Following safety guidelines will help you navigate the dark web securely. The dark web often conjures images of shadowy corners of the internet, filled with intrigue and danger. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t all illicit dealings and clandestine exchanges. There’s a wealth of legitimate resources and communities hidden behind the “.onion” domain, waiting to be explored by those who dare. In this guide, we’ll illuminate the pathways to some of the most intriguing and valuable onion sites in 2023, showing the diverse uses of the dark web beyond its notorious reputation.

The Best Dark Web Links — Safe & Verified Sites In 2025
- This network of more than 6,000 relays conceals the user’s location from anybody engaging in online surveillance, as well as the websites visited.
- These markets prioritize user experience by providing detailed product descriptions, verified vendor reviews, and transparent dispute resolution mechanisms.
- This simple concept is fundamentally important for maintaining truly private web surfing and communications.
- The RAMP forum is also considered “friendly” to Exploit and XSS, with one key differentiating factor.
- I2P, or the Invisible Internet Project, allows you to access the ordinary and dark web.
You can quickly get into trouble for acting illegally, such as infringing on other people’s safety and freedom. Furthermore, it’s critical to understand that Whonix is not a stand-alone browser. It is a component of Whonix, an operating system that functions as a whole inside a virtual computer. It includes all the essential productivity software, including MS Word and an email client. However, there are some significant variances in the background despite the similarities. For example, Whonix’s virtual workstation machine connects to the internal virtual LAN.
Use Verified Links To Ensure You Stay Safe On The Dark Web
Another notable departure from the scene was the ASAP market, which has been active since at least 2020. It had catered to illicit drugs and psychedelics vendors, as well as offering stealer logs and payment card information. They announced their plans to close the marketplace on the dark web forum Dread in July 2023, and subsequently shut down the marketplace. You can read our in-depth report on the closure of the ASAP market here.
Cloned Credit Cards And Cardholder Data
However, make sure you’re careful which links you click on — some of them lead to sites that contain illegal content and services. For example, there are separate categories for blogs, email services, file uploaders, forums, and more. I tested all the website links on The Hidden Wiki and almost all of them work (I was able to access sites like Deep Web Radio and ProPublica without any issues). Bohemia maintains 22,000+ listings and $3M monthly BTC trades, with a 6% market foothold. Its 11,000+ users and 850+ vendors value its enduring stability since 2019.
Stay Away From Questionable Sites

Moreover, the layers of encryption and the bounce of your data from node to node effectively mask your IP address, enabling online anonymity. It allows access to the .onion sites on the dark web that you won’t find using a regular browser. In order to determine if you have been hacked, it is darknet market list 2023 important to review lists of accounts that have been reported by users on online forums such as Reddit. It is important to note that any articles published on the Darknet Market Reddit in 2023 should not be considered as investment advice. Still, the disruption of Hydra dealt a “huge blow“ to the ecosystem, according to multiple sources on the Dark Web.
As we enter the year 2023, I have received numerous requests to curate a new list of the top darknet markets currently in operation, effectively creating a “Super List.” These links lead to websites that are not indexed by traditional search engines and are only accessible through special software like Tor. The content found on onion sites can range from mundane to illegal, making them a hub for both curiosity and danger. Exploring these hidden corners of the internet can be uncomfortable, but the allure of the unknown keeps people coming back for more. As Mary Anne Schofield writes in her book “Delightful Discomfort,” the thrill of the unknown can be both exhilarating and terrifying. Cannazon Market is a niche darknet market that specializes in the sale of cannabis and related products.
Drughub Market
Integrating ads into ChatGPT will require sophisticated targeting, ethical safeguards, and a delicate approach to user interface design. Poorly executed ads could erode trust, while seamless, context-aware placements could redefine AI monetization norms. Being a huge market like Abacus meaning that if you want a good product from top vendors you have no choice but to learn PGP and monero.
The shop accepts payment through Bitcoin and Monero, while some vendors accept the coins. To prevent users from DDoS attacks, it provides personal marketplace domains to high-volume buyers and sellers. Moreover, this shop provides detailed statistics about each user profile on the platform, giving users a better idea of the vendors for the buyers and vice versa. This marketplace accepts payments via Monero but also supports the Escrow system.
Use Cryptocurrency For Transactions

