Kagi (search engine)

Paid search engine

Kagi

Type of site

| Web search engine
Founded| 2018
Headquarters| Palo Alto, California
Country of origin| USA
CEO| Vladimir Prelovac
Key people| Vladimir Prelovac, Raghu Murthi, Dr. Norman Winarsky
URL| https://www.kagi.com/
Advertising| No
Commercial| Yes
Registration| Required
Current status| Online

Kagi (/ˈkɑːɡi/ KAH-ghee[† 1]) is a paid ad-free search engine developed by Kagi Inc., a company located in Palo Alto, California.[† 1]

The name means "key" in Japanese (鍵).[† 1]

## Features

[edit]

### Kagi

[edit]

Kagi functions as a metasearch engine to aggregate search results from other established search engines with its own indexes for websites and news.[† 2] They run their own crawler under the brand name Teclis,[† 3] although this index is only used for small-web searches.[1] In 2024, Kagi removed mentions of traditional search engines from their list of search sources; before this, these sources included Google, Brave Search, Mojeek and Yandex.[2]

The search engine allows results to be filtered by category with a feature called lenses and allows the user to create their own lenses. Some lenses include filtering to find discussions, podcasts, search directly for PDF files, and filtering to focus content from smaller websites like blogs and forums.[3][4] Websites shown in search results can be upvoted, downvoted, and blocked.[5] Shortcuts called bangs can be created which allow searches to be redirected to different websites.[6] There is also an AI quick response feature that summarizes a search query and gives sources.[4][7] Details about websites can be shown in the search results such as when it was created and how many ads and trackers it has.

Kagi allows for customization of the user interface, including a custom CSS editor.[3]

### Orion Browser

[edit]

Orion Browser

Developer(s)| Kagi Inc.
Stable release|

| iOS| 1.3.25[8] / 1 July 2025

|

Repository| github.com/OrionBrowser
Operating system|

* iOS
* macOS

Website| kagi.com/orion/

Orion Browser is a browser developed by Kagi Inc. that is based on the WebKit engine and is similar to Safari but with different features, such as supporting WebExtensions. Although they are working on going open source, Orion Browser is not fully open source yet.[† 4] Orion Browser is designed to be used with Kagi, but users have the option to use any search engine.[4][9][10] It is only available on macOS and iOS devices, with Kagi Inc. stating a potential Windows version sometime in the future, and is still in beta.

On March 7, 2025, Kagi Inc. announced that development of Orion Browser for Linux had begun.[† 5]

### Kagi Translate

[edit]

On November 7, 2024, Kagi Translate was introduced. Its aim is to provide better translation results than Google Translate or DeepL. Kagi Translate is free and can be used without an account.[† 6]

## Business model

[edit]

Kagi has no ads or sponsored search results, being based on an account-based, subscription service instead.[4][11][12] Kagi allows users 100 free searches before they must subscribe to one of the monthly subscription plan tiers[13] below:

1. A $5 tier that allows for 300 searches a month (formerly 500)
2. A $10 tier that allows for unlimited monthly searches
3. A $25 tier[† 7] that allows for unlimited searches and early access to new features.[6][12]

Kagi had around 50,000 subscribed members as of June 9, 2025 and 845,200 searches were made that day.[7]

## Privacy

[edit]

The site claims not to collect user actions such as searches.[7]

In 2025, the company implemented the privacy pass protocol in their search product,[† 8] allowing users to authenticate as a paying user while not being identifiable.[14] The same day, the company also announced the availability of their services on  Tor.[† 9]

## See also

[edit]

* Comparison of search engines
* List of search engines

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "How bad are search results? Let's compare Google, Bing, Marginalia, Kagi, Mwmbl, and ChatGPT". danluu.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
2. ^ "Search Sources | Kagi's Docs". help.kagi.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
3. ^ a b Currie, Jason (August 10, 2022). "What Is Kagi Search and What Can You Do With It?". Make Use Of. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
4. ^ a b c d Pierce, David (October 1, 2023). "The best Google alternative I've tried yet". The Verge. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
5. ^ Master, Web (May 12, 2023). "Kagi Search Gets Major Upgrade". GreyCoder. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
6. ^ a b Ivanovs, Alex (September 24, 2023). "Google Search vs. Kagi - Is paying for a search engine the future?". Stack Diary. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
7. ^ a b c Claburn, Thomas (January 30, 2024). "AI is changing search, for better or worse". www.theregister.com. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
8. ^ "‎Orion Browser by Kagi". July 1, 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
9. ^ Ashwin (June 3, 2022). "Orion is a browser for macOS that supports Firefox and Chrome extensions". gHacks Technology News. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
10. ^ Smith, Ernie (January 21, 2022). "Orion Browser: A Future Best Web Browser for the Mac?". Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
11. ^ Koebler, Jason (April 3, 2024). "Friendship Ended With GOOGLE Now KAGI Is My Best Friend". 404 Media. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
12. ^ a b Ashworth, Boone; Nield, David; Burgess, Matt (November 26, 2023). "How to Make Your Web Searches More Secure and Private". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
13. ^ Parab, Pranay (October 19, 2023). "Does Kagi Making It Worth Paying to Search the Internet?". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
14. ^ Davidson, Alex; Goldberg, Ian; Sullivan, Nick; Tankersley, George; Valsorda, Filippo (2018). "Privacy Pass: Bypassing Internet Challenges Anonymously". Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies. doi:10.1515/popets-2018-0026. ISSN 2299-0984.

