Kiro

Key facts: Kiro is an AI-powered IDE from AWS built around spec-driven development: write a requirements document, a design and task list, and its agents implement the tasks against that spec, keeping the specification as the source of truth. It supports steering documents that carry project rules across sessions.

Plans: Kiro has a free tier with monthly agent credits, and paid plans that add more credits and features. Check the official pricing page for current limits.

Best for: teams that want AI coding with a paper trail. Watch out: spec-driven development rewards clear specs — vague requirements produce vague code, just faster.

Pros

• Spec-driven development: requirements, design and task lists stay the source of truth while agents implement them.
• Steering documents carry project rules across sessions, so agents stay consistent over time.
• Agents implement tasks against the spec instead of improvising from a single prompt.
• Gives AI coding a paper trail, which helps teams review and maintain what was built.

Watch out for

• Spec-driven development rewards clear specs: vague requirements produce vague code, just faster.
• The free tier's monthly agent credits limit how much agent work you can run.
• Writing good specs is itself work; teams that skip that step will not get the benefit.

Best for

Teams that want AI coding with a paper trail. Who should skip it: solo hackers doing quick one-off scripts who do not want to write specs first.

Pricing

A free tier with monthly agent credits, and paid plans that add more credits and features. Check the official pricing page for current limits.

FAQs

What is spec-driven development? You write requirements, a design and a task list, and Kiro's agents implement the tasks against that spec.

What are steering documents? Documents that carry your project rules across sessions so agents stay consistent.

Who makes Kiro? It is an AI-powered IDE from AWS built around this spec-driven workflow.

Is there a free tier? Yes, with monthly agent credits; paid plans add more credits and features.