March 18, 2026
AI or Bye-I?
Kagi is contemplating the removal of the assistant from its professional tier
Paywall panic: Kagi users split as Assistant gets capped on Pro
TLDR: Kagi may turn its built‑in Assistant for Pro/Starter into a capped trial that requires an extra subscription to keep using. Comments split between “ditch AI and improve search,” power users slamming value versus OpenRouter and Google, and calls for clearer messaging and lower prices if features are removed
Kagi is floating a plan to turn its AI helper into a standalone subscription, and Pro/Starter users say it feels like a bait-and-switch. Instead of a monthly pool of AI credits bundled with search, you’d get a small trial cap—hit it, and you must pay more for Assistant or upgrade to Ultimate. Cue the comment wars.
Power users went full spicy, calling Kagi Assistant a “weak wrapper” with no API, extra fees, and fewer models than rivals. They waved receipts: “For $10 on OpenRouter I can hit top models however I want,” one wrote, blasting Kagi’s 20% fee and “pay more, get less” vibes. Another Pro subscriber fumed they’d used “less than $3 of $108” in credits and demanded a price cut if features vanish.
Meanwhile, a purist camp cheered. “I never wanted AI in my search anyway,” said one day-one payer, begging Kagi to focus on old-school keyword search. Others piled on messaging: a blunt commenter asked Kagi to drop the fuzzy phrasing and just admit Pro won’t include Assistant anymore. And for comic relief, one user declared the biggest issue might be… typos.
Is Kagi a power-user toolbox like OpenRouter, or a friendly ChatGPT alternative? The community wants a decision—and a deal. The official thread is asking for feedback, but the crowd is already voting with drama and memes on kagifeedback.org
Key Points
- •Kagi plans to launch Kagi Assistant as a standalone subscription.
- •The company is considering changing Assistant access on Pro and Starter plans from monthly AI cost credits to a fixed-cap trial.
- •After hitting the trial cap, users would need to upgrade to Ultimate or subscribe to the standalone Assistant to continue using it.
- •The proposed approach mirrors mechanisms Kagi already uses for its Search product.
- •Kagi has opened a feedback thread to gather input before finalizing the changes.