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Amp vs Kiro

A decision for a beginner, not a spec sheet. Scores are our weights. Prices are the public plans, and anything marked verify on the tool page should be re-checked before you pay.

The call

  • Amp: Web app, Mac and iOS apps, CLI, and cloud machines or your own runners. Kiro: Desktop IDE, CLI, and a paid web app for cloud sessions.
  • Neither tool is a clear no-code winner over the other. Read the skill scores before you decide on comfort.
  • On the kind of project, these two are close. Budget and where you want to work should break the tie.

Pick Amp if you want a repo you want an agent to work on in parallel, including while your laptop is closed.

Pick Kiro if you want a web app or automation you will keep in a repo and review as a diff.

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Amp

A coding agent you can run free on your own machine, or in Amp's cloud.

Cheapest verified paid plan: Megawatt · $20/mo

Pick it when

  • A repo you want an agent to work on in parallel, including while your laptop is closed
  • People who already pay for ChatGPT or Claude and want to use that subscription inside an agent
  • Developers who can review agent output and do not need a hosted app builder

Leave it when

  • A no-code landing page or a hosted app from a form
  • A free month of Amp-paid model usage (Hobby includes neither orb minutes nor Amp credits)
  • Native mobile apps and games
  • Anyone budgeting the $10 education price without being a student or teacher

Kiro

An agentic IDE that turns a prompt into a spec, then into a diff.

Cheapest verified paid plan: Pro · $20/user/mo

Pick it when

  • A web app or automation you will keep in a repo and review as a diff
  • Developers who want requirements and tasks written down before the agent edits
  • A published monthly credit number, instead of an unpublished quota

Leave it when

  • Publishing a landing page without looking at code
  • A native iOS or Android app (the Kiro mobile app only steers sessions)
  • Games that need a scene editor
  • Anyone who needs the free 50 credits to last a month of daily agent work

Where the weights differ

Web app or SaaS

Amp5/5
Kiro5/5

Mobile app

Amp2/5
Kiro2/5

Game

Amp2/5
Kiro2/5

Website or landing page

Amp3/5
Kiro3/5

Automation or script

Amp5/5
Kiro5/5

No code

Amp1/5
Kiro2/5

I can follow a change

Amp4/5
Kiro4/5

I already develop

Amp5/5
Kiro5/5

Amp plans

Last verified 2026-10-19

Hobby

Individual

Free

Verified

All product features. No monthly fee. Pay-as-you-go orbs, or your own runners at no Amp charge. Linked ChatGPT, Claude, and other subscriptions, and bring-your-own-key, with no Amp token fees or limits. No included orb minutes and no included Amp credits.

The Hobby card is on ampcode.com/pricing. Standard orb rates, if you do use cloud machines, are on the orb sizes page and start at $0.08 an hour for a1.tiny.

Megawatt

Individual

$20/mo

Verified

45,000 minutes of orb time and $20 of Amp credits, then more credits at provider list price. Unlimited public and private repositories, and your own portal domains. Soft hosting limits on the card are 1 GB of repository storage and 10 GB of monthly transfer.

This is the Individual price shown on the default pricing tab. Included usage does not roll over. The $20 of credits is the amount the pricing card prints for this tier.

Megawatt (education)

Individual

$10/mo

Verified

The same Megawatt allowance, at $10 a month for students and teachers. The pricing card shows $10 of included Amp credits when the education discount is applied.

The pricing FAQ says students and teachers can get Megawatt for $10 per month. Left out of budget matching so a general under-$10 question cannot be won by a discount most readers cannot buy.

Gigawatt

Individual

$200/mo

Verified

480,000 minutes of orb time, which is the Gigawatt tab's minute figure, and $200 of Amp credits. The underlying allowance is 1,000 hours of a1.xxlarge. a1.3xlarge orbs are limited to Gigawatt and Enterprise. Soft hosting limits are 10 GB of repository storage and 100 GB of monthly transfer.

