Amazon Q Developer is AWS's assistant for editing code and for questions in an AWS account. It writes, debugs, and refactors code natively in the IDE, and docs add chat, inline completions, and agentic diffs. Console pages cover resource questions, error diagnosis, and Console-to-Code recordings. Free and Pro use different sign-ins, and the IDE plugins have a published end date.
Official website · aws.amazon.com
Amazon Q Developer fits someone who already works in AWS and wants the assistant beside both the repository and the console. Free tier IDE and command-line limits are documented for a Builder ID,. Console Free tier access is documented for IAM Identity Center and IAM credentials, not for that personal Builder ID. Pro is the paid tier with higher limits and a larger Java upgrade allowance, but console Pro still expects IAM Identity Center. On April 30, 2027, AWS will discontinue support for Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins and points readers toward Kiro.
The product page describes an assistant that writes, debugs, and refactors code natively in your IDE. The guide says Amazon Q can chat about code, provide inline code completions, generate net new code, and scan for security vulnerabilities. Open the Amazon Q icon. In Visual Studio, use View then Amazon Q chat. The open file is context, and you can insert code at the cursor. Up to 10 tabs stay separate. Agentic coding is on by default. When you ask Amazon Q to improve your code, it updates your files directly and you can undo the diff. It may run shell commands it deems low-risk. Inline chat is marked off in Visual Studio. Chat, agentic coding, MCP servers, and inline suggestions are marked for VS Code, JetBrains, Eclipse, and Visual Studio. Minimums are Eclipse 2024-06 (4.32), JetBrains 2024.3, VS Code 1.85.0, and Windows Visual Studio 2022 version 17.7. Builder ID needs no AWS account. Pro uses IAM Identity Center.
Official documentationFree is a perpetual tier with monthly limits, and the sign-in changes the surface. The console and AWS apps are marked yes for IAM Identity Center and IAM, and no for a Builder ID. The IDE and command line are yes only for a Builder ID. Pricing says Free Tier limits in the IDE are available only to Builder ID users. The perpetual Free Tier gives you 50 agentic chat interactions per month. You can also transform up to 1,000 lines of code per month. Pro, also called Amazon Q Developer Pro, is the paid tier with higher limits. Console access is yes for IAM Identity Center and no for a Builder ID. The IDE and command line are yes for both. An IAM console login is sent to Identity Center at a Free limit or a Pro-only feature. Attach the AmazonQDeveloperAccess managed policy for console use.
Official documentationThe product page also puts the assistant in the console, Microsoft Teams, and Slack for costs, resources, incidents, and networking. Open the Amazon Q icon in the console or on a documentation page. You can ask about resources and costs and receive short CLI snippets. You can save up to 1,000 conversations. Inactive threads and messages older than 90 days are deleted. Amazon Q will never access resources that your IAM identity doesn't have access to. It will not list objects in an S3 bucket. With no Region named, it uses the conversation or the current console Region. Diagnose with Amazon Q can appear for EC2, ECS, S3, Lambda, Step Functions, and IAM errors, with no saved diagnosis history. Technical support from that chat needs a plan above Basic. Basic covers account and billing.
Official documentationConsole-to-Code records clicks and suggests CLI commands and infrastructure code. Free recordings and CLI generation have no fixed monthly cap. CDK and CloudFormation generation has a cap the page does not number. Pro removes that cap for a subscribed Identity Center user. Outputs include CDK Java, Python, and TypeScript, plus CloudFormation JSON and YAML. One tab can span a VPC, EC2, and RDS. The resource you create is still billed. Recording has no additional cost. Agents accelerate.NET porting from Windows to Linux and Java upgrades, including a heading for Java 8 to Java 17. Free Tier users can upgrade 1,000 LOC per month. Pro pools 4,000 LOC per user per month. Usage that exceeds this allocation is charged $0.003 per LOC submitted. GitLab or GitHub rules can live in.amazonq/rules. On April 30, 2027, AWS will discontinue support for Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins and points to Kiro.
Official documentationA suggested IDE pass opens the file you mean to change and names one constraint, such as a stable signature. The open file is context. Read the diff, and treat a low-risk shell command as the product's label. That is a suggested editing habit.
