Kagi Brings Back Old-School Search, One Human-Made Website at a Time
Search engine Kagi introduces a subscription model and launches a 'Small Web' project to highlight human-created content without ads or AI noise.
Kagi, a company that has been running a privacy-focused search engine for several years, is expanding its efforts. Beyond offering a Google alternative, it now curates a 'small web' of sites built and maintained by humans.
Kagi's search engine operates on a subscription basis. The basic plan costs $5 per month (plus sales tax) for 300 searches. For $10 per month, users get unlimited searches and more AI assistant tokens. New users can try 100 searches for free. The company argues that search always costs something—either money, personal data, or time spent wading through ads and sponsored links.
Kagi uses its own web and news indexes to deliver 'relevant, high quality results' and prioritize noncommercial sites. Search results are free of ads and sponsored content, reminiscent of the early internet.
In addition to the search engine, Kagi is building its Small Web project, which aims to highlight the best of human-made and human-curated internet. It works like the old StumbleUpon: there's a 'Next Post' button to jump to a random entry, options to favorite content, and a search function. Users can browse categories like DIY & Making, Travel & Outdoors, Retro, and Pop Culture—similar to old AltaVista or Yahoo directories.
Kagi recently launched apps for Android and iOS. The company hopes to restore the human spirit of the web, which today is overshadowed by algorithms, ads, and AI-generated content.
