“After more than 20 years in operation, once popular software payments processor Kagi [on Sunday] announced on its home page that it has shut down effectively immediately,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors.
“Longtime Mac users are probably familiar with Kagi, which assisted numerous small developers in accepting credit card payments from users,” Slivka reports. “Kagi arose in the 1990s on the popularity of shareware, which allowed developers to widely distribute their software with time or feature limits as trial versions and then offer unlock codes for a fee to open up full functionality.”
“With the evolution of payment processing in the form of PayPal and Stripe, Kagi’s popularity waned, though it continued to be used by a number of small developers,” Slivka reports. “Ultimately, however, that user base was not enough to sustain the service, with founder Kee Nethery also citing a decade-old case of supplier fraud that Kagi was never able to recover from as a major reason for finally closing down.”
More info in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wow, there’s a blast from the past!
R.I.P., Kagi.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Frank” for the heads up.]
I have an ancient file folder stuffed with receipts from Kagi. They were the go-to processor for Newton “apps” as well as for Mac shareware.
Farewell Kagi!
Yup – I used them a lot, way back when.
I also loved that they were local – based in the Bay Area.
They will be missed.
So long Kagi, we barely knew ye.
Shareware was a grand idea to combat software piracy and the awful copy protection it spawned. It was based on a belief in people’s basic honesty. And it worked! Kagi helped make that noble experiment possible.
Ahhh. The good ol days os 7 thru 9. Seems like a lifetime ago, crikey. It was!
Since you are still alive, it was only a partial-lifetime ago! 😉
“Supplier fraud” is a scary situation, which small companies have to deal with.
Where’s that good N.J. arm twister, Vito, when you need him?
Will be missed
Fond memories.
It’s a sad day. Bye bye Kaji 😢
RIP Kagi! You made a few bucks from me in the mid ’00’s but nothing since the iPhone came out. Kagi like most technology over time became obsolete. Kagi filled its niche well until it wasn’t needed anymore.