I’m slowly escaping Google’s ecosystem, and it’s easier than I thought

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Google’s got products to fill almost every consumer tech niche, from web search to smartphones to connected cameras to office software. For a long time, I liked that about the company; using Google’s services everywhere I could felt like a way to simplify my technological life. I’ve gotten a lot of value out of Google’s big, interconnected ecosystem over the years.

But as the company’s put its weight behind converting Search into a chatbot and adding Gemini-powered features I don’t use to every corner of every app and device, I’ve found myself wishing I wasn’t so invested in its products . I’ve stuck around mostly because of inertia: I’m used to Google, and it’s already got all my data, and moving to competing services seemed like a big undertaking.

Over the past couple of months, though, I’ve finally started making a real effort to diversify my tech diet. It’s been a lot easier than I thought it would.

I haven’t completely gotten away from Google’s ecosystem, and I’m sure I won’t anytime soon. Some of Google’s services are genuinely irreplaceable in the current market, and I’m committed to making the hardware I already own last as long as I can (the Google Home Max is still a great speaker!). But I don’t feel like my entire online life is mediated by Google anymore.

Search seemed like the easiest service to replace, and maybe the most impactful day-to-day. I started checking out alternatives earlier this summer; after spending a few days each with DuckDuckGo and Startpage, I landed on Kagi .

I used to balk at the idea of paying for web search — I’ve been getting it for free since I was a kid — but at $10 a month on the unlimited Professional tier, I’m pleased with Kagi so far. (Kagi also offers a $5 plan with up to 300 searches per month.)

Kagi is a very competent take on the classic, blue links-style web search experience Google offered before AI Overviews came on the scene. It leverages both Google’s and Bing’s search indexes in addition to its own, and it does almost everything I used to use Google Search for just as well.