9 ms·

Kagi is "users pay". Yes, average users won't pay, but I don't see how that matters to me as a Kagi user.

sillysaurusx 5y ago
A paid search engine? Bold. I'd pay if it could do anything close to what the old google code search could do. I miss it every day.
- dx034 5y ago
  The cost per search query is incredibly small. You could probably have <1% premium users. If your search engine is used by a billion people a day, 10 million paying users are still enough to pay a few thousand people developing your product (depending on your location). I believe products can work that way, offer premium service and features for the very few that need it and a basic service to anyone else. In the end, the free tier is cheaper than what you'd have to spend on marketing otherwise.
- josh_p 5y ago
  It's free while they're in beta. There's a "waitlist" but put your email on it and you'll get an invite within a week. Give it a try. I've been using it for a couple weeks now on my work laptop and for programming-related searches its been great so far. And the usual annoyances that show up at the top of google and DDG don't show up on Kagi (geeks4geeks, etc).
- fallat 5y ago
  It's actually so good I plan to pay when they start charging.
  - href 5y ago
    Same. I switched to it for a day just to give it a try and I never switched back. Absolutely willing to pay if the quality stays the same.
  - smk_ 5y ago
    I’ll do the same as well. Kagi has literally improved my life a significant degree.
  - spiderice 5y ago
    It's really good in some ways, and very lacking (for me) in others. The search is fine. Good enough that I would switch. However, if I was out and about and quickly needed directions to Walmart, my normal flow with Google is Pull out phone -> Safari -> type "Walmart" -> click on the map -> Maps app opens and starts guiding me When I switched to Kagi, the flow went like Pull out phone -> Safari -> type "Walmart" -> top result is Walmart.com... no address to nearest Walmart to be found -> Close Safari -> Open Maps app -> search for Walmart And it got so annoying to have those extra steps. I know I can change my workflow and get used to it. But it wasn't just directions. It was other basic searches. Like if I needed a phone number for a local business. It drove me crazy. I really hope Kagi gets better at those sort of things. I want them to succeed. But it was just too much friction for me.
    - richardsocher 5y ago
      We found similar issues at https://you.com https://you.com a while back. We just had to be good for more query families. Now we have both the walmart locations in a map app, eg https://you.com/search?q=walmart https://you.com/search?q=walmart and coding related useful results, eg. https://you.com/search?q=how%20do%20I%20find%20all%20files%20containing%20specific%20text%20on%20Linux&fromSearchBar=true https://you.com/search?q=how%20do%20I%20find%20all%20files%2... or https://you.com/search?q=pyspark%20filter%20array%20element https://you.com/search?q=pyspark%20filter%20array%20element
      - Ennea 5y ago
        Too bad you.com does not work in Firefox with the "beacon" function disabled (beacon.enabled set to false in about:config).
        richardsocher 5y ago
        Hi Ennea, Can you help me understand why you make this particular change in the config?
        5y ago
- TradingPlaces 5y ago
  I am a Kagi beta user, and I intend to pay when they start charging. I have wanted a paid ad/tracker-free Google for a decade now. I want to be the customer, not the product
Imnimo 5y ago
I guess it depends on whether you consider "The Next Google" to imply that it becomes a the dominant company in the space, used by every "average user", or if it's enough to be a niche solution for highly technical users who prefer it to Google.
- DocTomoe 5y ago
  So the question will be "Will the average user prefer to feed on free junk food when healthy food is ten bucks a month?" Chances are there will be both.
time_to_smile 5y ago
Another important feature of Kagi that I'm paying close attention to is: they are currently privately bootstrapped as far as funding goes. To me the fact that Kagi is not currently VC funded is huge for me as far as adoption. Every customer facing VC funded startup I've worked at inevitably starts to institute increasingly anti-user practices while grinning and talking about "customer first!" I know it's a huge ask, but if Kagi remains privately funded/non-VC I'll happily pay the moment I can. I've only been using the service for a short while now but have been enjoying it a lot. The ability to blacklist domains has already dramatically improved my search.
- scim-knox-twox 5y ago
  Yes, I noticed this too. I'm afraid what happens to 1Password since they get big funding recently.

