Kagi
Kagi is a subscription-based, privacy-first internet search engine and product ecosystem that competes with ad-supported incumbents by offering ad-free, zero-tracking search to consumers, families, teams, libraries, and developers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersPalo Alto, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Kagi does
Kagi is a Palo Alto-based, privately-held technology company operating a subscription-based, privacy-first internet search engine that competes directly with ad-supported incumbents such as Google. Founded in 2018, the company serves privacy-conscious individuals, families, teams, libraries, and educational institutions who are willing to pay a recurring fee to avoid advertising, tracking, and algorithmic manipulation in search results. The product is anchored by Kagi Search, which uses a proprietary ranking algorithm that downranks pages containing ads and trackers, supplemented by non-commercial indexes, customizable Lenses, personalized upranks/downranks, and a Privacy Pass token system that decouples account identity from query activity.
Beyond search, Kagi has built an adjacent ecosystem including the Orion Browser (a WebKit-based zero-telemetry browser for Apple platforms), Kagi Assistant (a multi-LLM conversational tool that routes across Claude, GPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Grok, Kimi, and GLM with Quick and Research modes), Kagi Translate (248+ languages across web and mobile), Kagi News (curated daily press review), Kagi Summarize, Kagi Maps (OpenStreetMap-based), and Small Web (a curated index of 30,000+ human-created feeds). A public Search API launched in 2026 expands the addressable market to developers.
Kagi's revenue is generated almost entirely through monthly and annual user subscriptions (individual plans starting at $10/month, plus Family/Duo, Ultimate, Teams, Libraries, and a freemium tier of 150 free searches), with a small 2023 SAFE note round of $670K from 42 user-investors and a ~$1.88M 2024 raise as the only disclosed external capital. The company claims zero marketing expenditure and reports 50,000+ paying customers as of June 2025.
Kagi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kagi
- Legal name
- Kagi Inc.
- Website
- https://kagi.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Kagi is a subscription-based, privacy-first internet search engine and product ecosystem that competes with ad-supported incumbents by offering ad-free, zero-tracking search to consumers, families, teams, libraries, and developers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kagi industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Internet Search Engine
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Software Publishers (513210), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery (HDAEAGAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps (MPACAKAB)
Keywords
Where Kagi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Palo Alto
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Kagi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Subscription Revenue: User-paid subscription model where customers pay monthly or annual fees for access to Kagi Search and ecosystem products. Revenue comes directly from end-users rather than advertisers, aligning incentives between company and users.
- SAFE Note Investment: Raised $670K through SAFE note investment round with 42 accredited investors, primarily users of the platform.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly subscription for ad-free, privacy-first search |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Trial plan with limited searches |
| Subscription | Annual | Individual paid subscription plans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Family and Duo plans |
| Subscription | Monthly | Ultimate plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Team plan for organizations |
| Subscription | Monthly | Libraries plan |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | API credits for developers |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels10 records
Kagi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kagi operates a privacy-first, subscription-based internet search engine that returns ad-free and tracker-free results using a proprietary ranking algorithm that downranks pages containing ads and trackers. The company sells a bundled ecosystem of consumer and prosumer tools including Orion (a zero-telemetry WebKit browser), Kagi Assistant (multi-LLM AI grounded by Kagi search), Kagi Translate, Kagi News, Kagi Summarize, Kagi Maps, and the Small Web human-created content index, all delivered via self-serve monthly and annual subscriptions.
Product overview
Kagi is a privacy-first technology company offering a comprehensive ecosystem of user-funded products centered on search, AI assistance, and digital tools. The core product is Kagi Search, a subscription-based search engine that eliminates ads and tracking. The product suite includes Orion Browser (a WebKit-based privacy browser), Kagi Assistant (multi-LLM AI conversational tool with Quick and Research modes), Kagi Translate (supporting 248+ languages across web and mobile apps), Kagi News (daily curated press review), Kagi Summarize (content summarization), Kagi Maps (OpenStreetMap-based mapping), and Small Web (curated human-created content index). Enterprise offerings include Kagi for Teams and Kagi for Libraries. Additional services include a public Search API, the Kagi Hub Belgrade coworking space, and the Kagi Specials partner program. All products operate without advertising, tracking, or data monetization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Orion Browser: A fast, zero-telemetry, privacy-focused web browser for Mac, iPhone, and iPad built on WebKit, supporting Safari, Chrome, and Firefox extensions.
Products and services
- Kagi Search Privacy-first, subscription-based search engine providing ad-free, tracker-free results with customizable lenses, personalized upranks/downranks, blocklists, and integrated AI responses for individuals and families.
- Kagi Assistant AI conversational assistant that accesses multiple LLM models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Deepseek, Grok, Kimi, GLM) without tracking, with Quick mode for fast answers and Research mode for in-depth multi-step research.
- Orion Browser WebKit-based, zero-telemetry web browser for macOS, iOS, and iPad with built-in ad-blocking, anti-tracking protection, Focus Mode, Link Preview, and cross-browser extension support.
- Kagi Translate Privacy-focused translation service supporting 248+ languages for text, web pages, chats, images (via OCR), and live voice-to-voice conversations, available as web app and mobile apps.
- Kagi News Once-daily private news reader delivering curated press reviews with up to 12 stories per category, multi-language translation, community source contributions, and zero tracking.
- Kagi Summarize Content summarization tool that converts lengthy articles and documents into custom summaries in the user's preferred language while keeping input data private.
- Kagi Maps Privacy-focused mapping service built on OpenStreetMap that provides local search, popular areas highlighting, POI details with Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews, and OpenTable reservation links.
