I love Pinterest. I also kind of hate Pinterest.
It’s perfect for discovering beautiful images you’ll never look at again. Excellent for collecting recipes you’ll never cook. Great for creating mood boards that capture a vibe but terrible for organizing resources you actually need to reference.
The algorithm constantly pushes content you didn’t ask for. The boards get messy fast. Finding that one specific pin you saved three months ago requires scrolling through hundreds of similar images. And if you’re trying to save articles, tools, or any non-image content? Pinterest actively fights you.
But for years, Pinterest felt like the only option for visual inspiration collection. Everything else was either text-based bookmark managers (boring, no visual context) or note-taking apps that weren’t designed for curation (clunky, not purpose-built).
That’s changed. There are now genuinely good alternatives to Pinterest that solve different problems in different ways. Some are better for specific types of content. Others offer organizational approaches Pinterest never could. A few reimagine what visual inspiration collection should look like entirely.
Here are nine places to save inspiration online that aren’t Pinterest, what makes each one special, and when you should use them instead.
1. Are.na: For Thinking Through Ideas Visually#
Are.na is what happens when you cross Pinterest with a research tool and add a community of thoughtful people who care about ideas more than aesthetics.
Instead of boards, you create channels. Each channel can hold images, links, text, files, and even other channels. The magic is in how channels can connect to each other, creating a web of associated ideas rather than isolated collections.
The community is small but high quality. Designers, researchers, artists, and people who think by collecting and connecting. When you make channels public, they become part of a larger ecosystem where others can discover and build on your thinking.
Best for: Research-oriented work, connecting ideas across domains, building visual essays, collaborative thinking projects.
Not good for: Quick inspiration saving, mainstream aesthetics, anything requiring mass appeal.
Why it works: Are.na respects the complexity of creative thinking. Ideas don’t fit neatly into single categories, and Are.na doesn’t force them to. The same resource can exist in multiple contexts, revealing different facets of its meaning.
2. Raindrop.io: For Organized Link Collections#
Raindrop.io looks like a bookmark manager but functions more like a personal library. Clean interface, robust tagging, nested collections, and most importantly, beautiful visual previews that make browsing actually pleasant.
The permanent library feature lets you save full archives of pages so they’re accessible even if the original site goes down. The collaboration features let you share collections with others. The browser extension is fast and unobtrusive.
Best for: Articles, resources, tools, documentation, anything that’s primarily link-based rather than image-based.
Not good for: Pure image inspiration, mood boards, visual-first discovery.
Why it works: It treats links with the respect they deserve. Good metadata extraction, reliable sync, powerful search, and organization that scales from dozens to thousands of saved items without becoming unwieldy.
3. Cosmos: For Building Visual Wikis#
Cosmos lets you create interconnected pages of content where everything can link to everything else. Add images, videos, links, text, and files. Create bidirectional links between pages. Build knowledge graphs that show how your ideas connect.
It’s like if Notion and Roam Research had a baby that cared about aesthetics. The interface is gorgeous. The linking is powerful. The visual presentation makes complex webs of information actually comprehensible.
Best for: Deep research projects, interconnected knowledge bases, visual thinking, building personal wikis.
Not good for: Quick captures, simple linear collections, sharing with non-technical people.
Why it works: It supports the way creative thinking actually happens: making unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated things. The visual graph view shows you patterns you wouldn’t notice in linear organization.
4. Milanote: For Project-Based Inspiration#
Milanote is a visual workspace designed specifically for creative projects. Infinite canvas where you can arrange images, notes, links, and files spatially. Create boards for different projects. Organize visually rather than hierarchically.
It feels like a digital cork board where you can pin anything and arrange it however makes sense for your thinking. The visual arrangement itself becomes part of how you work through ideas.
Best for: Active creative projects, mood boards with context, spatial thinkers, teams collaborating on visual direction.
Not good for: Long-term archives, thousands of saved items, text-heavy resources.
Why it works: It matches how many creative people actually work through ideas: spreading everything out, moving pieces around, seeing connections through spatial relationships.
5. Refind: For Daily Reading Discovery#
Refind is less about saving inspiration and more about discovering it, but it’s excellent at both. Save articles, highlight passages, and build a personal library of what you’ve read. The daily digest surfaces interesting content from sources you trust.
The social aspect is subtle but valuable. Follow people with similar interests and see what they’re reading. Save articles to private collections or share them with specific people.
Best for: Serious readers, discovering quality articles, building a reading practice, learning communities.
Not good for: Visual inspiration, quick reference, non-article content.
