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Discussion on: My top home software upgrades

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi

Is Kagi actually worth the money? Do they provide such good results? I will check their site out later. I switched to DuckDuckGo some years ago and I'm personally very happy with it. You can personalize it and disable, for example, the voluntary ads. Oh, and you're able to easily switch between international and local results, which is a great feature for me.

I'm using Bitwarden for my passwords and 2FA. Their app also works on the Apple Watch and shows the 2FA codes there.

Obsidian is great; I'm using it myself.

As for browsers, I've been using Brave for a long time now, but I have everything like the wallet and earning money from their ads disabled. Besides some settings adjusted and with ad block on aggressive. Never had an issue. I never really warmed up with Firefox, maybe i give it another try some day.

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isaacdlyman profile image
Isaac Lyman

I haven't used DuckDuckGo. My understanding is they might not track you like Google does but you still get ads in your search results. So they're not paid for by the user, open-source, or self-hosted, which disqualifies them from this list.

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi

The display minimal, unobtrusive ads, which are clearly marked and contribute to keeping the service free. They respect user privacy by not tracking users and provide an option to disable ads in the settings as stated. While not open-source or self-hosted, DuckDuckGo’s commitment to privacy and user control makes it a strong choice for privacy-conscious users.

So, from my understanding, the only difference is that you don’t have to pay for DuckDuckGo. Sorry if that disqualifies them. I thought of them as a valid alternative here.

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isaacdlyman profile image
Isaac Lyman

Kagi has no ads, ever. That’s the differentiator for me. I’m paying for my own search results, so they’re incentivized to show me the ones I want.

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi • Edited

I’ve just signed up for a Kagi trial and am excited to test their service.

Edit: I gave Kagi a try and just reached their free tier limit. Honestly, it didn't quite live up to my expectations, especially considering the pricing; the search results were not better than what I get with DuckDuckGo and nothing else really stood out. Also, having to link my search history to an account is a big downside for me. But of course, everyone has their own preferences, so what didn't work for me might be ideal for someone else.