Amazon Q Developer is an AWS-focused coding assistant with broad IDE and CLI coverage, configurable controls, and an announced 2027 plugin sunset.
Editorial score
Strong AWS-oriented assistance, including resource context and IAM-governed AWS API actions.
Some low-risk shell commands may run without a separate user prompt.
Amazon Q Developer is an AWS-focused AI coding assistant with inline completion, chat, repository-aware agentic changes, code review, Java modernization, and AWS development support. It’s best suited for teams already working in AWS that want IAM-aware controls and support across major IDEs, terminals, GitHub, GitLab Duo, and MCP tools. The key buying caveat is lifecycle risk: AWS has announced end of support for the IDE plugins and paid subscriptions as of April 30, 2027.
Amazon Q Developer is an AWS generative AI assistant for software development lifecycle work. It covers coding, testing, troubleshooting, security scanning and fixes, application modernization, AWS resource optimization, and data pipeline work. The product is especially AWS-oriented, while also providing general coding assistance through IDE, terminal, AWS console, GitHub, and GitLab Duo surfaces.
Amazon Q Developer combines real-time inline completion with IDE chat and agentic changes. Suggestions can range from a line or comment to a complete function, while chat can explain, generate, debug, refactor, test, document, and update code. Workspace indexing can locate files and cross-file usage beyond the files currently open, supporting multi-file work.
It also includes code review and targeted Java modernization. Java transformation supports upgrades from Java 8, 11, or 17 to Java 17 or 21, plus Java 21 library and dependency upgrades. Output quality varies by language popularity and training-data quality.
Amazon Q Developer provides practical controls for edits and connected tools. IDE agentic changes can be inspected as diffs and undone, while Java transformations require developers to verify and accept generated changes. GitHub-suggested fixes require review and explicit commits before a pull request is updated.
AWS API actions run under the permissions of the underlying IAM identity and can be limited through policy. MCP tools support Ask, Always allow, and Deny settings. Buyers who require a prompt before every command should test their workflow: some commands classified as low risk may run without a separate prompt.
Environment coverage is broad: VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, Visual Studio, and terminal workflows on macOS, Linux, Ubuntu, and Windows are supported. GitHub and GitLab Duo add repository, pull request, and merge request workflows, and project-specific rules in .amazonq/rules can guide project interactions. MCP servers and AWS APIs can extend available tools and context.
There are tradeoffs. Feature availability differs by environment, free-tier access depends on the authentication method, and agentic requests are quota-limited. Workspace indexing can take roughly 5–20 minutes and increase IDE CPU usage. AWS has also announced the end of support for the IDE plugins and paid subscriptions on April 30, 2027.
Amazon Q Developer is best suited to teams already building on AWS, especially those that value AWS-focused Q&A, architecture guidance, console error diagnosis, resource context, and IAM-based governance. It’s also a strong fit for teams using mainstream desktop IDEs or terminals, GitHub or GitLab Duo, and organizations undertaking supported Java modernization.
Pro adds centralized administration, IP indemnity, and a default setting that does not use Pro content for service improvement. Buyers should assess command execution behavior, free-tier content use and opt-out settings, quota limits, and the planned IDE plugin sunset before standardizing on it.
Where the product fits — and where to be careful
Strong fit where AWS context and governance are central.
Good fit for the supported Java upgrade paths and multi-file development tasks.
Broad IDE, CLI, repository, project-rule, AWS API, and MCP coverage supports varied development workflows, but feature parity, quotas, indexing overhead, and the announced 2027 IDE-plugin sunset are material limits.
Inline completion, IDE chat, workspace context, multi-file changes, testing, documentation, debugging, refactoring, review, and selected Java transformation provide a strong documented coding workflow; quality varies by language.
Diff inspection, undo, developer acceptance for Java transformation, explicit GitHub commits, IAM policies, and MCP permission modes offer strong controls, though some low-risk commands can run without separate prompting.
User-review evidence was insufficient: the available aggregate is not publishable.
Amazon Q Developer has a perpetual Free tier and a $19-per-user-per-month Pro tier. Free usage is limited, while Pro adds higher limits, centralized administration, IP indemnity, and automatic opt-out from content use for service improvement.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
Free | $0 perpetual | Perpetual tier with monthly usage limits, including 50 shared agentic requests per month. |
Pro | $19 per user per month | Higher limits, centralized administration, IP indemnity, and automatic opt-out from content use for service improvement. |
Public pricing example
Metered Java transformation overage after included monthly allocations.
Documented connections and access methods for Amazon Q Developer.
Recent product and company updates
Amazon Q Developer end-of-support announcement
New Q Developer IDE-plugin signups and new subscription creation were blocked from May 15, 2026. IDE plugins and paid subscriptions are scheduled to reach end of support on April 30, 2027, with Kiro identified as the transition path.
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