Why it works: It respects your attention. The content discovery is thoughtful rather than algorithmic chaos. Your saved library is actually organized and browsable.
6. Notion: For Contextual Collections#
Notion isn’t specifically designed for inspiration collection, but its database features make it incredibly powerful for this purpose. Create databases of resources with custom properties. Filter, sort, and view the same collection in multiple ways.
Add context through notes, link to related projects, embed images and videos, and organize everything within your broader workspace. Your inspiration lives alongside your actual work.
Best for: People already using Notion, resources that need extensive context, connecting inspiration to active projects.
Not good for: Visual browsing, quick captures, mobile experience, pure simplicity.
Why it works: Integration with your work environment means inspiration is available when you need it, not isolated in a separate tool. The flexibility lets you organize exactly how your brain works.
7. Savee: For Design and Visual Professionals#
Savee is specifically built for designers and visual professionals. Save images with a browser extension, organize into collections, and build a curated library of visual inspiration that’s actually pleasant to browse.
The interface is minimal and focused. The community is design-oriented. The organization is straightforward. It’s Pinterest’s visual approach without the algorithm chaos and random content.
Best for: Designers, visual artists, photographers, anyone working primarily with images.
Not good for: Non-visual content, complex organization, broad knowledge management.
Why it works: It solves one problem well: saving and organizing visual inspiration. No feature bloat, no trying to be everything. Just good visual collection tools.
8. Stashed.in: For Visual Link Collections That Make Sense#
Full disclosure: I built this because nothing else solved my specific problems with organizing inspiration and resources.
Stashed.in is essentially Pinterest but for any kind of link, not just images. Create visual stashes with header images that communicate what each collection is about. Save articles, tools, portfolios, videos, or anything else worth remembering.
Each stash can be private (personal reference), password-protected (team sharing), or public (community contribution). The visual headers make browsing intuitive. The flexible privacy options mean you can use the same tool for everything from personal research to client collaboration.
Best for: Mixed content (not just images), project-based organization, sharing curated resources, people who think visually but work with links.
Not good for: People who prefer text-only interfaces, need complex metadata, or want algorithmic discovery.
Why it works: It treats links as first-class visual objects rather than just URLs in a list. The collection approach feels more like curating a gallery than maintaining a database. And the flexibility in privacy means you can organize personal work and shareable resources in the same system.
9. Pocket: For Reading Lists That Work#
Pocket has been around forever and still does one thing better than almost anything else: managing articles you want to read. Clean reading interface, good offline support, solid organization through tags, and reliable save-from-anywhere functionality.
It’s not visual. It’s not exciting. But it’s incredibly reliable for the specific use case of “I found this article and actually want to read it.”
Best for: Article readers, offline reading, simple tag-based organization, distraction-free consumption.
Not good for: Visual inspiration, complex projects, anything beyond articles and videos.
Why it works: It doesn’t try to do everything. It does reading list management extremely well and doesn’t complicate things with unnecessary features.
How to Choose the Right Tool for Your Needs#
Pinterest isn’t bad. It’s just not the only option, and for many use cases, it’s not the best option. Choosing an alternative comes down to understanding what you’re actually trying to do.
If you’re researching ideas and want to see connections: Are.na or Cosmos give you the linking and interconnection Pinterest lacks.
If you need to organize articles and resources: Raindrop.io or Refind handle links better than Pinterest ever could.
If you’re working on specific creative projects: Milanote or Stashed.in let you organize by project rather than forcing everything into one feed.
If you want simple visual inspiration without algorithm chaos: Savee keeps Pinterest’s visual approach without the noise.
If you just want a reliable reading list: Pocket has been doing this longer and better than most alternatives.
Most people don’t need to choose just one. I use different tools for different purposes:
- Stashed.in for project resources and curated collections I reference regularly
- Are.na for exploratory research where I’m figuring out what I think by collecting
- Raindrop.io for quick captures that need to be processed later
- Pocket for articles I actually plan to read this week
The tools serve different parts of my creative workflow. None of them replaces Pinterest entirely because sometimes Pinterest’s visual discovery is exactly what I need. But having alternatives means I’m not forcing every type of content into a tool that wasn’t designed for it.
What Makes These Alternatives Better#
The common thread across these tools is intentionality. Pinterest optimizes for engagement and discovery. These alternatives optimize for usefulness and organization.
Pinterest wants you to spend hours browsing content the algorithm thinks you’ll like. These tools want you to save what matters, organize it meaningfully, and actually use it later.
