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I had a very very hard time to make the jump to Kagi passing the steps of "paying", and "setting kagi as my default browser" because of inertia, and also Fear U

I had a very very hard time to make the jump to Kagi passing the steps of "paying", and "setting kagi as my default browser" because of inertia, and also Fear Uncertainty and Doubt of change. But once I did it, that was very great, and a source of joy in my life. No regret at all.

deergomoo 2y ago
I was concerned that I would still be semi-reliant on Google Search for things like local business opening hours etc. While it's true that Kagi doesn't return that stuff at the top of a search (I'm outside the US so YMMV), in practice it's been a non-issue because the top result—rather than an ad or some AI nonsense—is just that business' website. So at most it's one extra click. I don't think I've deliberately done a Google search since I signed up, apart from to check that the !g option works as expected with the Safari extension (c'mon Apple, support custom search engines already)
- Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago
  That's actually one of the main reasons I don't join... Where I live, many shops, bars and restaurants have opening hours in Google but don't even have an actual website. Is it easy to launch a Google search from Kagi if you need this kind of functionality?
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    Yes, Kagi supports the !g bang to do a google search. Even better, you can make custom bangs that do anything you might want that doesn't have a default bang.
- benhurmarcel 2y ago
  I subscribe to Kagi but I keep using other search engines for some specific searches. It’s really easy to do using “bangs”, or configuring them in your browser directly. For local businesses I always search on Google instead, that’s the main topic in which it is clearly superior still.
kelseyfrog 2y ago
Same. I assumed it would be a marginally better product. I was wrong - it's a substantially superior product. I didn't realize Google had gotten so bad. They've been cooking their frogs for a long time
- casenmgreen 2y ago
  Seconded. I signed up for the 100 search free trial, and in that, Kagi was as good as, or better than, Google. I then began also to use the filtering Kagi offers, and that simple feature makes a big difference. I'm currently on the starter package (5 USD/month for 300). Kagi also provide an Onion service - but of course you do have to be logged in, so your searches can be logged and be known as coming from you in particular (as you provided payment method), which is the downside of paying. Much as anonymous payment systems are abused, they have utility for ordinary people.
apples_oranges 2y ago
I find it difficult to trust these (recurring) Kagi is so much better comments. Because a) no one I personally know ever mentions it and b) everyone seems satisfied with Google.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  https://www.google.com/search?q=google+search+quality+reddit https://www.google.com/search?q=google+search+quality+reddit (the irony is not lost on me, still better than reddit search) https://gizmodo.com/google-search-results-are-getting-worse-study-finds-1851172943 https://gizmodo.com/google-search-results-are-getting-worse-...
- analognoise 2y ago
  I have had people in my network mention it directly as worthwhile. Anecdata, and I have yet to switch myself, but Google has gotten noticeably worse over the past few years and I’ve been considering it.
- brookst 2y ago
  Good is completely good enough, in the same way that broadcast TV networks are good enough you don’t have to pay for premium content. It only falls down if you care about taste and quality.
- ics 2y ago
  I’ve introduced it to a small number of friends who do more research-oriented search (programming, law, building code, etc.) and the response has been positive. Paying for search is a difficult hurdle even for me as Google is just so deeply ingrained. Those who reached a tipping point with Google recently, thanks in large part to the terrible AI answers, are the ones who’ve stuck it out with Kagi. If you’re going to try it I recommend sticking with it for a week or so before fussing with any settings.
- mediumsmart 2y ago
  I have exactly the same a) and b) experience and thats ok with me sitting here wearing my free Kagi t-shirt.
deleted 2y ago
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deleted 2y ago
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crooked-v 2y ago
Just being able to block all Pinterest and Quora results forever makes it worth the purchase price.
pram 2y ago
I recently switched to Kagi and it didn’t take me very long to get accustomed to it, surprisingly. Which is probably a good thing, since mostly “It Just Works.” Also I found it surprising that I apparently do like 400-500 searches a month. Id consider using their browser too if it worked with Private Relay, but alas.
gavinhoward 2y ago
My problem with Kagi is the AI junk. I get that people want it, but I do not, and I don't want to pay for it. In other words, if there is no "zero AI" plan that is cheaper than the equivalent one with AI, then count me out. And it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so. That said, a lot of people want it, so I hold no grudge that they do it. It certainly is reasonable use of AI compared to others.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so Isn’t this the $10 versus $25 plan?
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so Isn’t this the $10 versus $25 plan? Are you saying you’d feel better if they charged you $9 and turned off quick answers? (Which are totally optional to use.)
  - sshine 2y ago
    The $10/mo. plan is technically not "without AI". You still have FastGPT (quick answers), meaning any query ending with "?" aggregates an answer based on the scraping of the top search results, rather fast. And you have Kagi Translate, and Universal Summarizer. So there isn't a "no AI Kagi subscription". But the search itself is worth $10/mo. if you ask me. I subscribed a year before I bought into AI, and I was very happy with it. I believe you're funding a free tier more than you're funding AI product research.
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      The AI stuff is mostly easy to ignore, just don't end your queries with a question mark. Image search is more annoying, though, because you have to click a button every time to remove AI results. You can't set a persistent preference.
ufmace 2y ago
I know the feeling. I made the switch a few months ago, and haven't regretted it at all. It's funny in a way the reluctance people have to part with relatively small amounts of money like $5 or $10 a month for something so core. Given the amount of complaining online about being the product instead of the customer, you'd think more people would jump at the chance to establish the proper relationship with their primary source of information on the internet for the equivalent of the price of a cup of coffee or a fast-food meal. Just that alone is easily worth the cost, not to mention the drastically better search results, and the ability to customize things intentionally, based on what you actually want, versus what Google thinks you should want, or more like what their actual customers, the advertisers, think you should want.
snapplebobapple 2y ago
how does it compare to brave search? I switched a few years ago and am pretty happy with brave search but always looking for even better.

