Pinterest Alternative Cosmos Continues to Grow

The Cosmos app, originally launched in 2023, is emerging as a promising alternative to Pinterest’s pinboard format. Marketed as a “Pinterest for creatives,” Cosmos has grown significantly since opening to the public, reaching the top of Apple’s graphics and design category in 22 countries and gaining over 100,000 new users in the past year.

Designed with a clean, distraction-free user interface, Cosmos is ad-free and does not incorporate likes or comments, aiming to foster an environment of “pure, harmonious expression.” Users can collect content from across the web, curate it into themed collections, and share it with others – but aren’t able to take credit for the work they’ve pooled into a collection.

While there are a lot of similarities to Pinterest, the most obvious difference is the AI-driven search system, which aims to make searching for content a lot more reliable. The lack of ads, at least for now, has also made it a more desirable space for users who want to avoid Pinterest’s in-feed ads – which have apparently become increasingly prevalent for many users.

The app’s founder, Andy McCune, is well-known in the digital space for his previous venture, Unfold, a design app that Squarespace acquired in 2019. While Cosmos is free to use, it supports a premium subscription at $8 per month, though its revenue generation strategy remains largely unclear – presumably because it’s such a new platform.

Given that Cosmos has features to import your Pinterest boards directly, it’s not a surprise that many users are switching due to negative feelings towards Pinterest and its gradual changes over the years. Of course, as a relatively new platform, only time will tell if Cosmos manages to stay afloat alongside other Pinterest alternatives like Savee.