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Recently, I have been really miffed with the state of modern technology. We are seeing more and more examples of rushed, poorly optimised and laggy software being at the forefront of the web/desktop experience. One sore-spot for myself is the constant bombardment of AI and AI-integration into every corner of the internet.
My views on AI and not nuanced and I do follow the currently cultural zeitgeist of "anti-AI" in most cases. I believe that the current usage of AI nowadays is massively misaligned; often being in places where it has absolutely no right to exist.
One such potent example of this forced adoption of AI is search engine, and incessant murderer of useful software, Google. Their implementation of AI is to provide a useful overview to each and every search performed on the platform. The idea is good but the execution is horrendous.
With the AI overview, you are given a brief rundown of the topic you have searched accompanied with relevant images and/or diagrams in a tone which can only be described as 32 year old reddit r/decaf user who believes that correct grammar online is paramount to a functioning society and that their wholesome chungus personality will get them far in life. And no I will not further explain this. And, that is with Every. Single. Search. Not only is the integration forced upon you (i.e. you cannot turn it off), but also the responses are completely perfidious and often filled with inaccuracies.
This isn't my only problem with Google, the insufferable reddit-tone AI has been a recent addition to the user experience. A long standing issue has been Ad Space on search terms. Companies, who's intentions are not in your best interest, will pay for their sites to appear higher up in the search result. This leads to disingenuous results where the highest bidder is taken precedent over genuine answers, links and documents. Oh, not to mention the demented amount of tracking that is done on their platforms...
My frustrations with the new Google grew and grew until I stopped wanting to perform internet searches at all. Apropos of my search for alternatives to the current solutions, I stumbled across Kagi, a paid search engine.
"OMG why wuld u pay for a search engine?!1!" - You, probably....
Yeah - I get it. Paying for something that has always been free might sound like an preposterous idea! But hear me out!
The whole philosophy behind Kagi is to provide unbiased search results that do not track you, do not try to mislead you or do not sell you a product. Taken from their website's FAQ:
Kagi is a company created with the mission to humanize the web. Our goal is amplify the web of human knowledge, creativity and self-expression and provide the user tools to fight against the web of greed, ad-tech and user tracking.
Paying for an ad-less service is the norm nowadays anyway. We are seeing and increase in subscription-based models to access a plethora of software, entertainment and tools - I don't see this as any different! You pay for a better service (or should receive a better service in theory) and the developers receive some kickback from your patronage.
Kagi have brilliantly put a section on their FAQ that rounds up many of the same talking points I would make here.
The biggest selling point for me was this exact feature! Knowing that my results are real and genuine is something that we lost a long time ago. I need my searches to carry out these qualities as I believe it's an important part of our lives.
Aptly named Slop Stop, this is a community driven feature that allows Kagi users to report a single page, site, image, or video and, with each report - they are individually reviewed by a team of volunteers.
This is absolutely fantastic and a breathe of fresh air to see a company care for the quality of the content not only being displayed on their search results but as for a wider web too. I have personally reported an entire site who has 100+ AI generated articles covering every single CS topic under the sun - all with complete rubbish (e.g. this site hosted Odin tutorials in a syntax that doesn't even exist!). After a few days, the site was approved and now will not appear in other Kagi users results!
Lenses are a feature unique to Kagi as well. These allow you to filter your results in a multitude of ways. You can filter by: topic, file type or even site type (forum, wiki, etc.). Kagi provide a few default lenses but also allow for complete customisation! I personally use the PDF lenses a lot for when I need to search for papers on topics as well as manuals for software and technology I have around my flat.
Kagi's philosophy on AI has always been an opt-in solution. This for me is a refreshing notion and one in which I can get behind. Seldom do I use the actual AI features but I am exultant and relived that they are not forced down one's throat!
The AI features include:
AI Summary, akin to Google's implementation. A search term can terminate with a ? and that term will be fed into the summary. I can see this being handy if you need to quickly find some information out and refuse to visit certain websites for a multitude of reasons (Ads, tracking, paywall etc.). There is also a little "Quick Answer" next to the search bar.
AI Chat called Kagi Assistant. Like modern implementations of AI - there is always a chat bot. Hitherto, I have yet to use this feature!
So we need to talk about the elephant (or dog) in the room: money.
Kagi offer a couple of options:
Trial: a free plan which is limited to a total of 100 searches and 100 AI interactions. This plan means after a few "test" searches, you are left with a measly amount of searches.
Starter: 300 searches and 300 AI interactions for $5 USD per month + tax. I started with this tier and quickly discovered I am a prolific search engine user ultimately leading me to burn right through this too.
Professional: Unlimited searches and access to Universal Summarizer, along with access to Kagi Assistant with standard models for $10 USD per month + tax.
There are a couple more tiers and whatnot that will suit your need but I believe if you can get a buddy, family member or partner along with the idea then their Family Plan offers the best deal. Currently, I am using their Duo (priced at $14 USD + tax) together with my brother. It offers unlimited searches and AI interactions - perfect for me and my brothers needs.
Below is some questions I asked my brother, a student currently enrolled in Music. We both came to the same distaste for the modern web and with little persuasion, got him onboard with Kagi
Do you like having to pay for better searches?
tbh it is very cheap so i dont even think about the fact that i am paying for searches
As an events organiser, how has it [Kagi] helped you?
in regards to that i would say it helps finding the venues actual page rather than their facebook, other websites TALKING about the venue. when i search for a venue its cause i want to visit THEIR page and not anything else. If i wanted stuff reviewing the venue i would have searched for that surely!
What is your use-case for Kagi?
idk! like. random questions i have about the world and then a lot of the events stuff but i imagine i will be searching for like author journals and articles talking about music stuff for studies
It has become increasingly clear that many folk on the web are getting fed up with being force-fed slop I am delighted with the quality of searches produced by Kagi; therefore I will continue to pay for their services!
Note: No AI was used in the creation of this blog and/or site, I'd like to stay away from slop. All written by me!
Simon Kellet 2026