If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember the way the web used to be: sites made and developed by humans. You could load up directories like AltaVista or Yahoo and click through categories including Home & Family, Science, and Computers. In those listings, you’d find pages put together by hobbyists, academics, and tech nerds.

People gathered around forums and bulletin boards, and web developers tended to avoid putting images on their sites because it would slow down page loading. The idea of watching a video over the internet seemed almost impossible.

In the decades since those formative years, the web has transformed almost beyond recognition. Almost everything is now monetized to the nth degree, from search results and forums to social media and news outlets. Powerful apps and tools now run inside browsers, while AI is hard at work removing the need for the open web altogether.

There are now a good number of companies that are keen to see the spirit of the old web return, and that includes Kagi. For several years, Kagi has been running a search engine based on privacy and security. Now Kagi has expanded its efforts beyond its Google-alternative search tool to curate a “small web” of sites driven and written by humans.

The experience proved more refreshing than I expected, offering the opportunity to read essays and look at digital art that is just put out there—not to go viral or to make money but just for the sake of displaying creativity and sharing something with the world at large. Kagi just might be on to something here.