Kagi's AI search assistant provides you with access to all the major models in a single location.

      Kagi’s “Assistant” feature, which was previously exclusive to Ultimate subscribers, is now being made available across all tiers, including the free trial tier. This feature provides access to various LLMs for both chatting and web searching.

      For those unfamiliar with Kagi, it is a paid search engine named after the Japanese word for “key.” The idea is straightforward: unlike Google, where you pay through advertisements and data collection, Kagi offers a private and ad-free experience for a monetary subscription.

      While there are open-source and free search engines that prioritize data privacy, they typically feature ads and often struggle to secure adequate funding for service enhancements and feature expansion.

      As a user-funded search engine, Kagi eliminates ads, ensures your data remains private, and introduces numerous new and refined features to enhance your search experience.

      Kagi’s homepage resembles the classic Google search bar typical of most search engines. However, when you switch to Assistant mode, you’ll find an LLM-style chat interface. You can select your preferred AI model from a drop-down menu and use the toggle to decide whether the model has web access.

      In offline mode, the chatbot functions as usual. When web access is enabled, the AI model utilizes Kagi Search, enabling you to ask various questions and receive generated responses with hyperlinked references.

      As Kagi is a paid service, users on higher subscription tiers benefit from more features. The Ultimate tier offers access to the best AI models with unlimited searches and interactions for $25 a month, primarily targeting professionals and avid AI enthusiasts.

      Research indicates that the average Google user performs three to four searches daily, totaling around 100 searches per month, leading Kagi to conclude that most users likely only require the $5 Starter plan, which includes 300 searches and AI interactions each month. This tier provides access to “standard” AI models such as:

      - GPT 4o mini

      - GPT 4.1 mini

      - Gemini 2.5 Flash

      - Mistral Pixtral

      - Llama 4 Scout

      - Nova Lite

      - DeepSeek Chat V3

      For those seeking unlimited searches and interactions without needing the top-tier AI models, the Professional plan is available for $10 a month.

      The trial tier will also include the Assistant feature, allowing users to explore it with a limit of 100 searches and interactions. Kagi also implements a unique “Fair Pricing” model that doesn’t charge users if the service isn’t utilized. If you pay at the beginning of the month and don’t use the service, you’ll receive a full credit for the subsequent month.

      Paying for a search engine might seem unusual at first, but these services have never truly been free; they have always relied on advertising revenue. Moreover, as time has progressed, data tracking and collection practices have become standard. Personally, I find this concept quite intriguing, so I plan to subscribe and experiment with the service for a while to see how it performs.