“Police recovered an iPhone which linked Chowles to an account used to transfer Bitcoin as well as relevant browser search history relating to a cryptocurrency exchange service. Several notebooks were also discovered in Chowles’ office which contained usernames, passwords, and statements relating to White’s cryptocurrency accounts,” stated Merseyside Police. The idea of hidden marketplaces sounds like something out of a cyberpunk novel, but the truth is much more down to earth. These spaces didn’t appear overnight — they’re the result of years of internet growth, experiments in anonymity, and a push-and-pull between innovation and misuse. Although darknet markets are far from 2021 levels, their crypto revenue has slightly rebounded since Hydra’s closure in 2022, analysts found. Set Tor Browser’s security level to “Safest” for critical dark web activity.
The platform is protected from government interference and malicious attacks to protect the user. The next big shift came with peer-to-peer networks like Napster, LimeWire, and BitTorrent. These platforms weren’t secret, but they changed the way people thought about exchanging digital goods. Suddenly, anyone could share files directly without going through a middleman. This culture of direct exchange hinted at the possibility of something bigger — marketplaces that operated outside the traditional web. With mandatory PGP, Monero and 2FA there is a big learning gap compared to other darknet markets where the only hurdle you need to go over is choosing a username and password.
Torch is one of the oldest dark web search engines, and it’s generally considered one of the safest. It has some advertisements on its home page, but they’re for popular searches and services to help get you started. So, I put together a list of the best dark web sites in 2025 to help you get started. I also included instructions on how to access the dark web, and outlined how to stay safe when browsing dark web links (the dark web is also home to many scams and malicious sites). Detailed stats on listings, trade volumes, and vendor counts across the top darknet markets. As you enter the website, the first thing that catches your eye is the latest buzz around the 2023 darknet markets.
You can also filter the results by telling Ahmia to only display links from the last day, week, or month. It can be difficult to determine which darknet markets will suit your needs, but we have compiled a list of the highest-rated markets available. It is important to exercise caution when using these markets, as they may contain illegal or dangerous products. Looking towards 2023, the future of darknet markets is uncertain, but it is likely that they will continue to exist in some form or another. The Dark Web is just a collection of websites not listed by regular search engines like Google or Bing.
The 17 Best Dark Web Marketplaces In 2025

To find .onion links for dark web sites, you’ll need to use a dark web search engine. Many of them are safe for beginners to use since they filter out dangerous/illegal content to only provide safe .onion links. My favorites are DuckDuckGo (usually the Tor browser’s default search engine), The Hidden Wiki, and Ahmia. Reddit is a popular platform for discussing and sharing information about darknet markets. With the increasing popularity of these markets, it’s no surprise that there are numerous subreddits dedicated to them.

Types Of Dark Web Sites (and What Really Goes On There)
Since all activity on the dark web is anonymous by default, it is definitely where the murkiest transactions on the internet take place. A study by researchers at King’s College London that examined the contents of over 2,700 darknet sites found that approximately 60% of them hosted illicit content. To make its journalism more accessible to readers around the world, the New York Times launched its onion service in 2017. You won’t find any “hidden” stories here—it’s the same content as the normal web edition—but users in countries with government censorship will appreciate having a secure way to access it. TorLinks serves as a backup or secondary directory site to the popular Hidden Wiki.

As of 2020, nearly 57% of the dark web was estimated to contain illegal content, including violence and extremist platforms. Today’s cybercriminals spread their activities across multiple platforms, making them harder to track and shut down. You could try to visit a major site like Facebook’s onion site to check if your browser is working at all. This would verify if it’s a browser issue or just an issue with the site.
It encrypts your traffic at the entry node and changes your IP address. This means you will get a VPN’s security and enjoy the anonymity of the Tor network simultaneously. NordVPN is one of the best VPNs to combine with the Tor browser whenever you want to surf dark sites. It offers top-of-the-line security and fast speeds for a smooth browsing experience on the dark web. A reliable, fast, and user-friendly VPN service offering lots of customizable options for privacy geeks.