companies

Kagi Inc.

Subscription search engine that replaces ads and tracking with a paid model, customizable rankings, and a bundled multi-model AI assistant.

Kagi was founded in 2018 by Vladimir Prelovac on the premise that if users aren't paying for search, they're the product being sold to advertisers, so the company charges a direct subscription instead of running ads. The search product blends its own index with commercial search APIs, then lets subscribers permanently boost, downrank, or block specific domains, plus scope queries with topical "lenses" for forums, academic sources, or personal blogs. Kagi was almost entirely self-funded for its first five years before raising small rounds directly from its own users starting in 2023. Beyond search, Kagi has expanded into an AI chat layer (Kagi Assistant), a privacy-focused browser called Orion, and a translation tool, all sold as add-ons or bundled features within its subscription tiers rather than as ad-supported free products. It remains a small, founder-led company relative to the search giants it competes with, with a loyal following concentrated among developers, researchers, and privacy-conscious power users.

Founded

2018

Headquarters

Palo Alto, United States

Sector

consumer