Amazon Q Developer
An AWS coding assistant offering inline suggestions, chat, and agentic tasks across IDEs and the console. AWS is sunsetting Q Developer in favor of Kiro, new signups closed May 2026.
The verdict on Amazon Q Developer: Developers building cloud-native applications who need suggestions aware of AWS APIs and services Amazon Q Developer's real value was always narrow: developers building on AWS who needed an assistant that understood S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, and IAM without constant hand-holding. Pricing: Being retired: support ends Apr 30, 2027, migrate to Kiro. Last reviewed: August 2026.
Best For
Developers building cloud-native applications who need suggestions aware of AWS APIs and services
Standout Feature
Deep awareness of S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, and IAM specifics that general coding assistants don't have
TL;DR
Genuinely useful for AWS-heavy projects, being retired with support ending April 2027, so plan a migration to Kiro.
Alternatives
Overview
Amazon Q Developer (formerly CodeWhisperer) is AWS's AI coding assistant, built specifically around the AWS ecosystem and designed for developers building cloud-native applications on AWS infrastructure. Its primary differentiator is deep awareness of AWS APIs, SDKs, and service integrations: suggestions for S3 operations, Lambda functions, DynamoDB queries, and IAM policies are noticeably more accurate and idiomatic than general-purpose coding tools that generate AWS code from generic training data. Q Developer includes a security scanning feature that checks code for common vulnerabilities, SQL injection, path traversal, cross-site scripting, using Amazon's own security tooling.
The free tier is generous: unlimited code suggestions and 50 security scans per month at no cost. The Professional tier at $19/user/month adds team features, organizational policies, and expanded scan limits. Q Developer integrates with VS Code, JetBrains, and the AWS console directly.
For teams already committed to AWS, who write Lambda functions, CloudFormation templates, and CDK constructs regularly, it adds AWS-specific accuracy that justifies using it alongside or instead of more general alternatives.
Our Take
That specificity mattered. The problem now is that AWS closed new signups in May 2026 and support ends April 2027, with migration to Kiro as the stated path. If you're currently using it on AWS-heavy projects, start planning that migration now rather than waiting. For anyone evaluating it fresh, there's no practical reason to start with a tool on a retirement schedule.
Key Features
- Code generation
- Security vulnerability scanning
- AWS service integration
- IDE plugins
- Reference tracking
- • Best for AWS-heavy projects
- • Built-in security scanner
- • Free for individual use
- • Tracks open-source references
- • Less impressive outside AWS ecosystem
- • Not as capable as Cursor for complex tasks
- • JetBrains support is limited
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