A paid search engine? Bold. I'd pay if it could do anything close to what the old google code search could do. I miss it every day.

dx034 5y ago
The cost per search query is incredibly small. You could probably have <1% premium users. If your search engine is used by a billion people a day, 10 million paying users are still enough to pay a few thousand people developing your product (depending on your location). I believe products can work that way, offer premium service and features for the very few that need it and a basic service to anyone else. In the end, the free tier is cheaper than what you'd have to spend on marketing otherwise.
josh_p 5y ago
It's free while they're in beta. There's a "waitlist" but put your email on it and you'll get an invite within a week. Give it a try. I've been using it for a couple weeks now on my work laptop and for programming-related searches its been great so far. And the usual annoyances that show up at the top of google and DDG don't show up on Kagi (geeks4geeks, etc).
fallat 5y ago
It's actually so good I plan to pay when they start charging.
- href 5y ago
  Same. I switched to it for a day just to give it a try and I never switched back. Absolutely willing to pay if the quality stays the same.
- smk_ 5y ago
  I’ll do the same as well. Kagi has literally improved my life a significant degree.
- spiderice 5y ago
  It's really good in some ways, and very lacking (for me) in others. The search is fine. Good enough that I would switch. However, if I was out and about and quickly needed directions to Walmart, my normal flow with Google is Pull out phone -> Safari -> type "Walmart" -> click on the map -> Maps app opens and starts guiding me When I switched to Kagi, the flow went like Pull out phone -> Safari -> type "Walmart" -> top result is Walmart.com... no address to nearest Walmart to be found -> Close Safari -> Open Maps app -> search for Walmart And it got so annoying to have those extra steps. I know I can change my workflow and get used to it. But it wasn't just directions. It was other basic searches. Like if I needed a phone number for a local business. It drove me crazy. I really hope Kagi gets better at those sort of things. I want them to succeed. But it was just too much friction for me.
  - richardsocher 5y ago
    We found similar issues at https://you.com https://you.com a while back. We just had to be good for more query families. Now we have both the walmart locations in a map app, eg https://you.com/search?q=walmart https://you.com/search?q=walmart and coding related useful results, eg. https://you.com/search?q=how%20do%20I%20find%20all%20files%20containing%20specific%20text%20on%20Linux&fromSearchBar=true https://you.com/search?q=how%20do%20I%20find%20all%20files%2... or https://you.com/search?q=pyspark%20filter%20array%20element https://you.com/search?q=pyspark%20filter%20array%20element
    - Ennea 5y ago
      Too bad you.com does not work in Firefox with the "beacon" function disabled (beacon.enabled set to false in about:config).
      - richardsocher 5y ago
        Hi Ennea, Can you help me understand why you make this particular change in the config?
        5y ago
TradingPlaces 5y ago
I am a Kagi beta user, and I intend to pay when they start charging. I have wanted a paid ad/tracker-free Google for a decade now. I want to be the customer, not the product

Imnimo 5y ago

I guess it depends on whether you consider "The Next Google" to imply that it becomes a the dominant company in the space, used by every "average user", or if it's enough to be a niche solution for highly technical users who prefer it to Google.

DocTomoe 5y ago
So the question will be "Will the average user prefer to feed on free junk food when healthy food is ten bucks a month?" Chances are there will be both.

time_to_smile 5y ago

Another important feature of Kagi that I'm paying close attention to is: they are currently privately bootstrapped as far as funding goes. To me the fact that Kagi is not currently VC funded is huge for me as far as adoption. Every customer facing VC funded startup I've worked at inevitably starts to institute increasingly anti-user practices while grinning and talking about "customer first!" I know it's a huge ask, but if Kagi remains privately funded/non-VC I'll happily pay the moment I can. I've only been using the service for a short while now but have been enjoying it a lot. The ability to blacklist domains has already dramatically improved my search.

scim-knox-twox 5y ago
Yes, I noticed this too. I'm afraid what happens to 1Password since they get big funding recently.