All comparisons

Slashspace vs Kosmik

The Kosmik alternative where your references talk back.

Kosmik closed on May 31, 2026. Slashspace is a Kosmik alternative built as an AI canvas for research: bring your PDFs, images and links, and chats read what you connect, branch from any sentence and run on the model you choose.

What Slashspace does that Kosmik doesn't

  • Open to new users
  • Use your Claude or ChatGPT plan
  • Use your own keys or local models
  • Branch chats from any sentence
  • Transcribe TikTok, Instagram, X posts
  • Agent that builds a canvas
  • Agent uses 1,500+ apps
Slashspace
$89/year, or $249 one-time lifetime
Kosmik Pro
No longer sold
Kosmik: Closed May 31, 2026. The app still downloads so you can export your data.
Start 3-day trialSee pricing

$89/year after the trial. Or $249 once.

A Slashspace research canvas: a TED talk, a web article and a research paper wired into a chat, with two branch chats off its answer

Why people switch from Kosmik

  • Your boards need a new home

    After 8 years, Kosmik sunset on May 31, 2026. Sign-ups are closed; the app stays up so you can export.

  • A board that answers back

    Connect a PDF or a web page to a chat and ask about it. The chat reads the whole source with every message.

  • Videos become transcripts

    Paste a YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn or Facebook link. It lands as a node with a player and a transcript.

  • Follow every tangent

    Select a sentence in any answer and branch. Each branch stays on the canvas, next to the thread it came from.

  • Runs on the AI you have

    Your Claude or ChatGPT plan, your own keys, hundreds of OpenRouter models, or Ollama on your own machine.

  • Files you keep

    Each canvas is a folder on your computer, so your work doesn't depend on a service staying open.

Slashspace vs Kosmik at a glance

FeatureSlashspaceKosmik
Status
Open to new usersYes: Desktop app for Mac, Windows and LinuxNo: Sign-ups closed; sunset May 31, 2026
Ways to use AI
Chat with AI about your sourcesYes: Chats read the nodes you connectPartly: AI auto-tagging, asset search and organizing
Use your Claude or ChatGPT planYes: Through the official Claude Code and Codex CLIsNo: Not offered
Use your own keys or local modelsYes: API keys, Ollama, LM Studio, vLLMNo: Not documented
Canvas and context
Infinite canvasYes: Chats, notes, sources, images and groupsYes: Universes with frames, notes and post-its
Branch chats from any sentenceYes: Select text, ask, and a branch opensNo: No AI chat to branch
Drawing and shapesNo: Not offeredYes: Drawing and shapes
Presentation modeNo: Not offeredYes: Navigation mode
Sources
PDFsPartly: Read in full by AI; no PDF highlightingYes: Built-in PDF reader
Web pagesPartly: Captured text and screenshot; logins and paywalls failYes: Built-in browser and web clipper
VideoPartly: Public links become transcripts; no video filesYes: Video files on the board
Transcribe TikTok, Instagram, X postsYes: Plus LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTubeNo: Not documented
Agents and tools
Agent that builds a canvasYes: Orchestrator, from a goal, with sub-agentsNo: Not offered
Agent uses 1,500+ appsYes: 1,500+ apps and your own MCP serversNo: Not offered
Your work
Canvases saved as local filesYes: A folder per canvas on your computerPartly: Export a universe or workspace as a zip
Sharing, comments, publishingNo: Team sharing coming soonPartly: Offered until the sunset
Price
PriceYes: $89/year, starting with a 3-day trial (card required), or $249 one-time lifetimeNo: No longer sold
Checked on October 8, 2026.
Sources:

Which one should you choose?

  • Choose Slashspace if you...

    • Want a new home for research boards after Kosmik
    • Want AI that reads your PDFs, pages and videos, not just stores them
    • Want to branch ideas without losing the main thread
    • Want to choose your model, plan or local AI
    • Want canvases as files on your computer

  • Choose Kosmik if you...

    • Still need to export your universes before you move
    • Mainly need a moodboard with drawing, shapes and free layout
    • Present boards in a navigation mode
    • Need comments or published boards
    • Keep lots of local video files on your boards

Ask your sources, not just collect them

Slashspace is a Kosmik alternative for people who gathered references to think with them. Kosmik was great at collecting. On a Slashspace canvas, the things you collect feed the conversation: connect a source to a chat and the chat reads it in full with every message.

