Curate vs Waves COSMOS: Sample Finder Comparison
Waves COSMOS brought AI-powered sample tagging to a huge audience. Curate is an independent alternative with a similar core idea — auto-tag everything, search by what it sounds like — but different priorities. Here's how they compare. (Full disclosure: we make Curate.)
At a glance
| Curate | Waves COSMOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €69.99 — one-time purchase | $79 — one-time purchase (frequently discounted) |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS |
| Account requirement | None to use the app (license activation only) | Waves account + Waves Central installer |
| Auto-tagging | ML-based: instrument, genre, key & scale, BPM, one-shot/loop | AI-based: instrument, timbre, style, key, BPM, one-shot/loop, dry/wet |
| Natural language search | Yes ("sad piano on a rainy day") | No (tag & term-based search) |
| Similarity search | Related-sound clusters in COSMOS view | |
| Visual library map | Yes (Galaxy view) | Yes (COSMOS cluster view) |
| Duplicate detection | Yes (incl. renamed copies; delete from Curate library or from disk) | Yes (auto-groups identical files, added in the V16 update) |
| Pitch & tempo preview | Yes — auditions samples synced to your session BPM/key | |
| Shortlist / collections | Shortlist + unlimited Crates | Favorites + Collections |
| Bundled samples | 2,500+ royalty-free samples | |
| Sampler integration | Drag & drop into any DAW | Drag & drop; also runs as a plugin with DAW tempo sync; pairs with Waves CR8 sampler |
| MP3 support | Yes (WAV, MP3, FLAC, AIFF, OGG) | No (WAV, AIFF, OGG, FLAC only) |
| Works offline | Requires Waves Central / periodic license check |
Where COSMOS is strong
COSMOS comes from one of the biggest names in audio software: point it at your drive, and it analyzes and tags everything into one searchable database. The COSMOS view clusters related sounds visually, and the bundled 2,500+ royalty-free samples mean the app is useful even before you add your own library. If you're already in the Waves ecosystem — especially if you use the CR8 sampler, which integrates directly — COSMOS fits right in.
The trade-offs: it requires a Waves account and the Waves Central installer, there's no Linux version, and scan speed on large libraries is a recurring complaint in user forums.
Where Curate is strong
Curate is independent and self-contained: no vendor account to use it, no separate installer app, fully offline after a one-time license activation. Its custom-trained ML models add genre detection, and semantic search lets you type what you're imagining — "punchy 808", "ethereal vocal chop" — and search the audio itself rather than tags alone. Beyond finding sounds, Curate covers library upkeep: a duplicate finder that catches renamed copies across drives, editable tags, Crates for organizing, a Shortlist for auditioning candidates side by side, and pitch & tempo preview to hear a sample in your project's context. And Curate runs natively on Linux, which COSMOS doesn't.
Which should you pick?
If you're invested in the Waves ecosystem, want bundled sounds to start with, or specifically want CR8 integration, COSMOS is a natural fit.
If you want natural language search, genre tagging, duplicate cleanup, Linux support, MP3 library support, or simply prefer software that runs offline without a vendor account, that's what Curate is built for.