When Diagnose with Amazon Q appears on an EC2, ECS, S3, Lambda, Step Functions, or IAM error, a suggested first step is that button. It lists steps and does not remember earlier sessions. If the steps fail, the suggested next move is a drafted support case. Technical help needs a plan above Basic.
A suggested Console-to-Code recording stays in one tab, as in the VPC, EC2, and RDS example. Uncheck steps you do not want, then pick a listed CDK or CloudFormation format. The suggested check is the bill. Creating the resource still charges you.
A suggested planning step compares one module with the allowance before a transformation. Free Tier users get 1,000 LOC per month. Pro pools 4,000 LOC per user per month, and usage that exceeds this allocation is charged $0.003 per LOC submitted. The Java 8 to 17 heading and the Windows-to-Linux.NET line are examples, not a matrix.
Check Eclipse 2024-06 (4.32), JetBrains 2024.3, VS Code 1.85.0, or Windows Visual Studio 2022 version 17.7 before you install the plugin.
Use a Builder ID for Free Tier limits in the IDE or on the command line. Use IAM Identity Center when you need Pro or console access.
Ask from the Amazon Q icon, insert code with Insert at cursor, or review an agentic diff before you keep a shell command.
Choose the Amazon Q icon in the console, confirm the IAM policy allows the question, and use Diagnose with Amazon Q only when that button is shown.
The pricing page describes a zero-cost Free Tier and a Pro Tier at $19/mo.
Builder ID in the IDE, or IAM in the console.
Zero cost.
Monthly limits, no subscription fee shown.
Higher limits and a pooled Java upgrade allowance.
$19.
Per user, per month.
The fee is per user, per month, until you cancel. For example, for the $19 Pro plan with approximately 30 days in a month, one user is shown as 0.0333 of a user that day. No annual price was published. Recording a console action can still bill the AWS resource.
You want a coding assistant that is not tied to an AWS sign-in.
BLACKBOX.AI is a separate developer-tool entry. Look at it when Builder ID, IAM Identity Center, and AWS permissions are not part of the task.
The tiers page describes a perpetual Free tier with monthly limits, not a trial. IDE limits require a Builder ID. Console limits require IAM Identity Center or IAM credentials.
SourceThe pricing page lists the Pro Tier at $19/mo, per user, per month, until you cancel. No annual price is published on the public pages. Extra Java lines cost $0.003 per LOC submitted.
SourceJetBrains, VS Code, Visual Studio, Eclipse, and the command line. Minimums include Eclipse 2024-06 (4.32), JetBrains 2024.3, VS Code 1.85.0, and Windows Visual Studio 2022 version 17.7. Inline chat is marked off in Visual Studio.
SourceOn April 30, 2027, AWS will discontinue support for Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins and points to Kiro. Migration steps are on the Kiro website, not in the AWS pages public here. The notice does not end console chat.
SourceNo. It cannot answer questions about data stored in resources, including objects in an S3 bucket. It will never access resources that your IAM identity doesn't have access to.
SourceIt can. Shell commands it deems low-risk may run while agentic coding, the default, is on. File edits show a diff you can undo. The pages do not list those commands.
SourceYou can save up to 1,000 console conversations. Inactive threads and messages older than 90 days are deleted. IDE context stays in the tab, up to 10 tabs. Diagnosis keeps no history.
SourceThey do not state a license for generated code or a contract for calling the assistant from another application. Rules in.amazonq/rules are context for GitLab or GitHub feature code. Free-tier service-improvement terms are only linked, not quoted.
SourceOct 6, 2026 · NavHunt editorial
NavHunt did not run Amazon Q Developer. No plugin was installed, no Builder ID or IAM user was signed in, and no upgrade was submitted. Limits and prices come from AWS pages reviewed on 6 October 2026. This description is based on Amazon Q Developer's official materials reviewed on 2026-10-06, including Product page, Pricing, What is Amazon Q Developer, IDE overview.
A Builder ID and an IAM Identity Center user do not open the same Free Tier surfaces.