Amazon Q Developer Review
Amazon Q Developer is AWS's AI coding assistant powered by Claude Sonnet 3.7, achieving 66% on SWEBench Verified benchmark. With 50 free agentic requests/month or unlimited for $19/user/month, it excels at AWS-native development, Java transformation (1,000-4,000 lines/month), and integrated cost management-making it the go-to choice for teams building on AWS infrastructure.
Quick Intel
Free tier available. No credit card required.
Pricing Breakdown
Amazon Q Developer offers a generous free tier with 50 agentic requests/month and 1,000 lines of Java transformation. The Pro tier ($19/user/month) unlocks unlimited agentic requests, 4,000 lines of code transformation pooled at account level, unlimited AWS pricing queries, and IP indemnity protection for enterprise compliance.
- 50 agentic requests per month
- Access to latest Claude Sonnet 3.7 model
- Use in IDE or CLI
- 1,000 lines of code transformation per month for Java upgrades (Java 8/11/17 to 17/21)
- 25 AWS pricing prompts per month (with account/resource context)
- Reference tracking
- Ability to suppress public code suggestions
- Unlimited agentic requests
- 4,000 lines of code transformation per month (pooled at account level)
- Java upgrades to Java 21 supported
- Unlimited AWS pricing and cost estimation queries
- Identity center support
- Admin dashboards and controls
- IP indemnity
- Automatically opted out of data collection
- All Free tier features included
- Additional code transformation at $0.003 per line
Amazon Q Developer Developer ROI Calculator
- 30% productivity boost based on early adopter reports
- Developers save 5-6 hours weekly with doubled coding speed
- PwC pilot showed 50% reduction in documentation tasks
- 10 minutes saved per Lambda upgrade across 1,000+ functions
Feature Analysis
Amazon Q Developer's standout capability is AWS-native integration-generating CloudFormation templates, debugging Lambda functions, creating IAM policies, and providing cost management insights directly in your IDE. The Claude Sonnet 3.7 engine delivers state-of-the-art agentic coding with transparent reasoning.
Agentic Coding
Claude Sonnet 3.7 with 66% SWEBench score-multi-turn conversations with intelligent task execution and transparent reasoning
AWS Integration
Native CloudFormation, Lambda, IAM policy generation with built-in understanding of AWS infrastructure patterns
Java Transformation
Upgrade Java 8/11/17 to 17/21 automatically-1,000 lines/month free, 4,000 lines/month on Pro
Multi-IDE Support
VS Code and JetBrains (GA), Visual Studio and Eclipse (preview) with inline chat and MCP tools
Cost Management
AWS pricing queries, optimization recommendations, and budget tracking-25/month free, unlimited on Pro
Non-AWS Development
Works for general coding but strongest features target AWS infrastructure-less value outside AWS ecosystem
The Honest Truth
- State-of-the-Art Agentic Coding - Claude Sonnet 3.7 achieves 66% on SWEBench Verified-multi-turn conversations with transparent reasoning for complex implementations.
- Deep AWS Integration - Generate CloudFormation templates, debug Lambda functions, create IAM policies with built-in AWS knowledge.
- Java Transformation - Automatically upgrade Java codebases from 8/11/17 to 17/21-PwC saved hundreds of hours upgrading 1,000+ Lambda functions.
- Multi-Language Support - Work in 9+ languages including Mandarin, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Hindi, Portuguese.
- Generous Free Tier - 50 agentic requests/month and 1,000 lines Java transformation free-sufficient for individual developers.
- IP Indemnity Protection - Pro tier includes IP indemnity for enterprise compliance-automatically opted out of data collection.
- Higher Cost Than Copilot - $19/user/month vs GitHub Copilot's $10/month for individuals-harder to justify outside AWS projects.
- Limited Outside AWS - CloudFormation, Lambda, IAM features provide minimal value for Azure, GCP, or non-cloud projects.
- Some Features in Preview - Visual Studio, Eclipse, and GitHub integration still in preview-JetBrains agentic coding coming soon.
- Context Understanding Challenges - Some users report occasional inaccuracy and code variations from context understanding issues.
- UI Not Very Intuitive - Interface less polished than competitors-support service quality issues reported.
Who Should Use This
AWS Infrastructure Teams
Generate CloudFormation templates, debug Lambda functions, and create IAM policies with AWS-native AI assistance.
Best FitJava Application Modernization
Automatically upgrade Java codebases from 8/11/17 to 17/21 with 1,000-4,000 lines of transformation monthly.
Best FitMulti-IDE Development
Use agentic coding with Claude Sonnet 3.7 across VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, and Eclipse with MCP tool integration.
Best FitGlobal Development Teams
Work in your native language with support for Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Hindi, Portuguese, and more.
Good FitCost-Conscious Cloud Development
Analyze AWS costs, get optimization recommendations, and estimate pricing for new resources.
Good FitNon-AWS Cloud Users
Teams on Azure, GCP, or without cloud infrastructure get limited value-consider GitHub Copilot or Cursor instead.
Not Idealvs. Competition
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Verdict
The Best AI Coding Assistant for AWS Teams
Amazon Q Developer is the clear choice for AWS-native development-its Claude Sonnet 3.7 engine (66% SWEBench) combined with deep AWS integration makes it unmatched for CloudFormation, Lambda, and IAM workflows. The Java transformation feature alone saves hundreds of hours for enterprise upgrades, and the generous free tier (50 agentic requests/month) lets teams evaluate before committing. However, at $19/user/month vs Copilot's $10, it's harder to justify outside AWS projects. For non-AWS development, GitHub Copilot or Cursor offer better value.
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