I tried Kagi but just didn't see notably better results than other search engines. Maybe if I spent more time on the power user tools, or if Kagi offered more of a trial period I would have, but adding yet another monthly subscription is a high bar for me and what I saw didn't clear it.

These days my default assumption is that any SAAS product will get worse and more expensive over time, so it has to be pretty good to justify reworking my online habits around, given that I don't know how long I'll keep using it. Hopefully Kagi will be the exception to that rule, but I wouldn't bet on it.

That subscription fee is just too big of an obstacle in a time when everything has a subscription and is still often degrading in quality. Seems like an unsolvable chicken and egg scenario though, since relying on advertising to make it free would just result in the same issues as everything else.