Live data from Hacker News

Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

blog.kagi.com

181–190 of 983 posts

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#181
post #50
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can the search result quality be quantified somehow? I remember when Google was new, and I used to use Altavista and Hotbot and those older search engines, the difference in results were like night and day, and Google's results were "wow!" Does Kagi give a similar impression as Google did then?

I read some days back on HN that even Yandex is better than Google nowadays. And I apologoze for shilling a Russian company, but it is true! For some queries, Yandex is better than Google. I have replaced Google completely with DDG for most searches, ChatGPT for some things, GitHub Copilot for mundane code questions, phind or code.you.com for things requiring more search, and Kagi for things requiring much more searc…

Yeah, I use DDG by default now, and only use Google for hard searches – and even then, I'm continually surprised by the frequency of terrible search results on Google these days.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#182

I wish there was a way to just buy 10,000 searches as a block and charge down against it. I don’t search that much. I don’t want another monthly service fee. But I love the idea of paying for search. Id happily pay $5 for 300 searches, but don’t want to do that every month. This seems like the buffet or gym model where they want people just mindlessly paying and then not using it that much.

>This seems like the buffet or gym model where they want people just mindlessly paying and then not using it that much. I see this as the point to any subscription model. Of course they want you paying for more than you use/consume.

I think the point is having stable recurring revenue. Giving you unlimited usage means on average you'll be paying more than you use, but, unless you're seriously abusing it, you can technically cost them more than you pay.

Just like you can go to the gym every day - if everyone with the membership did that they would not be able to function. But it doesn't mean you can't.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#183
I've been a Kagi customer since the beta, I'm still happy to pay for the privacy and for certain UX improvements they have, for instance being able to give higher or lower weight to different websites in search results. I do not think the quality of their search is any better than DDG or Google. If I am being honest, it's actually worse for a lot of things, if you don't factor in that you can block bad websites without a plugin.

Even paying for Kagi, I still go back to Google for any really open-ended searches where the search engine's ML can actually be helpful. For known-item searches ("fandango showtimes Seattle"), or simple searches ("pumpkin bread recipe") which are fully 90%+ of what I search for, Kagi is just fine, and they aren't after my identity (just my money).

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#184
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can the search result quality be quantified somehow? I remember when Google was new, and I used to use Altavista and Hotbot and those older search engines, the difference in results were like night and day, and Google's results were "wow!" Does Kagi give a similar impression as Google did then?

Kagi is as good as google used to be. It doesn't have that same 'wow' effect because we've all experienced what good search is. It feels like turning on your ad blocker. It's what web search was supposed to be all along. It isn't that it's better than Google, Google is just so much worse now. I'm extremely happy with it. Just the ability to block Pinterest from my results forever is worth the price.

I do think Kagi adds features that improve on what Google offered in its heyday and saying meh there's nothing new doesn't capture the full picture, but I generally understand your vibe.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#185
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>user tracking You can use Google anonymously but you have to log in and leave your payment data with Kagi. EDIT: apparently they accept crypto

Not very anonymous when 99% of websites on the internet use Google Analytics, so it's pretty easy to follow you around the web.

Isn't Google Analytics blocked by pretty much any ad blocker?

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#187
post #92

I'm currently paying for Kagi. It's nice. But, so far I feel like it may only be like 2% better than Google, probably not enough to keep me long term. A lot of times the results are better on Kagi than Google, but not by much. It makes sense they're similar since Kagi uses Google's index (among others).

> 2% better Not in my experience, and what about user tracking and pervasive advertising? You don't seem to include that in your comparison.

Yeah, I'm strictly talking about search results. That's the main thing I care about. No ads is nice, but if I can't find information I need then that's not very useful to me.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#188
post #168
post #6

Happy customer here. Kagi is by far the best search engine there is. When I first started using Kagi a year ago or so, I compared results with Google every now and then. Now? Never. 10 bucks a month for a tool that I use multiple times every single day is more than reasonable. The results hit home virtually every time. There are variety of features to customize your searches but truthfully, I never found the need for…

> 10 bucks a month for a tool that I use multiple times every single day is more than reasonable. This number really varies based on where you live, and there is no pricing model that accounts for this. I suppose it is mostly just aimed at Americans.

Some platforms actually do account for this by having special "developing countries" discounts, or some other euphemism like that. IIRC Gumroad is one that supports this.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#189

I wish there was a way to just buy 10,000 searches as a block and charge down against it. I don’t search that much. I don’t want another monthly service fee. But I love the idea of paying for search. Id happily pay $5 for 300 searches, but don’t want to do that every month. This seems like the buffet or gym model where they want people just mindlessly paying and then not using it that much.

You might want to look at rigging something up with their API. To use their API, you pre-pay for credits – 25$ for 1000 searches via the API.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#190
post #50
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can the search result quality be quantified somehow? I remember when Google was new, and I used to use Altavista and Hotbot and those older search engines, the difference in results were like night and day, and Google's results were "wow!" Does Kagi give a similar impression as Google did then?

I read some days back on HN that even Yandex is better than Google nowadays. And I apologoze for shilling a Russian company, but it is true! For some queries, Yandex is better than Google. I have replaced Google completely with DDG for most searches, ChatGPT for some things, GitHub Copilot for mundane code questions, phind or code.you.com for things requiring more search, and Kagi for things requiring much more searc…

Kagi has replaced DDG for me entirely. Now that you get unlimited searches, do you think it would for you, too?
Post reply on HN