deergomoo 2y ago

I was concerned that I would still be semi-reliant on Google Search for things like local business opening hours etc. While it's true that Kagi doesn't return that stuff at the top of a search (I'm outside the US so YMMV), in practice it's been a non-issue because the top result—rather than an ad or some AI nonsense—is just that business' website. So at most it's one extra click. I don't think I've deliberately done a Google search since I signed up, apart from to check that the !g option works as expected with the Safari extension (c'mon Apple, support custom search engines already)

Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago
That's actually one of the main reasons I don't join... Where I live, many shops, bars and restaurants have opening hours in Google but don't even have an actual website. Is it easy to launch a Google search from Kagi if you need this kind of functionality?
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Yes, Kagi supports the !g bang to do a google search. Even better, you can make custom bangs that do anything you might want that doesn't have a default bang.
benhurmarcel 2y ago
I subscribe to Kagi but I keep using other search engines for some specific searches. It’s really easy to do using “bangs”, or configuring them in your browser directly. For local businesses I always search on Google instead, that’s the main topic in which it is clearly superior still.

kelseyfrog 2y ago

Same. I assumed it would be a marginally better product. I was wrong - it's a substantially superior product. I didn't realize Google had gotten so bad. They've been cooking their frogs for a long time

casenmgreen 2y ago
Seconded. I signed up for the 100 search free trial, and in that, Kagi was as good as, or better than, Google. I then began also to use the filtering Kagi offers, and that simple feature makes a big difference. I'm currently on the starter package (5 USD/month for 300). Kagi also provide an Onion service - but of course you do have to be logged in, so your searches can be logged and be known as coming from you in particular (as you provided payment method), which is the downside of paying. Much as anonymous payment systems are abused, they have utility for ordinary people.

apples_oranges 2y ago

I find it difficult to trust these (recurring) Kagi is so much better comments. Because a) no one I personally know ever mentions it and b) everyone seems satisfied with Google.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=google+search+quality+reddit https://www.google.com/search?q=google+search+quality+reddit (the irony is not lost on me, still better than reddit search) https://gizmodo.com/google-search-results-are-getting-worse-study-finds-1851172943 https://gizmodo.com/google-search-results-are-getting-worse-...
analognoise 2y ago
I have had people in my network mention it directly as worthwhile. Anecdata, and I have yet to switch myself, but Google has gotten noticeably worse over the past few years and I’ve been considering it.
brookst 2y ago
Good is completely good enough, in the same way that broadcast TV networks are good enough you don’t have to pay for premium content. It only falls down if you care about taste and quality.
ics 2y ago
I’ve introduced it to a small number of friends who do more research-oriented search (programming, law, building code, etc.) and the response has been positive. Paying for search is a difficult hurdle even for me as Google is just so deeply ingrained. Those who reached a tipping point with Google recently, thanks in large part to the terrible AI answers, are the ones who’ve stuck it out with Kagi. If you’re going to try it I recommend sticking with it for a week or so before fussing with any settings.
mediumsmart 2y ago
I have exactly the same a) and b) experience and thats ok with me sitting here wearing my free Kagi t-shirt.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

crooked-v 2y ago

Just being able to block all Pinterest and Quora results forever makes it worth the purchase price.

pram 2y ago

I recently switched to Kagi and it didn’t take me very long to get accustomed to it, surprisingly. Which is probably a good thing, since mostly “It Just Works.” Also I found it surprising that I apparently do like 400-500 searches a month. Id consider using their browser too if it worked with Private Relay, but alas.

gavinhoward 2y ago

My problem with Kagi is the AI junk. I get that people want it, but I do not, and I don't want to pay for it. In other words, if there is no "zero AI" plan that is cheaper than the equivalent one with AI, then count me out. And it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so. That said, a lot of people want it, so I hold no grudge that they do it. It certainly is reasonable use of AI compared to others.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so Isn’t this the $10 versus $25 plan?
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> it doesn't even have to be that much cheaper. Maybe 15% or so Isn’t this the $10 versus $25 plan? Are you saying you’d feel better if they charged you $9 and turned off quick answers? (Which are totally optional to use.)
- sshine 2y ago
  The $10/mo. plan is technically not "without AI". You still have FastGPT (quick answers), meaning any query ending with "?" aggregates an answer based on the scraping of the top search results, rather fast. And you have Kagi Translate, and Universal Summarizer. So there isn't a "no AI Kagi subscription". But the search itself is worth $10/mo. if you ask me. I subscribed a year before I bought into AI, and I was very happy with it. I believe you're funding a free tier more than you're funding AI product research.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    The AI stuff is mostly easy to ignore, just don't end your queries with a question mark. Image search is more annoying, though, because you have to click a button every time to remove AI results. You can't set a persistent preference.

ufmace 2y ago

I know the feeling. I made the switch a few months ago, and haven't regretted it at all. It's funny in a way the reluctance people have to part with relatively small amounts of money like $5 or $10 a month for something so core. Given the amount of complaining online about being the product instead of the customer, you'd think more people would jump at the chance to establish the proper relationship with their primary source of information on the internet for the equivalent of the price of a cup of coffee or a fast-food meal. Just that alone is easily worth the cost, not to mention the drastically better search results, and the ability to customize things intentionally, based on what you actually want, versus what Google thinks you should want, or more like what their actual customers, the advertisers, think you should want.

snapplebobapple 2y ago

how does it compare to brave search? I switched a few years ago and am pretty happy with brave search but always looking for even better.