Kagi Search API

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Kagi’s new paid Search API, currently in closed beta at $19 per month plus $0.025 per query, is drawing scrutiny for pricing that many see as too high for automated or large-scale use compared with alternatives like Brave, Bing, or scraping-based services. Supporters argue the cost reflects Kagi’s business model of paying upstream providers and offering higher-quality, ad-free results, while critics question whether that premium is justified and note the lack of pagination and other features. Alongside price, commenters probe Kagi’s privacy posture and account model, contrasting it with more anonymous approaches like Mullvad and debating how much search history and payment linkage users should tolerate.

Pricing and Economics

  • Many commenters see the API price ($25/1,000 queries; 2.5¢ per search plus $19/mo business fee) as “ridiculously” or “laughably” expensive, especially for automated or agent use.
  • Some argue it’s reasonable if Kagi pays ~1–2¢ per upstream query and positions itself as a boutique, high-compute service rather than a mass-market Google competitor.
  • Several note that the pricing may be intentionally high to prevent cheap white-label reselling of Kagi’s own search.
  • Existing personal Kagi users are generally happy paying $5–$10/month for human use, but many say they would not pay current API rates.

Comparisons to Other APIs and Scraping

  • Direct price comparisons:
    • Brave Search API: about 5× cheaper ($5/1,000 vs $25/1,000), but with restrictions on storing results unless on a higher tier.
    • SerpAPI, Bing, Google: reported as significantly cheaper; some say Kagi is an order of magnitude more expensive.
    • Mojeek API is much cheaper (around 0.1¢/search), raising the question of why not use it directly.
  • Some note that SerpAPI relies on scraping public Google results, which has different costs and legal risk; others suggest that large-scale scraping is effectively “free” and more viable for serious scale.

API Design and Availability

  • API is in closed, invite-only beta; Kagi’s own statement puts general launch at about “2 months,” but another comment says API is not top priority and could stay in beta up to a year, so timing is unclear.
  • Current beta is seen as very minimal: single paid-per-request model, no pagination, and limited configuration (inherits account settings).
  • Several users wish API calls could simply deduct from their existing personal search quota rather than requiring a separate, expensive business tier.

Search Quality and Use Cases

  • Multiple users praise Kagi’s search quality, often rating it above Google, DuckDuckGo, and Brave for everyday queries.
  • Others report narrower coverage, especially with advanced search operators, and note Google still returns more hits for some specialized queries.
  • Some see the API as attractive for AI assistant tools; others say the price makes it impractical for most automation.

Privacy, Accounts, and Payments

  • Strong discussion around trust, anonymity, and payment:
    • Some are uneasy tying search to an identifiable account or credit card, especially in sensitive legal climates.
    • Kagi is said not to store search history “currently,” but several stress this is ultimately a matter of trust and weakly enforceable policies.
    • Comparisons are made to Mullvad’s anonymous account model; users suggest similar token- or UUID-based logins and cash/Monero-style payments.
    • Bitcoin payments exist, but participants point out Bitcoin is only pseudonymous and often traceable via exchanges.
  • Debate over whether privacy promises are credible without strong external auditing or GDPR-like enforcement; some argue we lack real mechanisms to verify providers’ claims.