Kombai vs Tempo Labs (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Kombai grades higher than Tempo Labs: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kombai grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kombai
AI design engineer that designs on a canvas and codes in your repo
Tempo Labs
IDE for design, product and engineering teams working with agents
Which one is for you
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
Pick Tempo Labs if
- Fits if a design, product and engineering team shares one repo
- Works for teams that want agents taking tickets in parallel
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a prompt-to-app builder, since it's now a team IDE
- Pricey if you add people: $50 for one and $40 for each extra
- Tight if you stay free: 7 days of history and 500 local tests a month
- Watch out: extra tests past the allowance cost $4.50 per 1,000 on Pro
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAKombaiFair | 1.8GPATempo LabsWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | D$50 a month for one user and $40 for each extra, above the category's $30 dearest-tenth line. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree: 300 credits a month (50 a day), one seat. Enough to try, not to ship with. | CFree: 250 issues, 100 docs, 500 local tests a month and 7 days of history. Fine to look at, tight to run a team on. |
| Features | 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. | CIssue board, designs as code, parallel agents, feedback intake and a CI view. It no longer builds apps from a prompt. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It needs setting up against your repo, design system or Figma. | CNo store rating on record. It's an IDE and a workflow to set up around your repo, agents and Slack. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, Windows, Linux and editor extensions, which is computers only. No web editor or phone app is listed. | CMac, Windows and Linux, which is computers only. Only Slack is named as an integration. |
| Best for | UI coding inside your own repo | a team IDE with agents on an issue board |
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: Kombai and Tempo Labs. How we grade
Price against what you get
Kombai starts at $16 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Tempo Labs starts at $50 a month and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and Kombai starts $34 a month lower. Of the other AI app builders on the chart, 10 score higher than Kombai for less, and 39 score higher than Tempo Labs 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
- Kombai also covers app builder.
- Tempo Labs also covers issue tracking.
At a glance
| Kombai | Tempo Labs | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) | $50 per month for 1 user |
| Free plan | 150 credits on sign-up, then 50 credits a day up to 300 a month, with rollovers up to half the monthly limit. | 250 issues, 100 docs, 500 local tests a month and 7-day history. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Kombai | Tempo Labs Inc. |
| Price read from | kombai.com | tempo.new |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Tempo Labs
- Now positioned as a team IDE, not a prompt-to-app builder like earlier tools in this category.
- Pro covers one user; each extra user costs $40 a month.
- Test usage beyond the monthly allowance costs $4.50 per 1,000 on Pro.
- Free history is limited to 7 days.
Key features
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.
Tempo Labs
- Issue board
- Tickets move across To Do, Spec, Design, Build, Review and Merged stages.
- Designs as code
- The site says canvases are code in your repo, built from real components, and ship as pull requests.
- Agents as teammates
- Tasks can be assigned to agents that run in parallel, on any model or harness.
- Feedback intake
- Agents turn raw feedback from channels such as Slack into triaged issues.
- Worktrees and CI view
- Engineers can work across worktrees with pull request and CI status in one view.
Plans
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.
Tempo Labs
Free$0
250 issues, 100 docs, 500 local tests a month and 7-day history.
Pro$50
per month for 1 user
Unlimited issues and docs, 5,000 tests a month, 90-day history. $40 a month per extra user.
Team$200
per month for up to 5 users
5 included users, 35,000 tests a month, 365-day history. $40 a month per extra user.
EnterpriseCustom
Bring your own infrastructure, custom test volume and unlimited history with audit.
Ways to pay less
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.
Tempo Labs
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Kombai or Tempo Labs?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Kombai is cheaper to start with: $16 a month, against $50 a month for Tempo Labs. Kombai starts at $16 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly), and Tempo Labs starts at $50 per month for 1 user.
Which has a free plan, Kombai or Tempo Labs?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Kombai and Tempo Labs have a free plan.
Which platforms do Kombai and Tempo Labs run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Kombai lists a browser extension. Both list macOS, Windows and Linux apps. 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.