61

Google isn't what it used to be, but the free alternatives like DuckDuckGo aren't really that great. Given how vital a good search engine has been to make any use of the internet since the late 90s, I think it's not unreasonable to offer quality search at a reasonable price.

I'm not aware of any paid-for search engines, and I'm not sure what they could charge for without seeming greedy. Perhaps have a free tier that limits you to so many searches per day and a paid tier with unlimited searches and another with API access or something. The key would be to have a good-better-best system that makes everyone feel they're getting a reasonable product for what they're paying while keeping the experience serviceable for free riders.

Email is similar. While it's not too hard to set up a bare SMTP server, a bare SMTP server will get you absolutely nowhere because every reputable email service will flag it as spam. The hard part is making the server pass all the sniff tests that other services use. You also cannot self-host because residential ISPs block port 25, again as a spam prevention mechanism.

I pay for Proton, not because I trust them per se, indeed the more a company trumpets about how secure and anonymous they are the more suspicious I get. But I trust them more than I trust Google and that's what matters.

all 48 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] seathru@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 10 months ago

As long as it's fairly priced with proper privacy, definitely.

kagi.com is a paid search engine like you describe.

[-] alk@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 10 months ago

I use kagi. Better search results than Google. No bullshit. Love it.

[-] chazwhiz@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

I pay for Kagi Search, it’s awesome. It’s got a ton of useful features you’d never see in advertising-based search engines, like the ability to up and down rank sites.

[-] recklessengagement@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yes. I pay for Proton for mail and Kagi for search.

[-] LeapSecond@lemmy.zip 13 points 10 months ago

Email yes but only with my own domain so I can change providers if the price changes.

I wouldn't pay for anything I'd prefer to keep anonymous and that includes search.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

How is your email not flagged as spam? Last time I ran my own email/domain, I could hardly deliver anything. Been 10-years though and I've learned more about best practices. Can it be done now?

[-] nao@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

Running your own SMTP is still going to be tough. But you can use a mail provider that lets you use your own domain, then you can use their SMTP which should not get flagged as easily.

[-] LeapSecond@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 months ago

I haven't done it myself but know people who do. If you use a known provider and only the domain is yours I wouldn't expect it to be blocked as companies also use their own domain for their email.

[-] leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone 9 points 10 months ago

For email, yes. For search, not until the subscription engines like Kagi go open source (maybe Kagi are and I just missed it but I can't see a link to a repo on their website).

I have no objections to paying for a service but I am long past just trusting software. As for kagi in particular, $10 (plus tax) per month for unlimited search is a ridiculous price.

[-] brendansimms@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Free proton for email, paid Kagi for search.

[-] 6nk06@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago

Kagi and Tuta. OP is drunk.

[-] DesertCreosote@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 10 months ago

Yep. I switched to Kagi a bit over a year ago, which is paid search. And I pay for my email through Migadu; I thought about hosting it myself but honestly it seemed like more potential hassle than I wanted to deal with.

[-] lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Fastmail is so insanely good it’s crazy how bad Gmail got

[-] RalfWausE@blackneon.net 6 points 10 months ago

I pay for Posteo and Metager, i would never want to go back to Goole...

[-] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 10 months ago

What do you mean "if"? At this point anything works better than google. Specially those that cost money.

[-] WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Can you have a good search engine anymore? You can get rid of ads but now the fact SEO marketing killed internet searches.

[-] SethranKada@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

I pay for proton mail, but selfhost my own meta-search engine. Its not as pure as as one that crawls the web on its own, but the ones that do aren't developed enough for everyday use in my opinion.

[-] python@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

I use Purelymail for Email, just because it was the cheapest and easiest solution to use my own domain without having to host anything myself. I don't think any other Email service will beat their 10$ per year price.

For search engine, I have tried Kagi but just didn't see the point. My DDG searches are perfectly fine and I still find everything I need with relative ease. Although I've been actually needing the search engine much less recently as I've embraced just reading the official documentation for things I program with haha

[-] SpatchyIsOnline@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

£12-ish a year on mailbox.org

I made the switch about 6 months ago and I'm very happy with them

[-] AceFuzzLord@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 months ago

Not doing it for search engines currently, but I am absolutely doing it for a VPN ( Proton ) for the bonus of having better drive and email attached.

I will agree with you on trusting Proton more than google and how suspicious Proton can seem.

[-] JASN_DE@feddit.org 3 points 10 months ago

I pay for email (Posteo) and selfhost SearXNG, so more or less yes.

[-] 30p87@feddit.org 3 points 10 months ago

I selfhost mail and pay for search, though I use the API of the paid service in my searxng.

[-] atro_city@fedia.io 3 points 10 months ago

No. There's no guarantee they won't get greedy and start selling my data anyway. They'd have to have a really good pitch and some way to back it up that would get me to pay. I yet know what it is, but I haven't seen it yet.

[-] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago

I pay for email. Proton Unlimited atm which includes email, cloud, vpn, password and email aliases. They offer more but that's all I use. Their Linux support is crap so I may move to other services.

For search, I using Startpage. Seems to give me the results I want. Once in a while I change to Brave, Qwant, or DDG.

[-] Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago

I pay for proton to get both email and VPN. Search really doesn't matter that much to me anymore. I've learned to just live with the annoying aspects of duck duck go, and I use it infrequently enough that i don't think I'd ever be willing to pay for it.

[-] karashta@piefed.social 2 points 10 months ago

I pay for posteo for email and use Qwant for searches.

[-] zlatiah@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

For search engine: I'm self hosting SearXNG so I'm already indirectly paying via domain registry/VPS? So yes. Technically this can be done for free though (local docker, random RasPi laying around, ...)

For email: paid (mailbox.org), worth it. Selfhosting email was too much of a headache at least for me

[-] Berengaria_of_Navarre@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago
[-] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

My dream IEP would provide secure search, email, calendar, office suite and cloud services. I would pay just one provider for all services combined. I would gladly double my monthly subscription for such a service, with 2 accounts at 50go each

[-] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 1 points 10 months ago

I paid for an email service to step back from google and the services were so disappointing after a couple years and never improved that i couldn't justify the admittedly low cost and went back to freemails.

[-] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

The fuck do you get for paid email? It’s literally just SMTP/POP — where’s the “value add”? I use my own email client so the bullshit ads from Google aren’t an issue, but am I missing out on some email 2.0 magic??

[-] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 3 points 10 months ago

It’s literally just SMTP/POP — where’s the “value add”?

I'd say to the majority of people, that first part reads like nonsense.

The value add is thus "you don't have to learn computer stuff."

[-] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org -1 points 10 months ago
this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2025
61 points (95.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

41523 readers
1448 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world


7) No Hit-and-Run questions.
Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.


8) No Bots.
Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS