Ad and tracker blocking DNS service (KagiDNS, similar to AdGuard DNS/NextDNS)

manderex

A DNS service could round out the Kagi product portfolio nicely. Kagi search already has great personalization, this approach could be applied to DNS filtering/whitelisting/blocklists etc.

My personal experience with AdGuard DNS and NextDNS range from manually setting DNS with IP address, and installing user profiles (macOS and iOS) which has done well to circumvent sticky ISP DNS enforcement. These are great products but clearly compete for users, and I think incorporating into the Kagi family might taste better (like Kagi Pass in search).

Allow users to manually set their DNS addresses to point to a Kagi destination, either through direct configuration or device profile. AdGuard DNS and NextDNS are very good comparators, so good that one might wonder if having a Kagi-ized DNS option is needed - but I think tying it into search functionality might be a clever enhancement.

RoxyRoxyRoxy

This seems a little out there ngl but is actually smth I’d love now that you’ve put the idea in my head. I currently use Cloudflare DNS but I’m trying to move away from Cloudflare. Idk any other good DNS aside from Quad9 so a Kagi DNS would be sweet.

manderex

RoxyRoxyRoxy it is a punt for sure. I’ve setup Kagi family; loved using Assistant and practically replaced other AGI like Perplexity by searching with “?”. When configuring NextDNS profiles on devices it felt like a service that could fit under the Kagi umbrella (wonder if NextDNS could be an acquisition target?!) because it is similarly dependable as Kagi.

sarno

RoxyRoxyRoxy Huh, mind if I ask why? Just curious as I currently use 1.1.1.1 myself!

@manderex I do think this would be cool, but I don't know what kind of bill the infrastructure required for this to work (and work at low latencies world-wide-ish) would rack up. I also assume it'd be more an ecosystem thing than being an individual profit generator, so the team might be concerned by the associated opportunity cost.

I could potentially see a lot of prospective users getting introduced to Kagi by searching for privacy-respecting DNS options and hearing KagiDNS recommendations, but I'm torn because I'm also personally of the opinion that the team isn't exactly lacking for side-projects atm, and it mightn't hurt for them to focus more on core product offerings.

RoxyRoxyRoxy

sarno There was some drama regarding Cloudflare and deplatforming/freedom of speech a few years ago that showed they don’t align with the values I’d seek in a DNS provider.

carl

What could Kagi add that would be better for a user than the current solutions?