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Comparison · Collab
Flame vs Kagi Search
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Flame and Kagi Search — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Flame vs Kagi Search: at a glance
| Feature | Flame | Kagi Search |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Collab | Collab |
| Velocity score | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | self-hosting, homelab, dashboard, dormant | search-api, assistant, mobile-apps, user-control |
| Last editorial update | 12h ago | 6d ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is Flame?
Self-hosted dashboard that finished its feature arc and stopped shipping in 2023.
Flame is a self-hosted startpage for homelab services — app tiles, bookmarks, weather, and a search bar. The feature set it set out to build was finished across 2021 and 2022: custom app descriptions, Docker secrets support, a secondary search provider, and a custom theme editor. The most recent release in this feed is v2.3.1 from July 2023, and it is entirely bug fixes.
What is Kagi Search?
Kagi is unbundling itself: search as an API, Assistant as an app, AI as a switch.
The dated part of this feed stops in April on housekeeping releases — reliability work, refinements, a Small Web expansion. Everything since sits in undated rows and is more substantial: the Search API went to public preview in May carrying each account's own lenses and blocklists, June started rebuilding search widgets, July added a global off-switch for AI in search, and July 30 put Kagi Assistant on iOS and Android as a standalone app.
Flame vs Kagi Search: editorial side-by-side
Flame
0.0COLLAB
Self-hosted dashboard that finished its feature arc and stopped shipping in 2023.
◆ Current state
Flame is a self-hosted startpage for homelab services — app tiles, bookmarks, weather, and a search bar. The feature set it set out to build was finished across 2021 and 2022: custom app descriptions, Docker secrets support, a secondary search provider, and a custom theme editor. The most recent release in this feed is v2.3.1 from July 2023, and it is entirely bug fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc reads as a project reaching completion rather than one under active development. Later releases shifted from adding capability to correcting the edges of what already existed — search-provider interactions, iOS input rendering, theme editor field sizes, label wording. There has been nothing since.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in these entries suggests further releases; anyone deploying Flame should treat the current version as the final one unless the project resumes.
Kagi Search
0.0COLLAB
Kagi is unbundling itself: search as an API, Assistant as an app, AI as a switch.
◆ Current state
The dated part of this feed stops in April on housekeeping releases — reliability work, refinements, a Small Web expansion. Everything since sits in undated rows and is more substantial: the Search API went to public preview in May carrying each account's own lenses and blocklists, June started rebuilding search widgets, July added a global off-switch for AI in search, and July 30 put Kagi Assistant on iOS and Android as a standalone app.
◆ Where it's heading
Kagi is separating what used to be one subscription into distinct products with distinct surfaces: a search index other people can query, an assistant that lives on a phone, and a search page where the AI layer is optional. The through-line is user control — preferences that follow the API key, widgets that can be switched off individually, threads that can be exported or deleted in bulk — which is the one thing an ad-funded competitor cannot match on. Growth now depends on those surfaces rather than on convincing people to change their default search engine.
◆ Prediction
The Search API is the piece with launch details still outstanding, so expect it to leave preview with firm pricing and the beta users migrated; the mobile Assistant is described as a first step, which points to the missing platform features arriving next.
Alternatives to Flame and Kagi Search
Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Flame or Kagi Search.
AFFiNE
A nightly canary train where the AI platform work hides between dependency bumps
CommaFeed
A self-hosted RSS reader that now spends most of its release notes on security.
SiYuan
SiYuan's v3.8.0 train restates one AI feature set across seven consecutive builds.
Jellyfin
Jellyfin renumbers to 12.0 and spends the whole cycle paying down its backend rewrite.
Teable
Teable is spending its release budget making bring-your-own-database failures survivable.
See all Flame alternatives → · See all Kagi Search alternatives →
Recent activity from Flame and Kagi Search
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agoKagi Search- Tuning the Orchestra #
- 4mo agoKagi Search- Small Web Expansion and Translate goes viral # ⚡
- 5mo agoKagi Search- Smoothing the edges #
- 6mo agoKagi Search- Kagi Translate on Android & iOS: translate anything, anywhere # ⚡
- 6mo agoKagi Search- Assistant reliability upgrades and Search refinements #
- 6mo agoKagi Search- New Year tune-up: smoother everything! #
- 3y agoFlameBug fixes for local search, iOS input styling, and theme editor
- 4y agoFlameCustom theme editor and secondary search provider
- 4y agoFlameIn-app location detection and tightened file permissions
- 4y agoFlameLocal search covers app descriptions; background task tuning
- 4y agoFlameCustom app descriptions and a cluster deployment fix
- 4y agoFlameDocker secrets support
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Flame and Kagi Search?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Flame and Kagi Search are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Flame better than Kagi Search?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Flame and Kagi Search are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Flame?
Top Flame alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Flame alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/flame-dashboard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Kagi Search?
Top Kagi Search alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Kagi Search alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kagi for the full list with editorial commentary on each.