Phind
Verified Oct 22, 2026 DiscontinuedPhind closed on 16 January 2026; the domain answers with a bot check and nothing behind it Other discontinued tools
Developer answer engine that cited documentation before answering; the hosted service closed in January 2026
Listed on EffectHub ·
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Freemium
Nothing on sale: the search service shut down on 16 January 2026 and the site answers only a bot-verification page, so no pricing page exists to read. It ran as freemium with a paid Pro tier while live.
Use tool ↗About Phind
Phind was a developer-focused answer engine that read the referenced documentation and forum pages before answering a programming question with code and citations. The hosted search service closed on 16 January 2026; the company, founded in 2022 by Michael Royzen and Justin Wei in San Francisco through Y Combinator's Summer 2022 batch, is listed as inactive, and the domain now returns only a bot-verification page. Paid subscribers were refunded pro rata and given until 30 January 2026 to export their history. Its open-weight code models remain downloadable, but there is no product to sign up for.
- Platforms
- Web
- API
- Not confirmed
- Last verified
- Oct 22, 2026
Verified sources
- Y Combinator company page lists Phind as Inactive, founded 2022 (Summer 2022 batch) by Michael Royzen and Justin Wei, San Francisco (15 October 2026)ycombinator.com ↗
- Homepage returns HTTP 403 and a 'Performing security verification' bot-check page with no product content (15 October 2026)phind.com ↗
- Third-party profile reports the search service shut down on 16 January 2026 with prorated refunds and a 30 January export deadline; PitchBook lists the company as out of businessneuronfeed.com ↗
Is Phind legit?
We don’t label tools safe or unsafe. Below are the records we checked ourselves, each with the date we read it.
- Domain registered
- Jan 30, 1999 (27 years ago)Registry record (RDAP), registrar NameCheap, Inc., looked up Sep 6, 2026
- TLS certificate
- Issued by Google Trust Services, valid until Jan 7, 2027Seen in our own connection to the site, before our last check on Oct 22, 2026
- Last checked
- Oct 22, 2026The site no longer answers
- On the market since
- 2022The vendor's own material, read by us
- Operated by
- Phind, United StatesOur research, card verified Oct 15, 2026
Pros & cons of Phind
Phind no longer exists as a service: the search engine shut on 16 January 2026 and the site now serves only a bot check, so there is nothing to recommend or buy. Anyone who relied on its cited, documentation-first answers should move to a general assistant with web search or to Perplexity; what remains of Phind is its open-weight models for people who want to self-host a code model.
Pros
- Open-weight Phind code models remain downloadable
- Cited, documentation-first answers were its distinguishing feature while it ran
- Paid users were refunded pro rata and given until 30 January 2026 to export history
Cons
- Hosted service closed on 16 January 2026
- Website answers only a bot-verification page
- Company listed as inactive by Y Combinator and as out of business by PitchBook
Best for
- Readers checking why a bookmarked developer search engine stopped working
- Self-hosters who want Phind's open-weight code models
Not for
- Anyone looking for a working developer search engine
- Teams that need a vendor with an active support line
Watch out: Do not pay anyone claiming to sell Phind access: the service is closed and the company inactive.