Capture source material
Collect documents, highlights, voice notes, and web pages into a personal library so your material is available for later sessions and drafts.
Kompas
Freemium
A desktop app for capturing ideas, connecting them, and turning them into useful writing on macOS and Windows, with local-first workflows, private sync, and built-in AI.
What is Kompas?
Kompas is a desktop app for capturing ideas, connecting them, and turning them into writing you can actually use. It keeps reading, conversations, notes, and half-formed thoughts together so later sessions can draw on what you already wrote.
The product centers on a graph of connected sessions and notes. Free desktop keeps data local on macOS and Windows, while paid options add private cross-device sync and, on Pro Full, built-in frontier AI with no personal API key required.
What can Kompas do?
Context-aware sessions
Start a session around a topic and let Kompas pull in earlier notes, decisions, and reading to ask questions from your own history.
Build a connected graph
Link sessions to decisions, memories, retrieved passages, and other notes so the graph reflects how one idea leads to another.
Write from remembered context
Move a session into a draft and keep your prior work close at hand while you write from your own thoughts.
Bring your own model setup
Use your own OpenAI or Anthropic key, your Claude Code or Codex subscription, or local models through Ollama on desktop.
Local-first or hosted modes
Choose between a fully local free desktop mode and Pro plans that add private hosted sync and, on Pro Full, bundled AI usage.
Use Cases
“Long-form research”
Keep research snippets, highlights, and prior notes available while you explore a topic over multiple sessions.
“Writing from your own notes”
Draft essays, memos, or other argument-driven writing from material you've already captured instead of starting from an empty editor.
“Decision tracking”
Revisit prior decisions and the reasoning behind them when making product or business choices.
“Obsidian and Logseq-style workflows”
Extend an existing note system by connecting material and surfacing related thoughts across sessions.
“Private local work”
Use a desktop-only, local-first setup when you want your material to stay on your device unless you opt into hosted sync.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kompas train on my sessions?
No. The source says Kompas does not train on your content. On Free desktop, your sessions, notes, and graph stay on your device; on Pro, your graph is hosted privately to enable sync, but Kompas still does not train on it.
How is Kompas different from ChatGPT or Claude?
Kompas is not a web app or a generic chat window. It is a desktop app for keeping documents, notes, conversations, and retrieved passages together so later sessions can reuse earlier context.
Which AI providers or models does Kompas use?
On Free and Pro Sync, you can use your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, your Claude Code or Codex subscription, or local models via Ollama. On Pro Full, frontier AI is built in and no personal key is required.
Is Kompas open source?
Yes. The desktop app is open source under the MIT license. The source notes that cloud-only code for billing, hosted models, and abuse detection lives in a separate private repository.
Does Kompas have a web app?
No. Kompas is always a desktop app. Pro adds cross-device sync and built-in AI to the desktop app, but there is no browser-based version.
Quick Facts
- Category
- AI productivity
- Platform
- Desktop app for macOS and Windows
- License
- Open source under the MIT license
- Data model
- Connected sessions, notes, and a graph of ideas
- Deployment
- Free local desktop and paid Pro cloud features
- Source domain
- kompas.ai
Kompas Traffic Analysis
Traffic data is for reference only.
- Domain Rating
- 28
Kompas Alternatives
闪念贝壳
ideashell.ai
闪念贝壳 is an AI voice notes app for quickly capturing ideas, organizing and expanding them with AI, and exporting content to other tools.
Muse
www.theodorehq.com
Muse is a native Mac app for saving and organizing links, images, videos, PDFs, and notes in a private, local library. It helps people who collect visual references or do research keep everything searchable, file-based, and available on their Mac.
buildbook
buildbook-mvp.lovable.app
buildbook is a founder diary for recording the daily work of building a product and turning selected moments into behind-the-scenes posts. It supports private notes, generated artwork, and post drafts for LinkedIn, X, and Reddit.
Char
char.com
An AI notepad for capturing work context and turning notes into drafts, plans, and follow-ups.
Effie
effie.pro
Effie is a minimalist app for notes, outlines, mind maps, and AI-assisted writing across Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
AudioDiary
audiodiary.ai
An intelligent voice journal for reflection, goals, and private entries across web, iOS, Android, and macOS.