I use the $5 plan. Basically for any time I’m searching for something I already know where to look (weather, sports scores, particular website) I use ddg or brave (or bookmarks). When I’m looking for more nuanced things like programming questions, recipes, reviews, etc. I use Kagi. Works pretty well with bangs in Firefox.

To answer your question: I hate ads so it’s worth it to me to have no sponsored crap in searches where there is something to sell

Since all your searches could be correlated to your account (subscription service) by Kagi, I consider that a major deal-breaker when discussing its privacy.

I'm happy with SearXNG. At the time I had issues with each search engine, and this meta search engine is great for me.

You can run one locally on your device, or connect it to a domain like I did, so I use it everywhere: seek[.]agurav[.]xyz You're welcome to try mine, or use it daily. it'll blend my own activity a bit so it's good for me. For u, you'll have to trust my word that I don't sell your data or something. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Ultimately, give it a try, and then host your own or use a public instance that you trust.

I used to but people behind are bastards so I don't give money to them anymore.

It made me think of how I use search engines and most of the time I go on the same websites so I try to avoid search engines.

I use Mojeek with their focus feature (it is like lenses of Kagi). If I really need a search engine I use Mojeek with no focus, but most of the time the results are not good enough so I give them a feedback and go back on Duckduckgo.

Kagi is doing business with Yandex, something that might interest you: https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integration-due-to-the-geopolitical-status-quo

I‘ve been using Kagi since September 2023.

The biggest difference to other search engines is really the quality of the results. Before Kagi, I‘ve used DuckDuckGo for a few years, but had to switch to Google more often than not, as I just didn‘t find what I was looking for. Most alternative search engines only use Bing‘s index, which just isn‘t any good in my experience. Kagi‘s results are built from quite a few different sources as well as their own index. Seeing how crappy Google‘s results are at this point, I don‘t think you can get better search results right now.

Also, the ability to rank and block specific domains in my results is something I really like and wouldn‘t want to miss anymore.

Lastly, I really enjoy using a search engine that isn‘t being optimized for advertisers, but for the user. Kagi‘s team is very receptive for feedback. For example, they’ve implemented an icon for search results with paywalls, because users asked for it. There are many small, nice details like that, which can save you a few clicks or just improve your general experience.

I've been using it for more than a year and it's worth every cent. It's not perfect, obviously, but it's already so good. Useful results (no SEO crap) no ads, no tracking, great filtering tools (those alone, to me at least, are already worth paying for) and real cool features. If you have not done so already, get their 100 search trial account and you will see how you like it. I did that and I switched to a paid sub less than 3 days later.

When my first year ended I thought to myself, well, I could try to save me some money here and did not renew kinda yeah, Kagi's cool and all but why pay when there are free options? I ran back to Kagi in the same month I decided to not renew ;)

I if I had to use a free search, it probably would be Brave Search, FYI

It is definitely miles ahead in finding genuine content, but paying 10 usd for unlimited or 5 usd for 300 searches is too much for my wallet. I'm hoping if they get enough users then maybe they can introduce another price lowering attempt or pray that I can opt into a family plan with friends.

I'm using it and never going back.

It's not just the privacy aspect, but the fact that most results in other search engines suck. The first two pages would usually be ads - first the bought ones, then company websites and copywritten blogs. I get that way less with kagi. I find useful stuff faster and my brain is less polluted.

I don’t understand the business model of other search engines, but I see how Kagi can work long-term and that’s why I’m still a customer.

Once you’re a search engine that works for your users, you can do stuff like warning labels for websites that have excessive tracking and just let users filter out any domains from their results.

You can always give the trial a go. In my experience (and at the time I tested multiple search engines), Kagi served the most relevant results. I would 100% get a subscription if I could afford it (which I unfortunately can't atm).

Never tried it but here is a review from Techlore on PeerTube: https://neat.tube/w/6P1mzGYYivN6U4PK3bMUi5

Yes!