Builder.io vs Kombai (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Builder.io and Kombai share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about platforms, where Builder.io grades higher, or value for money, where Kombai does.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Builder.io
Visual IDE and CMS with an AI agent for shipping product UI
Kombai
AI design engineer that designs on a canvas and codes in your repo
Which one is for you
Pick Builder.io if
- Fits if your team already has a design system and wants an agent building against it
- Works for teams that edit site content visually next to developer work
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 60 credits a month and 15 a day run out quickly
- Pricey if you burn through credits, at $25 per 500 more
- Watch out: custom domains need Pro, and SSO and role-based access need Enterprise
- Watch out: the page doesn't say whether $24 and $40 are monthly or annual
Pick Kombai if
- Fits if your team has a React repo and a design system to build against
- Works for front-end developers who already use Cursor or VS Code
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 300 credits a month, 50 a day
- Skip it if you want a web app: only desktop apps and extensions are listed
- Watch out: shared credits, shared rules and up to 20 seats need Team at $32 and up
- Watch out: credit tiers go up to 110,000 a month and each step costs more
How we grade them
| 2.2GPABuilder.ioFair | 2.2GPAKombaiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$24 a user on Pro and $40 on Team, in the middle of what this category charges. The page doesn't say whether that is monthly or annual, and extra credits cost $25 per 500. | BPro is $16 a month on yearly billing, at the cheap end of the category's range, for 2,000 credits. Team starts at $32. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree is real but small: 60 credits a month with a cap of 15 a day, 1 design system and 1 user included, up to 5. | CFree: 300 credits a month (50 a day), one seat. Enough to try, not to ship with. |
| Features | CA visual IDE, a visual CMS, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and a Figma plugin. Roles, peer review and Slack and Jira access are Team only, and SSO is Enterprise. | CCanvas, repo-aware coding, Storybook, 50+ models and a built-in browser. Indexing private packages is Team only and a custom context engine is Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It's a web app and an extension where you build against a design system, so there's setup to do. | CNo store rating on record. It needs setting up against your repo, design system or Figma. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb and a browser extension, with a VS Code extension, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Figma, Slack and Jira. No phone or desktop app listed. | CMac, Windows, Linux and editor extensions, which is computers only. No web editor or phone app is listed. |
| Best for | design-system UI with an AI agent | UI coding inside your own repo |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Builder.io and Kombai. How we grade
Price against what you get
Builder.io starts at $24 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kombai starts at $16 a month and scores 2.0.
Builder.io scores higher, and starts $8 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI app builders on the chart, 15 score higher than Builder.io for less, and 10 score higher than Kombai for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
At a glance
| Builder.io | Kombai | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $24 per user / month, billing basis not shown | $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1 user included (up to 5), 60 credits a month with a 15 a day maximum, project hosting and 1 design system. | 150 credits on sign-up, then 50 credits a day up to 300 a month, with rollovers up to half the monthly limit. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Builder.io | Kombai |
| Price read from | builder.io | kombai.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Builder.io
- Pay-as-you-go credits cost $25 per 500 on the paid plans once monthly credits run out.
- The Free plan caps credits at 60 a month and 15 a day.
- Custom domains need Pro, and SSO and role-based access control are Enterprise only.
- The pricing page does not say whether $24 and $40 are monthly or annual figures, despite a Monthly and Annual toggle.
Kombai
- Pro is for one seat; shared credit pools, shared rules and up to 20 seats need Team.
- Credit tiers on Pro and Team range from 2,000 to 110,000 a month, with a higher price at each step.
- Index external and private packages is a Team feature, and a custom context engine is Enterprise only.
- The pricing page lists desktop apps and editor extensions; no web version of the editor is listed.
Key features
Builder.io
- Visual IDE
- The Code side connects to GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket and has a Figma plugin and a VS Code extension.
- Visual CMS
- The Content side lets teams manage and edit site content visually, and can be combined with the Code side.
- Design systems
- Free includes 1 design system and Pro up to 3. Enterprise adds unlimited design systems and Design System Intelligence.
- Agent in team tools
- On Team, the Builder agent works from Slack and Jira, and Pro and Team include built-in MCP servers.
- Review and access controls
- Team adds Admin, Developer, Designer and Editor roles, commenting, peer reviews, password-protected previews and usage metrics.
Kombai
- Infinite canvas
- Explore ideas on a canvas before they touch production code, with parallel agents, targeted variations and live HTML, states and animations.
- Repo-aware coding
- Context graphs reuse components, tokens and hooks from your repo or npm package, and Storybook can be indexed for real props.
- Design systems
- Remembers key design decisions from a repo, Figma or a website and carries them into later work.
- Many models
- Choose from 50+ models, including Anthropic, xAI, Moonshot AI and OpenAI, or use an automatic model router.
- Built-in browser
- A Kombai Browser and browser extension support editing in the page, with autonomous browser testing and terminal commands.
Plans
Builder.io
Free$0
1 user included (up to 5), 60 credits a month (15 a day), 1 design system, GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket.
Pro$24
per user / month, billing basis not shown
500 credits a month, up to 3 design systems, custom domains, credit rollovers and built-in MCP servers.
Team$40
per user / month, billing basis not shown
Up to 20 users, 500 credits, agent in Slack and Jira, roles, peer reviews, custom MCP servers and priority support.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom seats and credits, SSO, role-based access control, unlimited design systems and uptime SLAs. Sold through sales.
Kombai
Free$0
300 credits a month (150 on sign-up, then 50 a day). One seat.
Pro$16
per month for 2,000 credits, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
2,000 credits a month, rollovers up to 5x, email support and SOC 2 compliance. Tiers go up to 110,000 credits.
Team$32
per month and up, billed annually ($40 billed monthly)
Shared credit pool, up to 20 seats, unlimited rollovers, shared rules, centralized billing and usage analytics.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom context engine for large repos, dedicated support, onboarding and custom SLAs. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
Builder.io
No public discounts listed.
Kombai
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
Pro and Team are 20% cheaper billed annually: Pro is $16 a month instead of $20. A quarterly option is billed at the monthly price for the same credits per quarter.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Builder.io or Kombai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Builder.io starts at $24 per user / month, billing basis not shown, and Kombai starts at $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Builder.io or Kombai?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Builder.io and Kombai have a free plan.
Which platforms do Builder.io and Kombai run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Builder.io lists a web app and only Kombai lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps. Both list a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.