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I switched about a year ago. At the time it did seem like a step up from Google results. But there's been an increasing prevalence of low quality results. Blogs

I switched about a year ago. At the time it did seem like a step up from Google results. But there's been an increasing prevalence of low quality results. Blogspam, AI websites, etc. Obviously not blaming Kagi here, web search has gotten hard recently. Is Kagi still better than Google? Probably, I don't really know because I don't use Google anymore. But at this point I feel like I'm with them out of inertia more than being an avid supporter. One of these days I'll re-evaluate Google and decide whether to switch back or not. It does occasionally surface interesting results from small sites that you wouldn't get on Google. I do find that to be useful. Kagi definitely isn't a bad search engine by any means. Honestly if you haven't used it, try the 100 search free trial on one device. Maybe you'll like it. This feels more like a general decline of the open web.

ArtificeAccount 7mo ago
I feel the same way. I'm probably going to end my subscription at some point, but right now the effort involved is what's keeping me with Kagi.
- 8cvor6j844qw_d6 7mo ago
  Is usage based pricing available? I'm thinking of trying it out Kagi, but adding another monthly commitment is what's holding me back. A single credit top-up and occasional usage until the credits run out sounds good to me.
  - Tepix 7mo ago
    Edit: Kagi has a starter plan with 100 free searches: https://kagi.com/pricing https://kagi.com/pricing Also, from the Kagi privacy pass FAQ at https://blog.kagi.com/kagi-privacy-pass#faq https://blog.kagi.com/kagi-privacy-pass#faq: *Do you plan to allow purchasing privacy pass tokens without having an account?* Yes, this makes sense. This is possible because technically the extension does not care if you have an account or not. It just needs to be 'loaded' with valid tokens. And you can imagine a mechanism where you could also anonymously purchase them, eg. with monero, without ever creating an account at Kagi. Let us know *here* ( https://kagifeedback.org/d/6163-kagi-privacy-pass ) if you are excited about this, as it will help prioritize it. Personally I don't like being signed in during searches, this seems like a good solution.
- monkey_monkey 7mo ago
  "the effort involved" Feels like your comment saying it was too much effort to cancel Kagi took more effort than cancelling Kagi.
  - vvilliamperez 7mo ago
    Actually their payment model has some baked in niceness. If you don't use the service in a month, they just refund you. This has kept me from unsubscribing for years now. Some months I use it, some I don't. It's more of hassle to unsub, and re-sub again when I want.
  - ArtificeAccount 7mo ago
    I think you're right, haha
sheepscreek 7mo ago
It’s definitely not Kagi’s fault. The AI slop is simply taking effect and I feel sorry for them. I never expected them to match Google’s quality, but I was impressed with how close it was when I used it a few years ago.
- postalcoder 7mo ago
  Kagi used to use Google's search API. They discuss the current state of their index here: https://blog.kagi.com/waiting-dawn-search https://blog.kagi.com/waiting-dawn-search
  - rpdillon 7mo ago
    Buried under a lot of complaints about fairness, Kagi mentions they are still using Google search results, just without authorization. > Because direct licensing isn't available to us on compatible terms, we - like many others - use third-party API providers for SERP-style results (SERP meaning search engine results page). So in one sense, yes, Kagi isn't quite Google, but in another sense, it very much still is.
mpalmer 7mo ago
Everyone has to answer for themselves why they would be OK with Google hoovering up their data in order to deliver substandard results, vs Kagi actively working to remove low-quality results all while collecting no personal data.
- jmye 7mo ago
  Yes. I use both (Google only at work) and Kagi is certainly no worse and comes with the massive benefit of simply not being Google. It's worth paying for for that reason alone, even if the engineers at Google are constantly working on making sure I'm tracked anyway.
emacdona 7mo ago
I'm glad to see this comment and the parent comment voted so near the top. I've had the same experience. In my experience, Kagi used to be great... then it became good... and now it's "better than Google". "Better than Google" and the fact that I can choose websites to exclude from my search results are two features that I remain willing to pay for, however.
- mattmcal 7mo ago
  DuckDuckGo allows you to blacklist websites for free
  - Groxx 7mo ago
    Only up to five of them, which is almost completely useless.
    - teruakohatu 7mo ago
      Blocking Pinterest is not completely useless.
      - Groxx 7mo ago
        The top seven blocked domains on Kagi are all Pinterest: https://kagi.com/stats?stat=insights https://kagi.com/stats?stat=insights Failing to block Pinterest and then also having no room for anything else is almost completely useless.
- searls 7mo ago
  I'm glad to see this comment and the parent comment and the grandparent comment voted so near the top. I've had the same experience. I honestly would love to be able to give my Kagi key to the ChatGPT or Claude clients (or more realistically, configure a proxy) just to have it be their primary tool for searches—respecting my site rankings/lists
  - fourside 7mo ago
stebalien 7mo ago
I've been using it for 2.5 years at this point, and have the same experience. I don't think it's hopeless, but Kagi will need to step up their methods. IMO, there's actually a lot they can do here.

