Well, I think its different for different users, with different economy and different motivations.

Kagi has 70000 paying members, enough to be profitable without any ads or tracking. Since the results are literally Googles results but without ads, AI results or tracking, it’s worth paying for for some people who can.

Ive been a paying member since 2023 and I feel good about supporting alternatives to Google with some lunch money. :) Because of me and the other users, there is a quality search engine that makes us happy and makes a profit without ads.

But we are all different. When I was a teenager I wouldn’t have paid for this. Had no money and wanted my money for other things.