Kompas

Kompas is a local-first desktop application designed to help users capture, connect, and grow their ideas. It organizes notes, documents, voice notes, web pages, and conversations into an interactive knowledge graph that surfaces past insights and previous decisions while you write. The software is aimed at individuals who want their reading, thoughts, and writing to compound over time rather than disappear into a scrolling feed.

• Capture documents, highlights, voice notes, and web pages into a centralized library.
• Organize ideas into a knowledge graph that connects current sessions with past notes and decisions.
• Support for bringing your own OpenAI or Anthropic API keys, Claude Code or Codex subscriptions, or running local models via Ollama.
• Realtime voice and audio transcription requiring an OpenAI key on the free desktop tier.
• Cross-device sync between desktops available on Pro tiers.
• Built-in frontier AI options with managed usage limits on the Pro Full tier.
• JSON export functionality available on all tiers at any time.
• Open source codebase licensed under the MIT license.

Pros

• Local-first architecture on the free tier ensures that your notes, sessions, and knowledge graph remain stored directly on your device.
• Integration with personal AI keys and local models via Ollama gives users full control over their AI providers and expenses.
• Built-in knowledge graph automatically surfaces relevant past thoughts and references while you are drafting text.
• Flexible pricing options range from a fully free local desktop version to sync-only and managed AI cloud subscriptions.

Cons

• The free desktop tier is single-device only, requiring a paid Pro tier for cross-device desktop synchronization.
• Realtime voice and audio transcription features require an external OpenAI key on the free desktop version.
• Pro Sync requires users to bring their own API keys or local models, as it does not include bundled Kompas Cloud LLM credits.
• Cross-device sync on Pro tiers stores your graph hosted privately by Kompas, which departs from strict local-only storage.

Kompas is built for essayists, researchers, founders, and users of tools like Obsidian and Logseq who want to build upon collected material to extend their own thinking and argument development. It is a poor fit for users looking for an entirely cloud-native browser application or those who want an automated assistant to write content entirely on their own without drawing from a personal knowledge graph.

Kompas offers a freemium model with a free tier and paid plans above it. The Free desktop tier is zero dollars forever, offering unlimited local sessions, library, writing, and graph features for single-device use on macOS and Windows, requiring your own API keys or Ollama models. Pro Sync costs three dollars per month or thirty dollars per year, adding cross-device desktop sync with a five gigabyte soft and ten gigabyte hard hosted graph storage limit while keeping your own API keys. Pro Full costs thirty-eight dollars per month or thirty-three dollars per month billed annually, adding built-in frontier AI with visible usage limits, priority email support, and a seven-day free trial without requiring credit card details upfront.

Unlike general-purpose conversational chat interfaces where interactions disappear into a scrolling log, Kompas treats every session as a node that feeds into a persistent knowledge graph. Rather than acting as a standalone tool you talk to, it surfaces your own past notes, decisions, and reading materials directly alongside your active writing process. The software emphasizes local data ownership and open-source availability under the MIT license while offering flexible transitions to managed cloud sync and built-in frontier AI.

macOS Apple Silicon, macOS Intel, Windows x64, OpenAI API, Anthropic API, Claude Code, Codex, and local models via Ollama.

Kompas is worth trying for researchers, writers, and thinkers who want an open source, local-first tool to compound their ideas rather than losing them in chat histories. The free desktop version offers a robust feature set for users willing to bring their own API keys or local models. Those who require seamless multi-device synchronization or managed AI without setup will need to evaluate the Pro pricing tiers. The lack of training on user content makes it a strong option for privacy-conscious individuals.