Best for: strange, useful and overlooked websites selected by people.
How it differs from StumbleUpon: the catalogue is curated and explained rather than personalised around a large behavioural profile. It is smaller by design.
2. Cloudhiker: the closest pure web wander
Cloudhiker is one of the closest matches to the old habit of pressing a button and going somewhere unexpected. Its creator says every site is reviewed and organised into categories rather than collected by a crawler.
You can start without knowing what you want, which is the important part. The destination is a website, not another post inside a feed.
Best for: a broad, semi-random trip through human-selected websites.
How it differs: it emphasises plain randomness and a very large collection more than social recommendation.
3. Mix: personalised content discovery
Mix grew out of the transition away from StumbleUpon. It combines websites, articles, images and videos, with recommendations shaped by interests and community activity. You can browse public material as a guest, while an account adds saving and personalised recommendations.
It is a sensible choice if the part of StumbleUpon you liked was learning from your interests rather than the sheer unpredictability of the button.
Best for: personalised discovery across several content formats.
How it differs: it behaves more like a recommendation and collection platform than a random website launcher.
4. Wiby: search the smaller web
Wiby is a search engine for lightweight, personal and often older-style pages. You can search normally or use its surprise option to jump somewhere unexpected.
The results feel different from mainstream search because the project deliberately favours pages from the smaller web rather than large commercial platforms.
Best for: personal homepages, hobby sites and the feel of the early web.
How it differs: it is a specialist search engine first and a random discovery tool second.
5. The Useless Web: one button, no ambition
The Useless Web does one thing: sends you to a pointless website. There is no serious attempt to learn your interests or help you build a library. That limitation is also the appeal.
Best for: five minutes of absurd internet nonsense.
How it differs: it recreates the surprise, not the personalisation or community.
6. Kagi Small Web: independent blogs and writing
Kagi Small Web focuses on independent sites and recent posts from personal blogs. It is less about odd web toys and more about writing that sits outside the biggest publishing platforms.
Best for: finding independent voices and personal blogs.
How it differs: the unit of discovery is usually a post or small publication rather than any kind of website.
7. Marginalia Search: explore the non-commercial web
Marginalia Search is an independent search engine designed to surface non-commercial and lesser-known websites. It rewards curiosity, but you normally begin with a topic rather than surrendering completely to randomness.
Best for: deliberate exploration beyond mainstream search results.
How it differs: it gives you more control and less surprise.
What happened to StumbleUpon?
StumbleUpon launched in 2001 and shut down on 30 June 2018. Its users were directed toward Mix, but Mix did not reproduce the original service exactly.
The larger change was cultural. Website discovery moved toward social feeds, search engines and recommendation systems that keep people inside a platform. StumbleUpon did the opposite: it pushed people out onto the open web.
That is why people still search for an alternative. They are not only looking for another list of links. They want a door out of the feed.
How to choose the right alternative
Ask what you want the next click to optimise for:
- Maximum surprise: Bored Hoard Random, Cloudhiker or The Useless Web.
- A particular interest: Mix, Bored Hoard categories or Wiby search.
- Independent writing: Kagi Small Web.
- The old personal web: Wiby or Marginalia.
- Something worth saving: Bored Hoard or Mix.
A useful test is whether the service sends you to the wider web or mainly gives you another feed to scroll. Both can be good products, but they solve different problems.
Start wandering again
If you want the closest Bored Hoard version of the old StumbleUpon feeling, take a random trip now. If complete randomness feels too chaotic, browse the catalogue or pick a themed Stash.
The interesting internet never disappeared. It simply became harder to reach without already knowing what to type.
