Agentic harness comparison
Amazon Q Developer vs Kiro
Compared on where each one runs, which editors it supports, how autonomous it is, and how it bills — the four things that actually decide Amazon Q Developer vs Kiro. Rankings reflect fit and trade-offs, not a single universal winner; partner links, when present, do not replace that methodology.
Details last verified September 3, 2026
AWS
Amazon Q Developer
IDE extension, CLI, AWS Console, and chat · Hybrid
AWS
Kiro
Own IDE (VS Code fork), CLI, and web · Agentic
| Specification | Amazon Q Developer | Kiro |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | AWS | AWS |
| Runs in | IDE extension, CLI, AWS Console, and chat | Own IDE (VS Code fork), CLI, and web |
| Editor support | VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, AWS Console, CLI, Chat apps | Kiro IDE, CLI, Web, VS Code settings/plugins import |
| Autonomy | Hybrid | Agentic |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Hybrid |
| Requires changing editor | Winner: No | Yes |
Benchmark scores carry the month they were measured. Values we could not confirm are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.
Amazon Q Developer
AWS's AI coding assistant with the deepest cloud integration in the category — agentic coding, chat, completions, Java/.NET transformation, and security scanning across IDEs, the CLI, and the AWS Console.
Best for
- AWS-native teams
- Java / .NET modernization
- Enterprise procurement with IP indemnity
Watch out
Two tiers (verified 2026-08-29, aws.amazon.com/q/developer/pricing and comparedge.com July 2026): Free — 50 agentic requests/mo, 1,000 LOC Java/.NET transformation, unlimited completions; Pro $19/user/mo — higher limits, 4,000 LOC pooled transformation, IP indemnity, admin dashboard via IAM Identity Center. Transformation past 4,000 LOC bills $0.003/LOC. Pro needs an AWS Organizations account. NOTE: AWS named Q Developer's successor as Kiro and set Q EOL for April 30, 2027 — new AWS teams should evaluate Kiro.
Kiro
AWS's spec-driven agentic IDE (built on Code OSS) that turns a prompt into requirements, design, and sequenced tasks, then implements them with parallel agents and event-driven hooks — the named successor to Amazon Q Developer.
Best for
- Spec-first / traceable delivery
- AWS-aligned engineering orgs
- Teams migrating off Amazon Q Developer
Watch out
Credit-based (verified 2026-08-29, kiro.dev/pricing and aiagentindex.com Aug 2026): Free 50 credits/mo; Pro $20 (1,000), Pro+ $40, Pro Max $100, Power $200/mo; overage $0.04/credit. GA since May 2026. Free-tier and Builder-ID data may train models unless you opt out; paid tiers via IAM Identity Center are excluded. Reached GA on a Code OSS base — import your VS Code themes and Open VSX plugins.
Common questions
Amazon Q Developer vs Kiro
Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.
Do I have to change editor to use Amazon Q Developer or Kiro?
Kiro requires moving to its own environment, while Amazon Q Developer runs in VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, AWS Console, CLI, Chat apps. For a team that has not standardised on one editor, that difference usually outweighs any capability gap.
How are Amazon Q Developer and Kiro priced?
Amazon Q Developer is per seat and Kiro is hybrid. Cost is predictable, but seats assigned to people who stop using the tool keep billing — review utilisation quarterly. The headline seat or plan price is not the heavy-agent bill — included credits, shared pools, and overages dominate once you loop agents hard. Estimate cost per successful task and set spend caps.
Is Amazon Q Developer or Kiro better for large refactors?
Kiro is the more autonomous of the two — agentic against hybrid — so it is the better fit for work you hand over whole. Amazon Q Developer is stronger for constant in-editor assistance. Those are different jobs, and many teams run one of each.
Should I run Amazon Q Developer and Kiro together?
Often yes as a hybrid stack rather than forcing one winner. Keep the stronger in-editor assistant for daily tab/chat work and the more autonomous surface for longer delegated tasks, then standardise on a portable repo rules file so project memory survives switching. Pilot both on the same practice repository before consolidating seats.
Will my project rules transfer between Amazon Q Developer and Kiro?
Usually not automatically. Cursor rules, CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, and extension-specific configs are different conventions. Keep one source of truth in the repository (commonly AGENTS.md) and copy or link into each tool’s native format so switching does not wipe months of project teaching.
Do coding agents replace code review?
No. Agents can draft patches faster, but they do not remove the need for human review of plans, tool calls, permissions, diffs, tests, and rollback paths. Treat autonomy as a reason for stronger review, not less — see the coding assistant rollout guide at /ai-harnesses/guides/coding-assistant-rollout-guide.
Should we harden MCP before rolling out a coding agent?
Yes for any agent that can install MCP servers or run tools. Maintain a short allowlist, review each server’s folder and network access before install, fail closed on unknown tools, and log tool calls. .cursorignore and similar rules do not block MCP or shell access once a command is approved.
Next step
Which one fits
Autonomy and editor constraints decide this far more reliably than a benchmark score.
If most of your week is small, frequent edits, an assistive workflow beats delegation and an agentic harness sits idle while billing. If you regularly hand over work spanning many files, the reverse is true.
Where one tool requires changing editor and the other does not, that difference usually outweighs any capability gap across a team — rollouts fail on adoption, not capability.