Kiro (AWS)
Kiro is AWS's spec-driven IDE: free with 50 credits a month, then Pro at $20, Pro+ at $40, Pro Max at $100 and Power at $200 per user, with overage at $0.04 per credit.
Verified against: kiro.dev as of 2026-09-30
Quick verdict: Kiro is the pick for AWS-centric teams that want spec-first development and a published credit price. The free 50 credits prove the workflow on one or two features; Pro at $20 for 1,000 credits is the practical tier; Pro+ at $40 and Pro Max at $100 scale with team size. It is also the honest successor to Amazon Q Developer for anyone whose IDE plugin subscription is winding down. Choose Copilot if you need the cheapest seat, Cursor for the deepest agent loop, Claude Code for terminal and API flexibility, and Windsurf if you prefer quotas to credits.
- Our rating: 3.9/5
- Strongest dimension: Functionality (4/5, research only)
- Weakest dimension: Usability (3/5, research only)
- Pricing: Free plan · $20/user/mo (Pro)
- Verification: Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-30. Sources: kiro.dev
Kiro (AWS) pricing details
- Free plan available
- new signups get a 14-day 500-credit bonus; first paid upgrade via social login or AWS Builder ID credits $20
- paid plans from $20/user/mo (Pro)
- free $0 (50 credits, open-weight models and Claude Sonnet 4.5) · Pro $20/user (1,000 credits) · Pro+ $40 (2,000) · Pro Max $100 (5,000) · Power $200 (10,000) · teams up to 500 users on paid plans
- no separate annual plan; plans bill monthly and credits reset on the 1st of each calendar month
Kiro absorbed Amazon Q Developer's IDE role (Q Developer closed to new signups on 2026-05-15, end of support 2027-04-30). Credits are a unit of agent work, not a single interaction: a full spec run consumes 15 to 25 credits, add-on credits cost $0.04 each, and paid tiers can pool overages for teams.
In our index: Free plan $0 (50 credits) · Pro $20/user (1,000) · Pro+ $40 (2,000) · Pro Max $100 (5,000) · Power $200 (10,000); add-on $0.04/credit
How Kiro (AWS) scores across our 6 index dimensions
- Functionality: 4/5 (research only)
- Usability: 3/5 (research only)
- Stability: 4/5 (research only)
- Collaboration: 4/5 (research only)
- Localization: 4/5 (research only)
- Value: 4/5 (research only)
Score rationale: The new default for AWS-centric teams: it replaces Amazon Q Developer's IDE role and routes between Claude Sonnet 4.5, Opus and Amazon Nova depending on the task. The credit meter is transparent per prompt, and the $20 entry price matches Cursor and Windsurf Pro; the spec-first workflow suits structured work more than free-form prompting.
What Kiro (AWS) does well
- Replaces Amazon Q Developer's IDE role for free — Q closed to new signups on 2026-05-15, so Kiro is the AWS path
- Credit costs are published per prompt: a full spec run runs 15 to 25 credits, so a Pro month buys roughly 40 to 60 feature builds
- Spec-driven workflow (requirements, design, task breakdown) suits teams that review before they ship, plus Claude Sonnet 4.5 on the free tier
Where Kiro (AWS) falls short
- Credit meter is the least granular here: a complex run burns 15 to 25 credits, so the 50-credit free tier covers two or three real features
- Add-on credits at $0.04 each mean overage is real on busy months, and there is no annual discount
- AWS lock-in: Bedrock routing means Claude and Nova access, not the wider frontier-model menu Cursor and Windsurf offer
How Kiro (AWS) compares to other AI Coding Assistants tools
Our index tracks 5 AI Coding Assistants tools. Kiro (AWS) sits at 3.9/5, with no separate annual plan; plans bill monthly and credits reset on the 1st of each calendar month. Here are the 4 closest alternatives we hold pricing and scoring evidence for.
- Claude Code (Anthropic) — 4.5/5 · Free plan · $17/mo annual (Pro)
Claude Code is the model-native terminal agent: it runs inside Claude Pro at $20 a month, Claude Max from $100, or straight off the API at per-token rates with no seat fee. - Cursor — 4.5/5 · Free plan · $20/mo (Individual)
Cursor is the agentic editor: a free Hobby tier, Individual from $20 a month across Pro, Pro+ and Ultra, Teams at $40 per user, and usage-based billing above the limits. - GitHub Copilot — 4.4/5 · Free plan · $10/mo (Pro)
GitHub Copilot is the IDE-native default: free for personal use, Pro at $10 a month, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100, with a separate credit meter for agent usage on top of the plan price. - Windsurf (Cognition) — 4.0/5 · Free plan · $20/mo (Pro)
Windsurf, now part of Cognition, is the quota-priced editor: free with a light agent quota, Pro at $20, Max at $200, and Teams at $80 plus $40 per full developer seat.
Frequently asked questions about Kiro (AWS)
How much does Kiro (AWS) cost?
Free plan available; new signups get a 14-day 500-credit bonus; first paid upgrade via social login or AWS Builder ID credits $20; paid plans from $20/user/mo (Pro); free $0 (50 credits, open-weight models and Claude Sonnet 4.5) · Pro $20/user (1,000 credits) · Pro+ $40 (2,000) · Pro Max $100 (5,000) · Power $200 (10,000) · teams up to 500 users on paid plans; no separate annual plan; plans bill monthly and credits reset on the 1st of each calendar month. Billing detail: Kiro absorbed Amazon Q Developer's IDE role (Q Developer closed to new signups on 2026-05-15, end of support 2027-04-30). Credits are a unit of agent work, not a single interaction: a full spec run consumes 15 to 25 credits, add-on credits cost $0.04 each, and paid tiers can pool overages for teams. Figures verified 2026-09-30.
Does Kiro (AWS) have a free plan?
Yes. Kiro (AWS) has a free tier; paid plans start at $20/user/mo (Pro).
What is Kiro (AWS) rated in our index?
Kiro (AWS) sits at 3.9/5 in our index, strongest on functionality (4/5, research only) and weakest on usability (3/5, research only). Kiro is the pick for AWS-centric teams that want spec-first development and a published credit price. The free 50 credits prove the workflow on one or two features; Pro at $20 for 1,000 credits is the practical tier; Pro+ at $40 and Pro Max at $100 scale with team size. It is also the honest successor to Amazon Q Developer for anyone whose IDE plugin subscription is winding down. Choose Copilot if you need the cheapest seat, Cursor for the deepest agent loop, Claude Code for terminal and API flexibility, and Windsurf if you prefer quotas to credits.
What are the drawbacks of Kiro (AWS)?
Credit meter is the least granular here: a complex run burns 15 to 25 credits, so the 50-credit free tier covers two or three real features Add-on credits at $0.04 each mean overage is real on busy months, and there is no annual discount AWS lock-in: Bedrock routing means Claude and Nova access, not the wider frontier-model menu Cursor and Windsurf offer.
What does Kiro (AWS) do well?
Replaces Amazon Q Developer's IDE role for free — Q closed to new signups on 2026-05-15, so Kiro is the AWS path Credit costs are published per prompt: a full spec run runs 15 to 25 credits, so a Pro month buys roughly 40 to 60 feature builds Spec-driven workflow (requirements, design, task breakdown) suits teams that review before they ship, plus Claude Sonnet 4.5 on the free tier.
How was Kiro (AWS) verified?
Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-30. Sources: kiro.dev.
What are the alternatives to Kiro (AWS)?
We track GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code (Anthropic), Windsurf (Cognition) as the closest alternatives in our AI Coding Assistants index, and 4 head-to-head comparisons against Kiro (AWS) are available.