I think there’s an important angle to this discussion that goes beyond indexing quality, payment mechanics, or account concerns. Those are absolutely significant issues, but we should look at this holistically.
What Kagi really brings to the table, in my view, is its monetization model. “Sustainable tech”: An honest price for an honest service. In a space that often relies on fickle grants, VC funding, or community donations, a straightforward paid model feels far more sustainable—especially for privacy-focused tech.
Paying directly for quality software aligns incentives. When users are the customers, privacy comes naturally. There’s no need to subsidize the product through surveillance or data extraction.
It’s also worth acknowledging that much of the internet we take for granted is quietly subsidized by other services. In many cases, these are things we probably should be paying for directly. A search engine, in particular, has a clear value proposition and is something we should arguably be paying for.
Ads may not necessarily jeopardize our privacy, but they undeniably degrade the experience of using a search engine. The best way to get rid of them is to offer a direct revenue stream.