Kagi
Ad-free, subscription-funded search engine with built-in AI assistant and summarization tools
Free trial
Msty
Private AI workspace for chatting with local and online models, with your data under your control
Freemium
Verdict
Kagi and Msty are both AI Assistants tools. Both have a free plan or trial. Only Kagi offers an API. Only Msty is available on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Best overall
Msty
- Privacy-conscious individuals
- Developers
- Researchers
- Educators
Choose Kagi if
- You want a tool built for people who want ad-free, personalizable search results and are willing to pay a subscription to get them.
- No advertising; revenue comes from subscriptions.
- Site-level raise, lower and block controls let users tune results.
Choose Msty if
- You want a tool built for running local and cloud models side by side from one desktop app while keeping data on your own device.
- Permanent free Studio tier that includes local and online model chat and Knowledge Stacks.
- Data stays on the user's device, with zero product telemetry stated.
- Best for beginners
- Kagi
- Best for business
- Msty
Features
18 features compared.
- Ad-free searchKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Site personalizationKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- LensesKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Kagi AssistantKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Quick Answer and Summarize PageKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Developer APIsKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Orion browserKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Kagi Translate and Kagi NewsKagiAvailableMstyNot available
- Local and Online ModelsKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Knowledge StacksKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Personas and Crew ConversationsKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Agent ModeKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Toolbox with MCPKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Prompt, Persona, Skill and Media StudiosKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Studio WebKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Msty Go AgentsKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Msty NexusKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
- Enterprise GovernanceKagiNot availableMstyAvailable
Pricing
Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.
- Pricing modelKagiFree trialMstyFreemium
- Free planKagiYesMstyYes
- Starting priceKagi$0Msty$0
- PlansKagi4 plansMsty4 plans
Kagi plans
Trial
$0
Free trial to evaluate Kagi
- 100 searches
- 100 Assistant interactions
Starter
$5/month
Entry plan for light searchers
- 300 searches
- Assistant Quick mode
Professional
Most popular$10/month
Unlimited search for regular users
- Unlimited searches
- Assistant Quick mode
- larger monthly Assistant allowance
Ultimate
$25/month
Full AI access
- Unlimited searches
- Assistant Research mode
- flagship models including Claude
- GPT and Gemini
- highest level of support
Msty plans
Studio Free
$0
Free desktop workspace for local and online model chat
- Local and online model chat
- Persona and Crew Conversations
- Agent Mode
- Knowledge Stacks
- Prompt Studio
- Persona Studio
- Skill Studio
- Media Studio (several features limited)
Aurum
$149/year
Power-user tier billed yearly
- Studio Web
- Azure and Bedrock providers
- Studio Assistants
- Shadow Personas
- Turnstiles
- Insights
- Forge Mode
Aurum Lifetime
Most popular$349/one-time
One-time purchase with all Aurum features
- All Aurum features
- lifetime updates and access
Enterprise & Teams
Custom/custom
Sales-led plan for organizations, minimum 5 seats
- SSO
- user and team management
- role-based access control
- audit logs
- shared team resources
- priority support
Our ratings
Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.
- Kagi
- 8.1overall
- Msty
- 8.1overall
Kagi leads in 3 categories and Msty in 1, with 1 tied.
Ease of Use
Kagi leads by 0.2- Kagi
- 8.2
- Msty
- 8.0
Feature Depth
Tied- Kagi
- 8.6
- Msty
- 8.6
Value for Money
Msty leads by 1.0- Kagi
- 7.4
- Msty
- 8.4
Performance & Speed
Kagi leads by 0.6- Kagi
- 8.4
- Msty
- 7.8
Documentation & Support
Kagi leads by 0.2- Kagi
- 7.8
- Msty
- 7.6
Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.
Pros and cons
Kagi
Pros
- No advertising; revenue comes from subscriptions.
- Site-level raise, lower and block controls let users tune results.
- Lenses give quick topic-specific filtering such as Academic or Forums.
- Ultimate bundles access to Claude, GPT and Gemini models in Assistant.
- Public APIs and an MCP server support developer use.
- Transparent funding history published by the company.
Cons
- No permanent free tier: the trial is limited to 100 searches.
- The $5 Starter plan caps searches at 300 per month, which users report running out of quickly.
- Reviewers report that lens use and loading more results can count as extra searches.
- Full AI model access requires the $25 Ultimate plan.
Msty
Pros
- Permanent free Studio tier that includes local and online model chat and Knowledge Stacks.
- Data stays on the user's device, with zero product telemetry stated.
- One-time Aurum Lifetime option at $349 avoids a recurring subscription.
- Supports MCP tools and enterprise controls such as SSO and audit logs.
- Broad product family covering chat (Studio), agents (Go) and a model gateway (Nexus).
Cons
- Studio data does not sync between devices.
- Studio Web needs a connection to Studio Desktop or Sidecar for local models, Toolbox and real-time data.
- SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications are not yet complete.
- Msty Go is still in beta and Stack is not yet released.
Platforms
- WebKagiSupportedMstySupported
- WindowsKagiNot supportedMstySupported
- macOSKagiNot supportedMstySupported
- iOSKagiSupportedMstySupported
- AndroidKagiSupportedMstySupported
- APIKagiSupportedMstyNot supported
- Browser ExtensionKagiNot supportedMstyNot supported
- LinuxKagiNot supportedMstySupported
Integrations
Kagi
4 integrations- Anthropic Claude
- OpenAI GPT
- Google Gemini
- MCP
Msty
9 integrations- Ollama
- Azure OpenAI
- Amazon Bedrock
- Discord
- Telegram
- Docker
- Podman
- MCP
Company
- CompanyKagiKagi Inc.MstyCloudStack, LLC
- FoundedKagi2018MstyNot listed
- HeadquartersKagiSan Francisco, CAMstyNot listed
- ListingKagiClaimedMstyClaimed
Featured AI Assistants
Picked by our editors. Not paid placement.
Editor's pickClaude
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Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and working with files
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Free AI chat app and low-cost API running DeepSeek's open-weights V4 models
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Editor's pickGemini Notebook
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Google's Gemini Notebook, formerly NotebookLM, answers questions and builds summaries from your own sources
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Related comparisons
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kagi better than Msty?
It depends on your workflow. Kagi is built for people who want ad-free, personalizable search results and are willing to pay a subscription to get them. Msty is built for running local and cloud models side by side from one desktop app while keeping data on your own device.
What are the key feature differences between Kagi and Msty?
Kagi: Ad-free, subscription-funded search engine with built-in AI assistant and summarization tools. Msty: Private AI workspace for chatting with local and online models, with your data under your control.
Does Kagi or Msty have a free plan?
Yes, both do. Kagi is free trial and Msty is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.
Which is cheaper, Kagi or Msty?
Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.