The Small Web is now more accessible. Kagi, a Palo Alto-based search startup that offers ad-free, paid search, has released iOS and Android apps that give users pocket-sized access to its selected collection of non-commercial, human-authored websites. This space is a human-feeling corner of the internet.
Kagi calls the Small Web a handpicked index of over 30,000 real-people-built websites—personal blogs, webcomics, independent video creators, open-source projects, and more. These sites existed before algorithms determined online content. Kagi expects more users to want something different as AI-generated content floods mainstream search results.
What the Small Web app for iOS and Android has to offer
According to a report by TechCrunch, Kagi first launched the Small Web initiative back in 2023 as a desktop feature designed to bring indie and personal websites back into the spotlight within its search results. The move to mobile is an important extension of that vision.
The new apps are not just a mobile mirror of the desktop experience. Kagi has built them specifically for discovery on the go. Here is what users can do:
- Browse content from over 30,000 blogs, YouTube creators, GitHub repositories, and webcomics
- Filter by category—choose from videos, blogs, code repos, or comics to narrow your feed
- Step through random selections in a Stumble. Upon-style discovery mode
- Read pages in a clean, distraction-free mode without ads or pop-ups
- Bookmark posts and favorite sites to revisit later
- Send appreciation directly to creators whose work you enjoy
The apps are also supported by browser extensions, so users who prefer desktop browsing can integrate the Small Web discovery experience directly into their regular search workflow.
The official blog post from Kagi said that the update also added content categories to help users get past the endless feed. You can now focus on the topics that interest you the most instead of having to look at everything at once. This makes the Small Web experience feel more personal and less overwhelming.
Community participation is also baked in. Anyone can suggest new sites for inclusion via Kagi’s public GitHub page. Websites already part of the Small Web initiative can display a badge to identify themselves as part of a community committed to authentic, human-made content. For bloggers using Kagi’s own Scribbles platform, adding the badge is as simple as enabling it in the blog settings.
Why the small web is important now
The timing of this mobile launch is no coincidence. AI-generated content has become so widespread that it is increasingly difficult to distinguish real human writing from machine output in standard search results. Kagi’s Small Web initiative is a direct response to that shift.
The Kagi Small Web app’s Google Play Store listing plainly states that algorithms, ads, and AI-generated noise have dominated the web. The Small Web cuts through that to surface genuine human expression from people who create because they love it—not because an SEO strategy told them to.
That framing resonates with a growing segment of internet users who feel disconnected by today’s algorithmically curated, ad-saturated online experience. Kagi’s subscription-based model—there are no ads, and the company does not profit from keeping users endlessly scrolling—means its incentives are actually aligned with giving users quality over quantity.
However, the Small Web has detractors. Hacker News users noted that Kagi’s curation model prioritizes RSS feeds with recent posts. That excludes older, single-purpose, experimental, and personal websites without RSS feeds, some of the IndieWeb’s most intriguing corners. A user reported finding an AI-generated site in the Small Web index, highlighting the difficulty of scaling a human-only collection.
Compared the idea to StumbleUpon, a discovery tool that let users randomly hop between websites before closing in 2018. Kagi’s category filters and random discovery mode reflect that exploration spirit, a welcome alternative to recommendation engines that show you more of what you already know.
FAQs
Q: What is the Small Web?
Kagi’s curated index of more than 30,000 non-commercial, human-written websites is called The Small Web. It includes personal blogs, webcomics, independent videos, and open-source projects. It helps people find real content made by real people, not the AI-generated and ad-supported content that shows up most often in search results.
Q: Is it free to use the Kagi Small Web app?
The Small Web app is available at no cost on both iOS and Android platforms. While Kagi’s core search engine requires a paid subscription, the Small Web app functions independently. Even without a Kagi search subscription, users can still search for, discover, and save content.
Q: How do I get my site on the Small Web?
Kagi’s public GitHub page allows you to suggest a site for addition to the Small Web. The rules for curation right now say that sites with active RSS feeds and recent posts are more likely to be added. People in the community can also give money to Kagi. People who own sites that are accepted can put a Small Web badge on them.
In conclusion, the Small Web has always been intriguing because it reconnects you with creative, curious people who built the internet instead of big companies. Kagi brought that idea to iOS and Android for everyday mobile users. The Kagi Web reminds us that people built the internet and that it is still great. Not enough attention to compete with mainstream search, but worth keeping.
