Cosmos

What Cosmos does

Cosmos is a visual discovery and curation platform positioned as an ad-free, AI-filtered alternative to Pinterest, targeting creative professionals including designers, artists, photographers, and architects. The product enables users to search imagery by color, keyword, or visual similarity; save and organize images into collections; collaborate on shared boards; and follow other users and tastemakers for curated inspiration. Cosmos is delivered through a mobile app on iOS, iPad, and Apple Vision and a web platform at cosmos.so, with both surfaces sharing the same core feature set.

The platform's core technology combines computer vision and machine learning for three differentiated capabilities: (1) AI-generated content detection that allows users to hide AI imagery from their feeds, (2) automated image attribution that surfaces creator credits and tracks provenance across the web, and (3) ML-based recommendations for content discovery. Cosmos operates a freemium business model: the core platform is free, with premium subscriptions priced at $8 per month or $72 per year via iOS in-app purchase. Distribution is product-led and concentrated in the Apple App Store and Google Play, supplemented by organic social presence on TikTok, Instagram, and X. The company has reached millions of users collectively saving over 10 million images per month.

Cosmos is headquartered in New York with an engineering hub in Warsaw, Poland, and operates with a small distributed team of fewer than ten employees. The company has raised $21 million in total equity funding: a $6 million seed round from GV (Google Ventures), Accel, and over 50 angels in 2022–2023, and a $15 million Series A in January 2026 co-led by Shine Capital and Matrix with participation from GV, Accel, Plug and Play, and Squarespace founder Anthony Casalena. Founder Andy McCune leads the company.

Name

Cosmos

Legal name

Cosmos Entity, LLC

Website

https://cosmos.so

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cosmos is a visual discovery and curation platform serving designers, artists, photographers, and architects as an ad-free, AI-filtered alternative to Pinterest, offering color and visual search, collaborative collections, and automated image attribution across iOS, Apple Vision, and web.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Visual Discovery and Curation Software

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290)

akta.pro primary industry

Topic/Interest-Based Content Discovery Apps (MPACAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Photo Library Organization & Curation (HSAFAGAA)

Keywords

• Visual discovery platform
• Creative inspiration app
• Image curation tool
• Mood board software
• Design reference platform

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription (Cosmos Monthly): Premium monthly subscription offering access to enhanced features and ad-free experience. Priced at $8.00/month via iOS in-app purchase.
2. Subscription (Cosmos Yearly): Annual subscription at $72.00/year, providing cost savings compared to monthly billing. Available via iOS in-app purchase.
3. Freemium Core Platform: Core platform is free to use, with basic discovery, saving, and collection features available at no cost. Premium features offered as paid upgrades.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cosmos operates a visual discovery, curation, and inspiration platform that enables users to search for imagery by color, keyword, or visual similarity; save and organize images into collections; collaborate on shared collections; and follow friends and tastemakers. The platform uses AI to filter AI-generated content and to automatically attribute images with creator credits and provenance, targeting designers, artists, photographers, architects, and other creative professionals as an ad-free alternative to Pinterest and Instagram.

Product overview

Cosmos is a unified visual inspiration and discovery platform positioned as an alternative to Pinterest for creatives. The product consists of two primary delivery channels: the Cosmos: Search & Discover mobile app (available on iOS, iPad, and Apple Vision) and the Cosmos Web Platform (accessible at cosmos.so). Both offerings share the same core functionality—allowing users to search by color, keyword, or visual similarity; save and organize images into collections; follow other users; collaborate on shared collections; and filter out AI-generated content. The platform targets designers, artists, photographers, and architects, emphasizing aesthetic curation over algorithmic noise. Revenue is generated through a freemium model with premium subscriptions ($8/month or $72/year).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cosmos: Search & Discover App A visual inspiration and curation mobile app for iOS, iPad, and Apple Vision that enables users to search by color, keyword, or image; save content in one tap; import from anywhere; follow friends and tastemakers; collaborate on shared collections; and hide AI-generated content. Available as a free app with a premium subscription ($8/month or $72/year).
• Cosmos Web Platform The web-based version of Cosmos accessible at cosmos.so, offering visual discovery, collections, social features, and search capabilities across desktop browsers for designers, artists, photographers, and architects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10 million+ images saved monthly by users
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ApplecoreOthersFeatured in Apple's '25 Apps for 2025' selection and reached #1 in App Store Design category in 28 countries. Apple App Store distribution is core to the platform's GTM strategy.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Pinterest: The dominant visual bookmarking and discovery platform. Pinterest is the primary incumbent Cosmos positions against, with similar core functionality (pinning, boards, visual search) but vastly larger scale and ad-supported model.
• Pocket: A save-for-later content platform (now owned by Mozilla). Overlaps with Cosmos in the 'save and revisit' workflow but is broader in content type and lacks the visual-design and attribution focus.
• Behance: Adobe-owned portfolio and discovery platform for creative professionals. Competes with Cosmos for the same designers and artists but emphasizes portfolios and project showcases over collaborative visual collections.

Direct peers

• Are.na: A community-driven, ad-free visual research and clipping platform popular with designers, artists, and academics. Closely matches Cosmos's curated, human-curated, no-algorithm ethos and its creative-professional target audience.
• Designspiration: A design-focused image bookmarking and inspiration platform with color search and curated feeds. Targets the same designer/creative persona as Cosmos and offers an almost identical visual discovery experience.
• Refind: A curation and discovery platform where users save and share links and content. Overlaps with Cosmos in its emphasis on human curation, taste-based following, and an ad-light browsing experience for discerning users.
• Raindrop.io: A visual bookmark manager used heavily by designers and creatives for saving and organizing images and links into collections. Competes with Cosmos's core 'save and curate' loop and targets a similar design-savvy power user.
• Niice: A design inspiration search engine built for creatives, aggregating work from Dribbble, Behance, and others. Shares Cosmos's aesthetic-only, design-first positioning and creative-professional audience.
• Mix (formerly StumbleUpon): A content discovery and curation service focused on interests-based feeds. Shares Cosmos's discovery-and-save mechanic and interest-graph approach, though Mix's focus is broader than design.

Others

• Pinterest Predicts: Pinterest's annual trend-forecasting report. Comparable only thematically — both Cosmos and Pinterest Predicts shape creative taste-making, but this is a brand-content product, not a direct platform competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thecosmos
• Instagraminstagram.com/cosmos
• TikToktiktok.com/@inspirethecosmos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thecsms

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cosmos