The $200 price is the Gigawatt tier on ampcode.com/pricing. The default tab is Megawatt, so the $200 card is the other Individual tab. A note on the orb details says 10× limits for Gigawatt.

Kiro plans

Last verified 2026-10-19

Free

Individual

Free

Verified

50 credits a month. Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models such as Qwen3 Coder Next, DeepSeek 3.2, and MiniMax M2.1, with rate limits. No add-on credits. Kiro Web is not included.

The 50-credit free allowance is on the pricing page and the billing docs. The free tier is not offered on Kiro Enterprise or in AWS GovCloud.

Pro

Individual

$20/user/mo

Verified

1,000 credits a month. Premium models, including Auto, Claude Sonnet 5, and Claude Opus 5, where those models are available. Add-on credits at $0.04. Kiro Web uses the same credits.

Price is on kiro.dev/pricing. The credit count is on the billing docs. Prices exclude tax. A first upgrade with social login or Builder ID gets a $20 credit toward the subscription, prorated for the partial month.

Pro+

Individual

$40/user/mo

Verified

2,000 credits a month, with the same paid-plan model access and add-on credits as Pro.

Price on the pricing page. Credit count on the billing docs.

Pro Max

Individual

$100/user/mo

Verified

5,000 credits a month. The same feature set as Power, including specs, custom subagents, powers, and hooks.

The $100 price and the 5,000-credit count are on the pricing page's tier list, the billing docs, and Kiro's Pro Max announcement.

Power

Individual

$200/user/mo

Verified

10,000 credits a month, the largest self-serve pool, plus add-on credits at $0.04.

Price on the pricing page. Credit count on the billing docs. AWS GovCloud is approximately 20% higher and has no free tier. That regional markup is not a separate dollar row here.

When Amp runs out

Included Megawatt and Gigawatt usage resets at the end of the monthly billing period and does not roll over. Purchased credits expire 12 months after you buy them. A paused orb costs nothing. Amp pauses an idle orb 5 minutes after the agent stops, or 20 minutes after your last interaction, whichever is later.

On Hobby, use your own runner if the bill you are avoiding is orb time. Model limits on a linked ChatGPT or Claude subscription are that vendor's cap, not an Amp cap.

When Kiro runs out

Plan credits renew at the start of the next billing cycle. Paid subscriptions are processed on the 1st of each calendar month. Unused plan credits do not roll over. Add-on credits, which are paid plans only, last 12 months.

On Free, wait for the monthly reset. Add-on credits cannot be bought on this tier, and Kiro Web is not included.

Full limit playbook

Questions people actually ask

Which is cheaper, Amp or Kiro?

Amp Megawatt and Kiro Pro are both listed at $20/mo.

Who is Amp for?

Amp is for a repo you want an agent to work on in parallel, including while your laptop is closed, people who already pay for ChatGPT or Claude and want to use that subscription inside an agent, and developers who can review agent output and do not need a hosted app builder.

Who is Kiro for?

Kiro is for a web app or automation you will keep in a repo and review as a diff, developers who want requirements and tasks written down before the agent edits, and a published monthly credit number, instead of an unpublished quota.

Which is a better fit if I do not want to read code, Amp or Kiro?

Amp scores 1 out of 5 for someone who does not want to read code. Kiro scores 2 out of 5. Kiro has the higher no-code score. You are starting threads against a project and reading what the agent did. This is not a no-code builder. Specs are written in plain language, and you still end up reading a diff. If code on screen is a dealbreaker, use a browser builder.

Do Amp and Kiro have free plans?

Amp: Free to Amp if you bring your own model subscription or key and run on your own machine. Cloud orbs are pay-as-you-go. Hobby includes no orb minutes and no Amp credits. Kiro: 50 credits a month on the perpetual free tier, with Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models, subject to rate limits. Add-on credits are not available. Kiro Web is not on this plan.