Allison, I have a worm farm I made w 27 gallon totes - 3 of them. There are many “how to” vids on YouTube, but they all boil down to “drill a bunch of holes in the bottoms of two of them…” I’ve posted pics here before, but I’ll take some pics tonight.
The benefits of a worm bin, for me, is that you control what the worms eat. Mine only eat my veggie scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, and egg shells. I add shredded paper to balance the carbon w nitrogen. That can be hand shredded newspaper (I omit the color ink pages) or shredded copier paper from my office. Some folks throw in garden clippings and grass clippings. I do not, as they could have unknown chemicals from my neighbors.
Worm bins, done properly, can over-winter in the basement or garage. They should not make offensive odors, though when they are extra “juicy”, you can get fruit flies. You learn over time how to balance this. You will also get some fantastic worm castings dirt and a small amount of the best liquid (organic) fertilizer I’ve ever used.
The YouTubers suggest red wigglers. They are prolific breeders, but they are small. I buy “trout worms” from my pet stores. They are like mid-sized earthworms. Good for most pets, great for fishing, too. I throw some Canadian nightcrawlers into the bins from time to time, but NEVER worms from the garden.
And to clarify, your compost pile is not a good host for worms. Composting is done w bacteria in your soil. An active compost pile could get as warm as 120F. Worms won’t like this. Even in the Winter , when you turn over the compost, you should see steam coming out of the pile. Great for breaking down the compost, no fun for worms.