ArtificeAccount 7mo ago

I feel the same way. I'm probably going to end my subscription at some point, but right now the effort involved is what's keeping me with Kagi.

8cvor6j844qw_d6 7mo ago
Is usage based pricing available? I'm thinking of trying it out Kagi, but adding another monthly commitment is what's holding me back. A single credit top-up and occasional usage until the credits run out sounds good to me.
- Tepix 7mo ago
  Edit: Kagi has a starter plan with 100 free searches: https://kagi.com/pricing https://kagi.com/pricing Also, from the Kagi privacy pass FAQ at https://blog.kagi.com/kagi-privacy-pass#faq https://blog.kagi.com/kagi-privacy-pass#faq: *Do you plan to allow purchasing privacy pass tokens without having an account?* Yes, this makes sense. This is possible because technically the extension does not care if you have an account or not. It just needs to be 'loaded' with valid tokens. And you can imagine a mechanism where you could also anonymously purchase them, eg. with monero, without ever creating an account at Kagi. Let us know *here* ( https://kagifeedback.org/d/6163-kagi-privacy-pass ) if you are excited about this, as it will help prioritize it. Personally I don't like being signed in during searches, this seems like a good solution.
monkey_monkey 7mo ago
"the effort involved" Feels like your comment saying it was too much effort to cancel Kagi took more effort than cancelling Kagi.
- vvilliamperez 7mo ago
  Actually their payment model has some baked in niceness. If you don't use the service in a month, they just refund you. This has kept me from unsubscribing for years now. Some months I use it, some I don't. It's more of hassle to unsub, and re-sub again when I want.
- ArtificeAccount 7mo ago
  I think you're right, haha

sheepscreek 7mo ago

It’s definitely not Kagi’s fault. The AI slop is simply taking effect and I feel sorry for them. I never expected them to match Google’s quality, but I was impressed with how close it was when I used it a few years ago.

postalcoder 7mo ago
Kagi used to use Google's search API. They discuss the current state of their index here: https://blog.kagi.com/waiting-dawn-search https://blog.kagi.com/waiting-dawn-search
- rpdillon 7mo ago
  Buried under a lot of complaints about fairness, Kagi mentions they are still using Google search results, just without authorization. > Because direct licensing isn't available to us on compatible terms, we - like many others - use third-party API providers for SERP-style results (SERP meaning search engine results page). So in one sense, yes, Kagi isn't quite Google, but in another sense, it very much still is.

mpalmer 7mo ago

Everyone has to answer for themselves why they would be OK with Google hoovering up their data in order to deliver substandard results, vs Kagi actively working to remove low-quality results all while collecting no personal data.

jmye 7mo ago
Yes. I use both (Google only at work) and Kagi is certainly no worse and comes with the massive benefit of simply not being Google. It's worth paying for for that reason alone, even if the engineers at Google are constantly working on making sure I'm tracked anyway.

emacdona 7mo ago

I'm glad to see this comment and the parent comment voted so near the top. I've had the same experience. In my experience, Kagi used to be great... then it became good... and now it's "better than Google". "Better than Google" and the fact that I can choose websites to exclude from my search results are two features that I remain willing to pay for, however.

mattmcal 7mo ago
DuckDuckGo allows you to blacklist websites for free
- Groxx 7mo ago
  Only up to five of them, which is almost completely useless.
  - teruakohatu 7mo ago
    Blocking Pinterest is not completely useless.
    - Groxx 7mo ago
      The top seven blocked domains on Kagi are all Pinterest: https://kagi.com/stats?stat=insights https://kagi.com/stats?stat=insights Failing to block Pinterest and then also having no room for anything else is almost completely useless.
searls 7mo ago
I'm glad to see this comment and the parent comment and the grandparent comment voted so near the top. I've had the same experience. I honestly would love to be able to give my Kagi key to the ChatGPT or Claude clients (or more realistically, configure a proxy) just to have it be their primary tool for searches—respecting my site rankings/lists
- fourside 7mo ago

stebalien 7mo ago

I've been using it for 2.5 years at this point, and have the same experience. I don't think it's hopeless, but Kagi will need to step up their methods. IMO, there's actually a lot they can do here.