Both put the planet first, but they solve different problems. Ecosia is primarily a tree-planting search engine that has added AI chat. Ecoia is a carbon-tracked AI platform for chat, images and an API, measuring every request and offsetting more than 200% of it.
| Capability | Ecoia AI | Ecosia |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Carbon-tracked AI platform | Tree-planting search engine |
| AI chat (Claude, GPT, Gemini) | ✓ | Offers AI chat features |
| Image generation | ✓ | Varies |
| Developer API (OpenAI-compatible) | ✓ | Not its focus |
| Per-request carbon, water & energy tracking | ✓ | Not its focus |
| Offsets above measured footprint | ✓ >200% | Reinvests ad revenue into tree planting |
| ESG / CSRD & SB-253 export | ✓ | Unclear |
Ecosia is primarily known as a search engine that directs its profits toward planting trees, and it has folded AI chat into that experience. If your daily habit is web search and you want every query to support reforestation, that is exactly what it focuses on.
Ecoia is built around AI usage itself. It measures the carbon, water and energy of every chat message, image and API call, then retires verified offsets for more than 200% of that footprint and exports the data for CSRD and SB-253 reporting.
The clearest way to think about it is the unit of impact. Ecosia ties environmental good to search: as you look things up on the web, ad revenue funds tree planting, and it has since added AI chat features on top of that core search product. It is a strong fit for people who want their everyday searching to do something positive.
Ecoia ties environmental accounting to the AI request itself. Every prompt you send, every image you generate and every API call your code makes has a real energy and water cost, and Ecoia estimates that cost per request rather than once a year. It then retires verified offsets for more than 200% of the measured footprint and commits 10% of revenue to conservation, which makes usage carbon-negative rather than simply neutral.
You also get the frontier models you already rely on, including Claude, GPT and Gemini, plus image generation and an OpenAI-compatible API. For teams, the per-request data exports cleanly for CSRD and SB-253 ESG reporting. If you mainly need search, Ecosia is purpose-built for that; if you mainly need measured, accountable AI, that is what Ecoia is for.
Not quite. Ecosia is primarily known as a search engine that plants trees with its ad revenue, and it has added AI chat features. Ecoia is a dedicated AI platform: chat with Claude, GPT and Gemini, image generation, and an OpenAI-compatible API, with the carbon, water and energy of every request measured and offset by more than 200%.
Ecoia funds verified conservation projects, including reforestation, and retires offsets for over 200% of every request’s measured footprint. It also commits 10% of revenue to conservation. Rather than tying impact to search ad views, Ecoia ties it directly to the AI usage that creates the footprint.
Ecoia focuses on AI tasks: conversation, coding help, drafting, and image generation, plus a developer API. If your main need is web search, Ecosia is built for that. If your main need is measured, carbon-negative AI, Ecoia is built for that.
Ecoia estimates energy per token or per image by model class, applies data-center overhead, grid carbon intensity and water-use factors, and shows the result per request. That granular, AI-specific measurement is the core difference from a tree-per-search model.
Ecoia starts at $20/month for chat and image generation, and developers pay per token through the API. Every plan funds offsets and conservation.
Ecoia.ai runs Claude, GPT & Gemini for chat, images and an API, and offsets over 200% of the water usage and carbon emissions your AI creates.