Amazon Q Developer / Kiro

Overview

Amazon Q Developer (formerly CodeWhisperer) is AWS's AI coding assistant. Optimized for AWS-native teams with deep CodeCatalyst and Lambda console integration. Uses Claude Sonnet 3.7 as the backend model, scoring 66% on SWE-bench Verified.

Key Features

Deep AWS Integration

• CodeCatalyst integration
• Lambda console for direct serverless editing
• AWS SDK auto-completion and explanations
• Cost optimization suggestions for AWS resources

Agentic Coding (Claude Sonnet 3.7)

Backend powered by Claude Sonnet 3.7. 66% on SWE-bench Verified. Handles complex multi-file changes.

Code Transformation

Automated major version upgrades (e.g., Java 8 → Java 17). Library migration support.

Security Scanning

Auto-scans generated code for vulnerabilities with suggested fixes.

IDE Integrations

VS Code, JetBrains, AWS Cloud9, CLI.

Pricing

Plan	Monthly	Notes
Free	$0	Individual, basic features
Pro	$19/user	Commercial use, unlimited, code transform

Especially attractive for existing AWS customers.

Strengths

• ✅ AWS-native — excels with CodeCatalyst/Lambda
• ✅ Free individual plan
• ✅ Claude Sonnet 3.7 agentic coding
• ✅ Code transformation features
• ✅ Built-in security scanning
• ✅ 66% SWE-bench Verified

Weaknesses

• ❌ Limited value outside AWS
• ❌ UI/UX weaker than Cursor/Copilot
• ❌ Limited Japanese docs
• ❌ Less appealing to non-AWS devs

Official Resources

• Website: https://aws.amazon.com/q/developer
• Pricing: https://aws.amazon.com/q/developer/pricing
• Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonq