STORM
Open-source AI that writes Wikipedia-style reports with citations
What is STORM?
STORM is a research prototype from Stanford's Open Virtual Assistant Lab that researches a topic through Internet search and writes a Wikipedia-like report with citations. It works by collecting different perspectives on the topic and simulating a conversation between a writer and a topic expert. Co-STORM, a collaborative mode, lets the user join a discussion among AI experts while a mind map organizes what has been found. The code is open source, and a hosted research preview runs in the browser.
STORM is free to use. See every plan
Good for
- Getting a cited overview of an unfamiliar topic
- The pre-writing stage of a long article or report
- Developers who want an open-source research pipeline to adapt
Worth knowing
- The hosted site is a research preview with limited safety measures, and its terms warn that reports can contain mistakes.
- Inputs on the hosted site are collected for research and may be distributed under a Creative Commons license.
- The developers say the output is not publication-ready and often needs a significant number of edits.
- Running the open-source package yourself requires your own language model and search API keys.
Key features
- Report generation
- Researches a topic through Internet search, drafts an outline and writes a full-length, Wikipedia-like article with citations to its sources.
- Perspective-guided questions
- Looks for different perspectives on the topic and simulates a conversation between a writer and a topic expert, grounded in sources, to work out which questions to ask.
- Co-STORM
- A collaborative mode in which the user takes part in a discussion among AI experts, with a moderator that raises questions from information not yet used.
- Mind map
- Co-STORM keeps a mind map that sorts the collected information into a hierarchy of concepts, updated as the discussion goes on.
- Open-source Python package
- The knowledge-storm package installs with pip and is MIT-licensed. Language and embedding models are configured through litellm.
- Pluggable search
- Retrieval modules cover Bing, You.com, Brave, Serper, Tavily, DuckDuckGo, SearXNG and Google search, plus a vector store for grounding on your own documents.
STORM pricing
- Starts at
- Free
- Free plan
- Free research preview with no paid plans. The code is open source under the MIT license; running it yourself needs your own language model and search API keys.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | The hosted research preview of STORM and Co-STORM, and the MIT-licensed knowledge-storm package for running it yourself. |
Read from github.com on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with STORM before you buy.
Works with
- Bing Search
- You.com
- Brave Search
- Serper
- Tavily
- DuckDuckGo
- SearXNG
- Azure AI Search
STORM alternatives
- STORM vs Undermind
Free plan · from $16/mo
- STORM vs Elicit
Free plan · from $49/mo
- STORM vs Perplexity
Free plan · from $17/mo
- STORM vs Gemini Notebook
Free plan · from $4.99/mo
Common questions
Is STORM free?
Yes. STORM is free to use. Free research preview with no paid plans. The code is open source under the MIT license; running it yourself needs your own language model and search API keys.
How much does STORM cost?
STORM lists one plan. Free: $0. Prices were read from github.com on Oct 5, 2026.
What platforms does STORM work on?
STORM is available on Web.
Does STORM have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. STORM is listed for Web.
Does STORM have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. STORM is listed for Web.
Is STORM open source?
Yes. STORM is open source, according to its own site. It can also be run on a server of your own.
What does STORM integrate with?
STORM's listing names Bing Search, You.com, Brave Search, Serper, Tavily, DuckDuckGo, SearXNG and Azure AI Search. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes STORM?
STORM is made by Stanford Open Virtual Assistant Lab (OVAL).
What are the alternatives to STORM?
The closest alternatives to STORM in our directory are Ai2 Asta, Undermind, Elicit, Perplexity and Gemini Notebook. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with STORM.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026.