- Small Web Curated collection of over 30,000 feeds of non-commercial, human-created websites including personal blogs and webcomics, browsable by category or randomly to discover indie web content.
- Kagi for Teams Team and enterprise plan offering private, ad-free search with zero tracking, access to leading AI models, centralized billing, and administrative controls for workplace productivity.
- Kagi for Libraries Specialized subscription for educational institutions and libraries that enables students and patrons to find reliable information without distractions or invasive tracking.
- Kagi Search API Public developer API providing access to Kagi search across web, images, videos, news, and podcasts, with queries that can inherit user preferences including lenses, upranks, downranks, and blocklists.
- Kagi Sidekick AI companion tool providing enhanced search and research assistance as part of the Kagi AI ecosystem.
Quantifiable outcome
- Google's market share fell below 90% for first time in over a decade in early 2025
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Kagi
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Kagi technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration11 records
AI capability13 records
Feature10 records
Kagi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- EasyOptOutsminorService removing personal information from 200+ data brokers and people-search sites. Kagi members receive 25% off for life through Kagi Specials.
- Kagi Hub BelgradecoreKagi's first physical office doubling as a coworking space for Kagi members in Belgrade, Serbia. Any Kagi member can book up to 5 free days per month to work from the space alongside the Kagi team.
- NotesnookminorPrivacy-first note taking app partnership through Kagi Specials. Kagi members get 10% lifetime discount on Notesnook subscription.
- EnteminorPrivacy alliance partnership. Kagi members receive 25% off for first 12 months on Ente's end-to-end encrypted photo/video storage service.
- Addy.iominorEmail forwarding and alias service partnership. Kagi users can access exclusive discounts; Addy.io users can discover Kagi through their perks program.
- FastmailminorFastmail recommends Kagi as part of privacy stack for users, explaining that search engine matters as much as email provider for privacy.
- WindscribeminorPrivacy alliance partnership through Kagi Specials. Kagi members receive 3-month Windscribe Pro trial then Pro plan at $49/year for life. Windscribe members get 3 months of Kagi Professional plan.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Kagi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mojeek: Independent, crawler-based search engine with a no-tracking policy. Smaller-scale but mirrors Kagi's ethos of an independent index and user-aligned ranking.
- Ecosia: Privacy-respecting search engine that uses ad revenue to plant trees. Comparable mission-driven, values-aligned search alternative, though ad-funded rather than subscription.
- Startpage: Privacy-focused search engine offering Google results without tracking or personal data collection. Direct competitor in the privacy-first search category with similar no-ads value proposition.
- You.com: AI-first search engine with subscription tiers and customizable apps. Comparable in combining traditional search with LLM-powered answers under a paid consumer model.
- Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine with subscription Pro tier, grounded in web search. Comparable paid consumer model blending search and LLM synthesis; targets similar tech-savvy professionals.
- DuckDuckGo: Privacy-focused search engine emphasizing tracker-blocking and anonymous search. Most direct comparable in privacy-first positioning, though DuckDuckGo is ad-supported and free, contrasting with Kagi's paid model.
- Brave Search: Privacy-focused, independent search engine with its own web index, integrated with the Brave browser. Directly competes for the same privacy-conscious user base and offers a premium ad-free tier similar to Kagi.
Emerging players
- Marginalia Search: Small, independent search engine emphasizing non-commercial, text-heavy web results. Closely aligned with Kagi's Small Web philosophy of prioritizing human-created content over mainstream SEO-driven pages.
- The Browser Company (Arc/Dia): Browser maker building AI-integrated browsing experiences with native search features. Adjacent player converging on Kagi's combination of browser plus AI search.
Broad incumbents
- Brave Software: Established privacy browser company with integrated search, crypto wallet, and broader consumer privacy stack. Larger incumbent in the same privacy-tech space with overlapping search and browser products.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kagi social profiles
Digital presenceKagi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kagi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Kagi subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Kagi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kagi M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kagi
What does Kagi do?
Kagi operates a privacy-first, subscription-based internet search engine that returns ad-free and tracker-free results using a proprietary ranking algorithm that downranks pages containing ads and trackers. The company sells a bundled ecosystem of consumer and prosumer tools including Orion (a zero-telemetry WebKit browser), Kagi Assistant (multi-LLM AI grounded by Kagi search), Kagi Translate, Kagi News, Kagi Summarize, Kagi Maps, and the Small Web human-created content index, all delivered via self-serve monthly and annual subscriptions.
Is Kagi a public or private company?
Kagi is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Kagi founded?
Kagi was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Kagi based?
Kagi is headquartered in Palo Alto, United States, in the North America region.
How does Kagi make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription Revenue is the primary driver. The others are SAFE Note Investment.
Who are Kagi's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mojeek, Ecosia, Startpage, You.com, Perplexity, DuckDuckGo and Brave Search. Emerging players are Marginalia Search and The Browser Company (Arc/Dia). Brave Software is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Kagi have an API?
Yes. Kagi offers a Search API that provides access to Kagi search across web, images, videos, news, and podcasts. Queries can inherit user preferences including lenses, upranks, downranks, and blocklists. The API is available in public preview with $5 in API credits for subscribers. The API includes extraction endpoints that keep links from original documents for deeper crawling flows, and related searches are now part of API responses with more metadata. Developer documentation is at kagi.com/api/docs.
What industry is Kagi in?
Kagi's product category is Internet Search Engine. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAGAH, Enterprise Search, Indexing & Content Discovery, with a secondary code of MPACAKAB, Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps. Its NAICS code is 519290 and its SIC code is 7370.