# Kagi Search API

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Kagi Search API and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People building agents and tools like the pay-as-you-go search API for its fairness and reliable MCP integration, though some find it pricey and its terms unclear.

## Why people recommend it

- Pay only for what you use (2 comments): "Paying for only what you use for API is the most fair way to do it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649797)) "found its cheap enough not to matter to me at all" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816644))
- Works well in agents and MCP (3 comments): "I use Kagi's search API with my agents, including their summarizer, and it has been great!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49007383)) "I built their search into my Home Assistant MCP toolbox, and couldn’t be happier." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49965232)) "The API via search and extract MCP works really well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966951))

## What people warn about

- Prohibitively priced for some users (1 comments): "Makes me wish the Kagi API was available and not prohibitively priced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46004873))
- Unclear terms for MCP use (1 comments): "MCP use is always by an LLM, so this seems to be at odds with their TOS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50139352))
- Credit balance did not reset (1 comments): "it did not reset, I am still on $4.98" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404000))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Exa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/exa.md): 33 recommend
- [SerpApi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/serpapi.md): 16 recommend
- [Brave Search API](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-search-api.md): 15 recommend
- [DeepSeek search API](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepseek-search-and-fetch.md): 15 recommend
- [Tavily](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tavily.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://kagi.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Kagi Search API", https://hackerapproved.com/p/kagi-search-api/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).