Alternatives to Amazon Q Developer

AWS AI coding assistant that writes, debugs and refactors code in your IDE. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Amazon Q Developer.

  • GitHub Copilot

    An AI coding assistant from GitHub that suggests code and carries out coding tasks in editors and terminals.

    FreemiumProprietarymacOSCommand line

    GitHub Copilot works in Visual Studio Code, a macOS app and a CLI with GitHub integration instead of AWS services, and heavier use requires a paid plan.

  • Cursor

    An AI code editor built on VS Code, with coding agents that plan and carry out tasks.

    FreemiumProprietarymacOSCommand line

    Cursor is a full AI code editor built on VS Code with multi-file agents and codebase indexing, rather than a plugin for your existing IDE, and runs on macOS.

  • Codex CLI

    OpenAI's open source coding agent that runs in your terminal.

    FreemiumOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Codex CLI is OpenAI's open source terminal coding agent under the Apache license, and it needs an OpenAI account or API access instead of AWS.

  • Gemini CLI

    Google's open source AI agent for the terminal, powered by Gemini.

    FreemiumOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Gemini CLI is Google's open source terminal agent with a usable free tier, and it depends on Google authentication and Gemini cloud models instead of AWS.

  • Windsurf Plugins

    AI autocomplete and chat plugins for JetBrains, VS Code and other editors.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinux

    Windsurf Plugins bring AI autocomplete and chat to JetBrains, VS Code and other editors, but the plugin line is in maintenance mode rather than active development.

  • Cody Enterprise

    Enterprise AI coding assistant grounded in Sourcegraph's codebase context.

    PaidProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinux

    Cody Enterprise grounds suggestions in Sourcegraph codebase context rather than AWS services, and it has enterprise pricing only and requires a Sourcegraph deployment.

  • OpenHands

    Self-hosted control centre for running coding agents against your projects.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    OpenHands is a free, MIT-licensed self-hosted interface for running several coding agents across local and cloud backends, though you still pay for model access.

  • Kiro

    An AI coding IDE and CLI that turns prompts into specs, designs and tasks for agents.

    FreemiumProprietaryCommand line

    Kiro is the AWS-backed spec-driven AI IDE and CLI that AWS is steering Amazon Q users toward, organising work into requirements, designs and tasks for agents.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.