Amazon Q Developer
← Back to All AI Tools1. Should you try Amazon Q Developer? Overview
| What it is | Amazon Q Developer — AWS-Native Agentic Coding Assistant (Sunsetting → Kiro, Apr 2027) |
| Country / HQ | Seattle, USA |
| Best for | AWS-heavy teams (Lambda/IAM/CDK/CloudFormation) |
| Check before buying | Watch out: Azure/GCP/self-host shops (→ Cody/Cursor) |
| Editor rating | 3.8 / 5 |
| Pricing signal | Free tier + paid from $19/mo |
2. Features What it does
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Agentic coding | Read/write files, diffs, shell, multi-step tasks, @workspace context — SWE-Bench top scores |
| Autocomplete | Inline multiline, Claude models (Opus 4.5 retained; Opus 4.6+ → Kiro only from 2026-05-29) |
| Transformation | Java 8→17/21, .NET Windows→Linux porting — Standout differentiator |
| Security | Vuln scan, IaC misconfig, public-code suppression, fix suggestions — Outperforms public baselines per AWS |
| Surfaces | VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse(prev), CLI, AWS Console, Slack, Teams — IDE plugins in maintenance-only |
| Governance (Pro) | IAM Identity Center, admin dashboard, IP indemnity, auto opt-out training — Free = manual opt-out |
| DevOps hooks | GitHub issues assign, GitLab Duo integration |
3. Pricing Pricing (2026-10, USD)
| Plan | Price / mo | Key limits & who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Free (perpetual) | $0 | 50 agentic requests/mo, 1,000 LOC Java transform/mo, 25 AWS-resource Q/mo Builder ID or IAM; new accounts blocked since 2026-05-15 |
| Pro | $19/user/mo | 1,000 agentic requests/mo, 4,000 LOC transform pooled at payer-account, IP indemnity, SSO Existing subs can add seats until 2027-04-30 |
| Transform overage | $0.003 / submitted LOC | Beyond pooled 4,000/user Failed/aborted jobs not counted |
| Console/Slack/Teams Q | $0 (AWS account) | Not sunset Survives 2027 cutoff |
4. Integration Access & integrations
| Access type | Details |
|---|---|
| IDE | VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Eclipse (preview) |
| CLI | Q Developer CLI (being merged into Kiro CLI) |
| Terminal | Local + SSH, NL→bash |
| AWS Console | Q&A, error diag, cost/arch advice (not sunset) |
| Chat ops | Slack, Microsoft Teams (not sunset) |
| SCM | GitHub (issues/PR), GitLab Duo |
| Auth | AWS Builder ID (Free), IAM Identity Center (Pro) |
5. Reviews & Sources External reviews
| Source | Rating | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| G2 | 4.6–4.7/5 (200 rev) | AWS-context praise, transform strength |
| Gartner Peer Insights | 4.4–4.5/5 | Enterprise IAM fit |
| Trustpilot | ~1.8/5 | Billing/comm complaints, bimodal |
| Aggregate | ~3.7–4.3/5 | Strong in AWS stack, weak off-AWS, sunset uncertainty drags 2026 sentiment |
6. Best for / Not for Fit
| ✔ Suitable | ✘ Not suitable |
|---|---|
| • AWS-heavy teams (Lambda/IAM/CDK/CloudFormation) • Java 8→17 / .NET porting programs • Enterprise w/ IAM Identity Center + IP indemnity need • Console operators asking Q about bills/VPC |
• Azure/GCP/self-host shops (→ Cody/Cursor) • Solo devs starting fresh in 2026 (new signup blocked → use Kiro) • Teams wanting long-term bet (EOL 2027) • AI-native editor seekers (→ Cursor) |
7. Competitors How it compares
| Competitor | How it differs | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| AI coding assistant | GitHub Copilot | $10/mo cheaper, broader lang, no AWS-transform depth |
| AI-first editor | Cursor | $20/mo, Composer agent, no AWS Console native |
| Enterprise code-graph | Sourcegraph Cody | Cody better cross-repo; Q better IAM/Java-modernize |
| Autocomplete priv | Tabnine | Tabnine privacy-first, weaker agentic |
| Agentic CLI | Claude Code, Kiro | Kiro is Q’s successor, same AWS house |
| Autonomous SWE | Devin, Factory | Ticket-to-PR agents, different job |
| Free autocomplete | Codeium/Windsurf | Cheaper entry, no AWS transform |
8. Summary Verdict
| Who should pick it | AWS-heavy teams (Lambda/IAM/CDK/CloudFormation) |
| Who should skip it | Azure/GCP/self-host shops (→ Cody/Cursor) |