Kagi
Perplexity AI
| Feature | Kagi | Perplexity AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $5/mo | Free / from $20/mo |
| Free Plan | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| Best For | privacy-conscious-users, developers, researchers, power-users | researchers, students, journalists, professionals |
| Founded | 2022 | 2022 |
| Ad Free Search | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Summaries | ✓ | ✗ |
| Personalization | ✓ | ✗ |
| Domain Blocking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lenses | ✓ | ✗ |
| Privacy | ✓ | ✗ |
| Search | ✗ | ✓ |
| Citations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Focus Modes | ✗ | ✓ |
| File Upload | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collections | ✗ | ✓ |
| Api | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Kagi Pros
- No ads or tracking
- Customizable results
- AI-powered summaries
- Fast and accurate
✗ Kagi Cons
- No free plan
- Requires subscription
- Smaller index than Google
✓ Perplexity AI Pros
- Source citations
- Real-time web access
- Focus modes
- Clean UI
✗ Perplexity AI Cons
- Limited free queries
- Can still have errors
- No document upload on free
The Verdict
Kagi is built for privacy conscious users and developers, with a focus on ad-free-search and ai-summaries. Perplexity AI targets researchers and students and leads with search and citations.
On pricing, Kagi is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5/mo compared to $20/mo for Perplexity AI. That $15/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Perplexity AI has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Kagi requires a paid subscription from day one.
Both tools are a solid fit for researchers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.