Pinterest is designed around images and visual content. Most of these alternatives recognize that inspiration comes in many forms: articles, links, ideas, research, references, and yes, images too.
Pinterest keeps you in their ecosystem. Many of these alternatives make it easy to export, share, and integrate with how you actually work.
That philosophical difference matters more than specific features. You’re not just switching tools. You’re choosing whether your inspiration collection serves the platform’s business model or your creative needs.
Building a Multi-Tool Inspiration System#
The most effective approach isn’t finding the perfect single tool. It’s using the right tool for each type of content and workflow.
Here’s a framework that works:
Quick capture layer: One tool with a fast browser extension and mobile app for saving things when you find them. This is your inbox. (Raindrop.io, Pocket, or browser bookmarks work here)
Processing and organization layer: Where quick captures get properly organized into meaningful collections. This requires more thought and happens during dedicated time. (Stashed.in, Notion, or Are.na depending on content type)
Project-specific layer: Collections built around active work that get referenced frequently. (Milanote for spatial visual work, Notion for context-heavy projects, Stashed.in for mixed content)
Long-term archive layer: Properly organized reference material you’re not actively using but want to keep accessible. (Your organized collections in whatever tool works best for your content type)
This layered approach prevents the common problem of everything going into one tool that becomes overwhelming because it’s trying to serve too many purposes.
When Pinterest Actually Is the Right Choice#
Let’s be honest about when Pinterest works better than alternatives:
Discovering things you didn’t know you wanted: Pinterest’s algorithm is excellent at surface-level discovery. If you’re browsing for vague inspiration without specific goals, Pinterest delivers.
Visual-only content: If you’re exclusively saving images and photos, Pinterest’s image-first design makes sense.
Following trends and popular aesthetics: Pinterest reflects mainstream taste better than more niche platforms.
Zero learning curve: Everyone knows how Pinterest works. Sharing a Pinterest board with clients or collaborators requires no explanation.
The alternatives require more intention. You need to know what you’re collecting and why. You need to do your own organization. You need to be more active in discovery rather than relying on algorithmic suggestions.
If that sounds like work rather than benefit, Pinterest might still be your best option. These alternatives are for people who’ve hit Pinterest’s limitations and want something more.
Making the Switch Without Losing Everything#
If you’re considering moving away from Pinterest or adding alternatives to your workflow, you don’t need to abandon everything you’ve already collected.
Export what matters: Most people’s Pinterest boards contain 90% content they’ll never reference. Export the 10% that actually serves your work. Tools like Pin4Ever can help with this.
Start fresh in new tools: Instead of trying to migrate everything, begin building new collections in better tools. Use both systems during transition, gradually shifting to the new approach.
Evaluate by actual use: After a month with a new tool, look at what you’ve actually referenced. If you’re not using it, either the tool isn’t right or your organizational approach needs adjustment.
Accept that migration is imperfect: You’ll lose some things in the transition. That’s fine. Most of what you saved on Pinterest wasn’t serving you anyway. Starting fresh with better organizational habits is often more valuable than perfect preservation.
The Tool Matters Less Than the Practice#
After trying dozens of inspiration collection tools over the years, I’ve realized the specific platform matters less than having good curatorial practices.
Be selective about what you save. Tools make saving easy. The hard part is choosing what’s actually worth saving.
Add context immediately. A sentence about why something matters makes it 10x more useful later.
Review and prune regularly. Collections that grow indefinitely without maintenance become unusable regardless of the tool.
Organize for how you’ll actually use things. Perfect categorization that doesn’t match your workflow is useless.
Use what you collect. Inspiration that never gets referenced isn’t serving you. Build collections that feed your work.
These practices matter more than feature lists or interface design. A simple tool used thoughtfully beats a sophisticated tool used carelessly.
Start Exploring Beyond Pinterest#
Pinterest has value, but it’s not the only way to collect and organize inspiration online. These nine alternatives offer different approaches that might better serve your specific needs.
Try one this week. Pick the problem you most want to solve with inspiration collection. Choose the tool that specifically addresses that problem. Use it for a real project or research goal, not just theoretical organization.
If it helps, keep using it. If it doesn’t, try a different one. Your ideal inspiration system will probably involve multiple tools serving different purposes rather than one perfect platform.
The goal isn’t to find the best tool. It’s to build a practice of collecting, organizing, and using inspiration in ways that actually improve your creative work.
Pinterest can be part of that system. But it doesn’t have to be the whole system.
Start building your own approach today. Your creative work will be better for it.
