Tendon-driven mechanisms have gained prominence in a range of applications, including soft robots, exoskeletons, and prosthetic devices. These mechanism use flexible tendons or cables to transmit force and control joint movement. As the popularity of these mechanisms grows, there is an increasing demand for solutions to enhance stability and safety. The use of brakes is a well-known solution, but existing models are difficult to customize for small soft robots. In this paper, we present a one-way shape memory alloy-based compact brake for tendon-driven mechanisms. The proposed soft brake featured a thin design and was tailored for seamless integration within a tendon-driven mechanism. In addition, the use of the one-way shape memory alloys enabled the design of the brakes that are both compact and powerful. This brake is expected to be widely used in miniaturized tendon-driven robots.