Cosmos is what many people try when Pinterest gets too loud. It's quieter, it searches by colour and by similar images, and it credits the artists.
It's still a place for looking. The images live in your Cosmos account, online, and a project's own files and notes have no natural place there.
This page sets the two side by side: what each one does well, where each stops, and how they work together. I checked Cosmos's details against its own site in September 2026.
Visual discovery
Cosmos
Cosmos is a calmer place to discover and collect images, made for creative people. It's known for its visual search: you can look for images similar to one you like or search by colour, and it credits the artists behind what you find.
You collect into clusters, save from the web with the browser extension or the app, and choose to show, blur or hide AI-generated images. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android. The free plan has a limit on saves, and Premium removes it.
Like any discovery service, it lives online and inside its own account. It's at its best while the search is still open, and less suited to the working set of one project, with notes and files that never came from the web.
Cosmos Compared With Hive
Cosmos and Hive both suit people who find Pinterest too loud, but they answer different halves of the problem. Cosmos makes looking calmer, and Hive is where the chosen images are kept in private.
For the working set of a project, Hive is the better choice. It holds files that never came from the web, including PDFs, audio and your own photographs, next to the images that did. It works offline, and the library is a folder you choose rather than an account on a service. Hive also has apps for iPad and Mac, where Cosmos runs on the web, iPhone and Android.
For discovery, Cosmos is better. It searches by colour and by similar images across work you haven't seen yet, and it credits the artists. Hive searches only your own library.
- Choose Cosmos when
- You want visual discovery with less noise, and search by colour or similarity.
- Choose Hive when
- You need an offline, private library that also holds your own files and notes.
With HiveLook in Cosmos, and keep the few you will use in Hive. Save them with their links, and add the files that never came from the web.
- Runs on
- Web, iPhone, Android
- Price
- Free up to a save limit; Premium
- Official site
- cosmos.so
Side by Side
The rows cover what people ask about most, and either side can be switched to another tool. The apps change over time, so each tool's own site has the final word.
| HivePrivate reference library | CosmosVisual discovery | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on |
|
|
| Made for | A private reference library across Apple devices | Visual discovery and collecting |
| Saves from | Share sheet, Safari extension, drag and drop, files | Browser extension, apps |
| Organizes with | Folders, tags, stars, notes and Smart Folders | Clusters, search by colour and similar images |
| Holds | Images, videos, audio, PDFs, links and bookmarks | Images, videos, links and notes |
| Where it lives | A folder you choose: on the device, in iCloud Drive, or on an external SSD with Pro | Cosmos's service, with your account |
| Price | Free; Pro $3.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $34.99 once | Free up to a save limit; Premium |