### Primary sources

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "About | Kagi's Docs". help.kagi.com. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
2. ^ "Search Sources | Kagi's Docs". help.kagi.com. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
3. ^ "Teclis - Non-commercial Web Search". teclis.com. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
4. ^ "Orion F.A.Q." kagi.com. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
5. ^ "Kagi HQ (@kagi.com)". Bluesky Social. Archived from the original on March 8, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
6. ^ "Kagi Translate - We speak your language". Kagi Blog. November 7, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
7. ^ "Plan Types | Kagi's Docs". help.kagi.com. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
8. ^ Prelovac, Vladimir. "Introducing Privacy Pass authentication for Kagi Search". Kagi Blog. Archived from the original on February 19, 2025. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
9. ^ "Using Kagi with Tor | Kagi's Docs". help.kagi.com. Retrieved February 24, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* David Pierce, The future of search isn’t Google — and it’s $10 a month, The Verge, March 19, 2025

* v
* t
* e

Web search engines

Active|

| Dedicated|

* AOL
* Ahmia
* Ask.com
* Baidu
* Bing
* Blackle
* Brave
* DuckDuckGo
* Ecosia
* Fireball
* Google
* Kiddle
* KidRex
* KidzSearch
* Lycos
* Mojeek
* Naver
* Parsijoo
* Perplexity AI
* Petal
* Presearch
* Seznam.cz
* Sogou
* Swisscows
* WebCrawler
* Yahoo!
* Yandex
* Youdao

|

Metasearch engines|

* Dogpile
* Excite
* Info.com
* Kagi
* MetaCrawler
* MetaGer
* Mullvad Leta
* SearXNG
* Startpage
* Qwant

Defunct

Inactive|

* 123people
* A9.com
* Aliweb
* AlltheWeb
* AltaVista
* Blekko
* Boogami
* Cuil
* Empas
* Forestle
* GenieKnows
* Gigablast
* Go.com
* HotBot
* Infoseek
* Inktomi
* JumpStation
* LeapFish
* Neeva
* Northern Light
* Pipilika
* Powerset
* Scroogle
* SearchMe
* Searx
* Soso
* Sputnik
* Teoma
* Viewzi
* Vivisimo
* Volunia
* W3Catalog
* Wikiseek
* Yebol
* Yippy
* Yooz

* Comparison
* Complete list

* v
* t
* e

Tor onion services

* List
* Category

Search engines|

* Ahmia
* DuckDuckGo*
* Grams
* Kagi*
* MetaGer*
* Searx*

News|

* BBC News*
* Bellingcat*
* Current Time TV*
* Die Tageszeitung*
* Deutsche Welle*
* The Daily Stormer*
* DarknetliveПрсл
* DeepDotWeb
* ProPublica*
* Radio Free Asia*
* Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty*
* The Guardian*
* Independent Media Center*
* The Intercept*
* The New York Times*
* ProPublica*
* Voice of America*

File storage and file sharing|

* BTDigg*
* Freedom Hosting
* Free Haven Project
* KickassTorrents
* The Pirate Bay*
* Proton Drive*

Email and
instant messaging|

* Bitmessage.ch
* Briar
* Keybase*
* OpenPGP*
* Proton Mail*
* Riseup*
* Tor Mail
* TorChat

Social media and forums|

* 8chan*
* Dark0de
* Dread
* Facebook*
* HackBB
* The Hub
* The Hidden Wiki

Darknet markets|

* Agora
* AlphaBay
* Atlantis
* Archetyp
* Black Market Reloaded
* Dream Market
* Evolution
* The Farmer's Market
* Hansa
* Hydra Market
* Sheep Marketplace
* Silk Road
* TheRealDeal
* Russian Anonymous Marketplace
* Tor Carding Forum
* Utopia
* White House Market

Archives|

* Archive.today*
* Doxbin (darknet)
* Internet Archive*
* Sci-Hub*
* Z-Library*

Activism|

* Associated Whistleblowing Press
* Elephant Action League
* Freedom of the Press Foundation*
* GlobaLeaks
* NawaatLeaks
* SecureDrop*
* WikiLeaks*

Operating systems|

* DivestOS*
* Qubes OS*
* Tails*
* Whonix*

Government|

* Central Intelligence Agency*

Pornography|

* Boystown
* Childs Play
* Lolita City
* Playpen
* Pornhub*
* Welcome to Video

Other|

* 1.1.1.1*
* Brave*
* BusKill*
* DEF CON*
* F-Droid*
* Mailpile*
* Mullvad*
* Njalla*
* OnionShare*
* Terms of Service; Didn't Read*

Sites in italics are now offline or discontinued (not counting ambiguously forked sites).

* Tor
* .onion domain
* Tor2web
* *Maintains additional presence on the surface web

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