SolomindLM vs Stanford STORM: who writes the research report?
STORM is a Stanford research project that writes Wikipedia-style articles with citations by searching the web, asking questions from several perspectives, and building an outline first. Stanford runs it as a hosted research preview, and the code is open source. SolomindLM's deep research also plans before it writes, but you approve the plan, and it can draw on your notebook and academic databases as well as the web.
Quick answer
STORM: Choose STORM for a broad overview article on a topic from web sources, or if you want open-source code (MIT license) you can run and modify with your own API keys.
SolomindLM: Choose SolomindLM when the report has to rest on your sources or academic papers, when you want to approve the research plan first, or when you need to study from the result.
Comparison
| Topic | SolomindLM | STORM |
|---|---|---|
| What it produces | Cited research reports, literature reviews, chat answers, and study materials. | An outline and a long, cited, Wikipedia-style article. |
| Where sources come from | Your notebook, plus web and academic search you choose per run. | Web search engines; your own documents only when you self-host the code. |
| Control | You approve or edit the research plan and sub-questions before it runs. | Co-STORM lets you join a discussion between AI experts and steer it; a mind map organizes findings. |
| Academic papers | OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, and PubMed Central. | Not listed; the README names general web search engines. |
| Study tools | Flashcards, quizzes, written questions with feedback, mind maps, audio overviews. | None. |
| Cost | Free: 5 notebooks, 20 sources per notebook, 10 chat messages and 1 generation per Studio tool a day, 3 audio overviews a week, and 1 literature review every 30 days; deep research and infographics are Pro only. Pro: $7.50/month billed yearly or $15 monthly, with 200 notebooks, 200 sources per notebook, 100 generations per Studio tool, 20 audio overviews, 10 infographics, 10 literature reviews, and 15 deep research runs a day. | A hosted research preview run by Stanford; open-source code under MIT, where you pay your own model and search API costs. |
STORM details checked 2026-10-07 against: STORM GitHub repository, STORM project page, STORM research preview.
When is STORM the better choice?
STORM is a good starting point when you know little about a topic and want a structured overview with citations. Researchers and developers can also run and adapt the open-source code. Its authors say outputs still need significant editing before publication.
When is SolomindLM the better choice?
SolomindLM fits work that has to be grounded in specific material: a set of papers, course readings, or your own notes. Deep research starts with a plan of sub-questions and searches that you approve or edit, then cites what it used.
- Your report must cite peer-reviewed papers, not only web pages
- You want the report to draw on PDFs you uploaded
- You want to keep the sources, report, and follow-up chat in one notebook
- You'll study from the material afterward
Is STORM still maintained?
The GitHub repository is active but changes slowly: its latest release, v1.1.0, came out in January 2025, with smaller commits since. The hosted demo is labelled a research preview, so availability may change.
Frequently asked questions
What is Stanford STORM?
STORM is a research system from Stanford's OVAL lab that writes Wikipedia-style articles with citations from web searches. Co-STORM adds a mode where you take part in the discussion that shapes the article.
Is STORM free?
The code is open source under the MIT license; running it yourself means paying for your own model and search API usage. Stanford also hosts a research preview; check its site for current access.
Can STORM use my own PDFs?
The open-source code can ground articles in your own documents if you set up its vector retrieval module. The hosted preview searches the web. SolomindLM works from uploaded sources by default.
What's a good STORM alternative for academic research?
For research that must cite academic papers, use a tool that searches scholarly databases. SolomindLM searches OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, and PubMed Central and writes cited reports and literature reviews from what you select.
Do AI-written research reports need editing?
Yes. STORM's authors say its articles need significant edits, and the same applies to any AI report. Check claims against the cited sources before you use them.
Related pages
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