  • Documents. PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, CSV, Markdown and code files, under 50 MB each (Document node).
  • Web pages. Paste a link and the page's text and a screenshot are captured on the canvas (Web node).
  • Videos and posts. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and Facebook links become transcripts (Post node).
  • Images. PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP and SVG, ready for any chat to look at.
A Slashspace canvas with an arXiv paper on the four-day work week as a Document node, wired into a chat that answered why the policy survived in four bullets
Drop a paper, connect a chat, ask.

Branch every idea

Research boards sprawl. Branches keep the sprawl readable.

  • Ask about this. Select a sentence in any answer and ask about just that.
  • Main thread stays intact. A branch keeps its own history beside the original.
  • Clean context. Sibling branches can't see each other.
  • Compare models. Branch once per model and send the same prompt to each.
A Slashspace chat reply with one sentence highlighted and a question typed against it, next to a chat branched from an earlier passage
Select a sentence, ask, branch. The main thread stays put.

Let the canvas build itself

Give Orchestrator a goal and it adds connected chats, notes, web pages and posts, then hands research to sub-agents.

  • From a goal. "Compare these three frameworks" becomes a wired canvas.
  • Connections are context. Each chat reads what's wired into it, down the chain.
  • See every input. Click a chat to see exactly what feeds it.
  • Runs in the cloud. Orchestrator runs in Slashspace's cloud on a model Slashspace picks, so it needs you online.
An Orchestrator chat in Slashspace that ran 4 subagents and built a four-week vaccines study guide as four connected chats
One goal in. Four connected chats out.

A canvas that stays yours

Canvases are folders on your computer, with canvas.json, a Context.md summary and an images folder (where canvases live).

  • Local files. Your canvases don't depend on a server staying open.
  • Export anytime. Download a canvas as Markdown or as complete JSON.
  • Honest about the cloud. Documents, web pages and videos you add are uploaded and stored on Slashspace's servers so the AI can read them (privacy).
  • Desktop app. Mac, Windows and Linux.

Switching from Kosmik

  1. Export from Kosmik: download the app, sign in, click a universe's name and choose Export universe, or click the workspace name and choose Export workspace. Unzip the file to get your images, videos and texts.
  2. Connect your AI: sign in to Claude Code or Codex, add keys, or install Ollama.
  3. Drag your files onto a canvas: images become Image nodes, and PDFs, Word files and text files become Document nodes. Drop the files, not the .zip.
  4. Paste the links you saved to capture web pages as Web nodes and videos as Post nodes, then group related nodes and start a chat.
In KosmikIn Slashspace
UniverseCanvas, organized in folders
FrameGroup
Note or post-itText node
PDFDocument node
ImageImage node
Web pageWeb node, re-captured from its link
Video fileNot supported; a public YouTube, TikTok or X link becomes a Post node
TagsNo direct equivalent; use groups and titles

Frequently asked questions

Is Kosmik shutting down?

Yes. Kosmik sunset on May 31, 2026, after 8 years. You can't sign up any more, but Kosmik says you can still download the app for macOS or Windows and sign in to export your workspace and data.

How do I export my Kosmik boards?

Sign in to Kosmik, click a universe in the sidebar, click its name and choose Export universe, then name the file and pick a folder. To export everything, click the workspace name and choose Export workspace. Unzip the result to get your images, videos and texts as files; a workspace export holds one zip per universe.

Can Slashspace import a Kosmik export?

Not as a whole board. Unzip the export and drag the files onto a canvas: images become Image nodes, and PDFs, Word and text files become Document nodes. Re-add web pages and videos from their links.

Is Slashspace a visual board like Kosmik?

Partly. It's an infinite canvas, but it's built for AI research: chats, notes and sources connected by lines that decide what each chat reads. It has no drawing tools, presentation mode or comments.

What's the best Kosmik alternative for research?

If you used Kosmik to collect and then think through sources, Slashspace lets AI chats read those sources, branch from any sentence and run on the model you choose. If you mainly made moodboards, a design-focused whiteboard will fit better.

Where does Slashspace store my work?

Canvases are local files on your computer. Documents, web pages and videos you add are uploaded and stored on Slashspace's servers so the AI can read them, and Orchestrator runs in Slashspace's cloud.

Try Slashspace free for 3 days

Every way to use AI, agents that build and act, PDFs, videos, web pages and 1,500+ apps, on one canvas. A card is required: after the trial it is $89/year, and cancelling before it ends costs nothing. Rather pay once? Lifetime is $249 with every update.

Start 3-day trialBuy lifetime for $249

Every payment is refundable within 7 days, no questions asked.