Does Kosmico replace every use of ChatGPT?
No. ChatGPT is a broad general assistant. Kosmico is focused on carrying research work through connected project artifacts and may use different managed or local models.
Scope comparison
Kosmico and ChatGPT solve different layers
ChatGPT is a general AI assistant with Deep Research, files, and connected apps. Kosmico is a research workspace built around projects, editable artifacts, academic sources, collaborators, and managed or supported local models.
The useful question is not which brand is universally better. It is whether the job ends at an answer or continues through literature, files, code, writing, citations, review, and team handoff.
Choose by the unit of work
Use ChatGPT Deep Research when the main deliverable is a documented report assembled from the web, files, and enabled apps. Evaluate Kosmico when the deliverable must continue as a living research project with editable files, code, references, project state, and collaborators.
Compare current products, not static screenshots
Model catalogues, research features, limits, pricing, and availability can change. Kosmico's claims here are checked against its source code for each release; verify ChatGPT against OpenAI's current official documentation before making a purchasing decision.
| Criterion | Kosmico | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Primary object | A persistent research project and its editable artifacts | A conversation or documented report with files and connected apps |
| Model relationship | Cloud models from a catalogue Kosmico manages, included in the plan, plus local Ollama models on desktop | OpenAI model experience |
| Research workflow | Academic databases, project library, Knowledge Graph, files, analysis, and writing | Deep Research over web, uploaded files, and enabled apps, producing a cited report |
| Connected actions | Agent tools can act on supported project surfaces with permissions | Deep Research reads connected apps; other app actions depend on app, plan, and confirmation |
First-party sources reviewed
Official source
Current product facts
Kosmico v0.7.6 · Verified
Autonomy boundary
Kosmo can chain many steps on its own, but only with the tools of the active mode: a tool outside the mode is refused. Every run has a fixed budget of tool turns, from 10 to 50 depending on where Kosmo runs (20 in the desktop chat, 50 on the web), and ends with a written answer when the budget runs out. Helper sub-agents are read-only and get 5 to 8 turns.
Agent modes
- Agent: The default. Kosmo carries out the task with the tools the model supports: it reads and edits files and, on desktop, runs commands and notebook cells.
- Plan: Turned on with /plan. Kosmo reads the project and proposes the steps; nothing in the project changes until you accept the plan, which then runs in Agent mode.
- Chat: Used when the selected model has no tool support. Kosmo discusses your work and changes nothing.
Permissions and safeguards
- Terminal commands, notebook cells, SSH and Research Map changes ask first: Allow once, Always allow or Deny. Always allow covers one kind of command (for example git) for the rest of that chat.
- Commands such as rm -r, sudo or dd never offer Always allow.
- File edits do not interrupt the run: each one appears as a diff you can accept, reject or revert.
- A project can be switched to Full access, which skips the prompts, including those for risky commands. It applies to the open project only and resets when you leave or restart.
- Commands and notebook kernels run on your machine or on the server you connect over SSH, never on Kosmico's servers.
- External AI tools connected through Kosmico's MCP server need your approval for each request to your personal memory.
Model policy
Cloud models come from a catalogue Kosmico manages and are included in your plan, metered as tokens. Free plans get the free models; paid plans unlock the rest. The catalogue is updated from the admin dashboard, so the list can change between releases.
- Recommended
- Recommended is the default: before each message Kosmico picks the model your plan includes. A model you choose yourself stays selected.
- BYOK
- Not supported. There is nowhere to enter an API key, and a ChatGPT or Claude subscription cannot power the chat. It works the other way round: Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP clients can use your project through Kosmico's MCP server on desktop.
Research sources
arXiv · default, on requestSemantic Scholar · default, on requestOpenAlex · default, on requestPubMed · on request, added when relevant, subject-specificCrossRef · on request, added when relevantDBLP · added when relevantEurope PMC · added when relevant, subject-specific
Research pipeline
- 01You review the proposal: question, scope and sources
- 02Turn the question into research goals and search queries, with a quick web search for context
- 03Search the databases in parallel
- 04Merge duplicates by DOI, arXiv ID, PubMed ID or near-identical title
- 05Rate each candidate's relevance
- 06Search again, follow citations or look for gaps, one decision at a time
- 07Extract evidence from the full text of the most relevant papers
- 08Write the review section by section and build the Knowledge Graph
Stopping conditions
- It finishes as covered only when it holds the minimum number of papers, its coverage score reaches the target, and every required research goal has supporting papers. The score is computed, not judged by a model: topics, methods, time span, source diversity, citation density and goals.
- If Kosmo tries to finish earlier, it is sent back to search for the goals still open.
- Otherwise it stops when the searches or passes allowed by the chosen depth run out, and the result is marked as completed with gaps, not as covered.
Citation identity
Every citation comes from a record fetched from one of the databases, and you can open it. The review may cite only papers found in the run: a section with an unknown reference, or a substantive paragraph without a citation, is rejected and rewritten. An optional pass also resolves each reference by DOI, arXiv ID, PubMed ID or title and flags the ones it cannot confirm.
Claim-to-evidence validation
A claim taken from a paper's full text is kept only if its quoted passage appears on the cited page; claims without a matching quote are dropped. Each section is written from the evidence of the papers it cites, but no model checks that every sentence of the review is supported, so check the sources of anything you are about to publish.
Direct answers
Which should a researcher choose?
Choose based on the complete workflow, required sources, artifact ownership, collaboration needs, model policy, privacy configuration, and measured evidence, not a universal ranking.