Opportunities › Privacy-focused search engine for consumers › Proposed app
Plainfind
Private, script-free web search you can tune with your own rules
- Score
- 49
- confidence 54
- Evidence
- 20
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 6
- named in sources
- First version
- 35 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop and mobile
- PWA: on computers and phones alike
- Market since
- 2008
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop and mobile: Users search on phones for quick queries on the go and at desks for research, needing the same plain HTML interface and rule tuning across both contexts. Sample screens on a computer and a phone, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Results
Private search- 1 wikipedia.orgBoosted
About this appAI proposal
Plainfind is a paid search engine for people who want results without tracking. Pages load as plain HTML, so it works with JavaScript turned off, in text browsers and on slow connections. You pay for search directly, so nobody needs to sell your queries.
You decide where answers come from. Rank several search providers in your own order, boost the domains you trust, hide the ones you never want, and set shortcuts that send a query to one provider or site.
The material says users value simple, script-free pages and personal controls. Plainfind aims at that group, priced under the paid plans Kagi lists, with an account page that shows what is stored: very little.
- Tagline
- Search that answers to you, not to advertisers.
- Voice
- calmplainhonest
- Why this name
- Plain says light and script-free; find says what it does. Two ordinary words, easy to say and spell.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Works without JavaScript
Every page is server-rendered HTML. Search, settings and your account all work with scripts off, and pages stay light on old devices.
No member yet
Provider priority
Connect several search providers and drag them into the order you want. Results are merged by your ranking, not by an ad model.
No member yet
Domain boost and block
Raise sites you trust, push others down, or remove them entirely. Rules apply to every search.
No member yet
Search shortcuts
Type a short bang-style prefix to send a query straight to one provider, one site or a saved search.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#2F6B4FPine · primary#F6F1E7Paper · surface#1F2A24Ink · text#D9822BAmber · accent#3A5A8CSlate Blue · data
Typography
Aa
Plainfind
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Search that answers to you, not to advertisers.
PricingAI proposal
Kagi's verified pricing page lists two paid plans from $4 to $12 by usage. These tiers sit below that range as a starting point to test. The material gives no other competitor prices.
Trial
Free
- 50 searches to try it
- All privacy and rule features
Plain
$3 a month
- Fair-use searches
- Provider ranking
- Domain boost and block
- Shortcuts
Plain Plus
$7 a month
- Higher search allowance
- All providers
- Rule pack export
- Priority support
Would you pay Plain · $3 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- No loop in the product. Reaches customers through content, privacy forums and word of mouth. Rule packs can be shared as files, but that is a minor loop.
- Do they become customers?
- Visitors from forums can become paying users after a trial. Test whether the free 50-search trial converts to a paid plan.
- First customers
- Privacy-minded developers and Linux or text-browser users in the EU who already pay for software and dislike script-heavy pages.
- Where to reach them
- Hacker News and Lobsters: Show a launch post with the no-JavaScript demo and an honest cost breakdown.
- Privacy communities: Offer trial codes in privacy-focused forums and subreddits.
- First milestone
- Fifty trial users and ten paying customers in the first two months, with under 10% monthly churn.
Why people already pay for this
- Public claimUruky has over 50 paying customers and has launched a site search product for website owners
- AI inferenceUsers value the simple UI that does not require JavaScript and search personalization features
- Public claimUruky offers source code access to customers after 12 months of payment, a key differentiator
- Public claimUruky is positioned as a cheaper alternative to Kagi
- Verified
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Search data sourcesSeveral licensed search provider APIsResults come from providers; each needs its own terms, key and cost per query.
- This app · Rate limiting and cacheEdge rate limiter, no query loggingProtects provider quotas and balance without storing user queries.
RisksAI inference
- PlatformProvider API terms or prices may change, or forbid merging and re-ranking results, which would break the core product.
- CommercialPer-query provider costs could exceed a $3 plan for heavy users; fair-use limits must be tested.
- CommercialFree privacy search engines exist; people may not pay for it. The material only shows a small paying base, as a public claim.
- TechnicalResult quality from merged providers without scripts may feel weaker than mainstream search, which drives churn.
- RegulatorySelling in the EU needs clear privacy terms and VAT handling even when little data is kept.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.