Kagi with Bitcoin and Lightning: plans, prices and the top-up route

Kagi is a paid, ad-free search engine with an AI assistant on top, and it has taken Bitcoin since 2023. The route is a top-up, not a subscription: you pay an OpenNode invoice in sats, Kagi adds the dollar value to your account balance, and plan renewals are paid from that balance until it’s empty. Lightning works, which matters on small amounts. None of it passes through us, and we earn nothing from it.

Plans and payment options were re-checked on kagi.com on October 12, 2026. Search prices haven’t moved this year. The one billing addition is Kagi Translate as an $8-a-month plan of its own, while the main plans keep Translate included.

What Kagi costs

All prices are US dollars, with tax or VAT added for your billing country. The yearly option is 10% cheaper. Kagi sells through Reach as merchant of record: receipts read "Kagi by Reach US" and card statements "RCH-KAGI.COM".

Ultimate’s model list includes Claude, GPT, Gemini and DeepSeek. Any Duo or Family member can be moved up to Ultimate for $15 a month or $162 a year.

Two rules save money. A month in which you don’t use Kagi at all is credited back to your account automatically. Team plans only bill users who are active. Kagi offers no student price.

Paying for Kagi in sats

1. Go to the top-up page, kagi.com/settings/account_topup (the "Add pre-paid credit" button under Billing).
2. Choose OpenNode and type the amount in dollars.
3. Pay the invoice in BTC, either on-chain or with a Lightning wallet.
4. Open kagi.com/settings/billing_plan and choose a plan. Stripe shows a confirmation step, but it charges your balance and asks for no card.

What to know:

• Coins. Bitcoin only, on-chain or Lightning. Kagi lists nothing else.
• Fees. Use Lightning for small top-ups. On-chain fees can eat a noticeable share of a $5 or $10 payment, a point Kagi users have raised on its feedback forum. Tax or VAT is applied when the plan is charged, not when you top up.
• KYC. None. Kagi chose OpenNode so people could pay privately without identity checks, and its privacy page lists crypto as a way to be more anonymous. Our guide to paid AI without a card or an ID check goes further.
• Refunds. An OpenNode payment is final.
• Renewal. A balance is not a subscription by itself. Stripe draws from your credit first; when it runs dry, renewals stop. Top up in time.
• JavaScript. The top-up page needs JavaScript enabled and may stay locked until you set a billing country. That rules out Tor Browser on its safest setting.
• Missing credit. If sats arrived but Stripe shows $0, open kagi.com/settings/billing_plan. That cleared it for a user on Kagi’s forum whose $12 Lightning payment didn’t appear.

Every way to pay Kagi

The in-app purchase is $3.99 more than Ultimate on the web. Apple charges any Apple Account balance before the card on file, though some subscriptions can’t use it. Neither the Android search app nor the Safari extension sells a plan.

Fine print

Gifting. Settings → Gifts lets you buy Kagi for someone else, but only while you hold an active subscription yourself, and only by card. You get a link to pass on. There are no Kagi gift cards in shops; anything sold under that name elsewhere isn’t Kagi’s.

Covering other people. Apart from gifts, Duo, Family and Team let one person pay for several. One account may be used on all your devices, as long as you don’t share it.

Plan changes. Upgrades and downgrades take effect at any time, and leftover value is prorated. Cancel and you keep access until the cycle closes; if you’d rather have the unused part back, [email protected] prorates a refund. Sats paid through OpenNode are excluded from that.

When you’d rather pay with something else

Kagi’s Bitcoin route is direct, so if Kagi is what you want, pay Kagi. If you hold Monero or USDT, which Kagi won’t take, we sell these for those coins, BTC and the rest of your wallet, with our fee included:

• Perplexity Pro: AI search with a choice of models, the closest thing we sell to Kagi with its Assistant.
• Poe: several models in one app, much like Assistant’s model picker.
• ChatGPT Plus: a general assistant. Which AI subscriptions are worth your sats sets ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini side by side.

Perplexity Pro

Perplexity

starts at $56.10 fees included

Pro $20 · Max $200 · Max yearly $2,000per month · 1, 3, 6, 12 months

Longer plans save up to 30%

Accounts based in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or EU

Pick a plan for Perplexity Pro

Poe

Quora

starts at $56.07 fees included

Plus $19.99per month · 3, 6, 12 months

Longer plans save up to 30%

Accounts based in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or EU

Pick a plan for Poe

ChatGPT

OpenAI

starts at $56.10 fees included

Plus $20 · Pro $100 / $200 / $500per month · 1, 3, 6, 12 months

Longer plans save up to 30%

Accounts based in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or EU

Pick a plan for ChatGPT

Questions about Kagi and Bitcoin

What are Kagi’s prices?

$5 a month for Starter, $10 for Professional and $25 for Ultimate, before tax. Starter is $54 if you pay for the year.

Can I pay Kagi with Lightning?

Yes. OpenNode invoices can be paid over Lightning or on-chain, and the amount lands as account credit.

Do I need a card to subscribe with Bitcoin?

No. After the top-up, you confirm the plan in Stripe, which takes the money from your balance without asking for a card.

Is Monero accepted?

No. Kagi only lists Bitcoin and Lightning through OpenNode for crypto.

Is there a student discount?

No. Kagi’s FAQ says plainly that it doesn’t offer one.

Can I get my money back?

For card payments, email [email protected] after cancelling and Kagi prorates a refund. OpenNode payments are not refundable.

Pages we checked

• Kagi: Pricing and Privacy
• Kagi Help: Payment methods, Billing, Gifting, Managing your plan, Tax and VAT and FAQ
• Kagi Blog: PayPal, EUR and Lightning payments (August 31, 2023) and Kagi Translate (September 2026)
• Kagi Feedback: OpenNode credit not usable and Lightning as the default
• App Store: Kagi Assistant; Apple: How subscriptions are billed