Kiro vs. Cursor #

Cursor is an AI-powered code editor made by Anysphere. Kiro is an AI IDE made by AWS. Both tools are designed to enhance developer productivities. Both tools are folks of Visual Studio Code, and intergrate advanced AI capabilities directly into the IDE.

Summary #

Kiro and Cursor are both AI-powered IDEs that enhance developer productivity, but they take different approaches to AI-assisted coding. Here are the key differences:

Kiro’s Unique Advantages:

Spec Mode: Structured approach to complex development tasks that formalizes the software development process - a feature unique to Kiro
Agent Hooks: Automated triggers that execute predefined agent actions when specific events occur in your IDE
Flexible Autonomy: Both Autopilot mode (autonomous modifications) and Supervised mode (review before applying changes)
Larger Context Window: 200K tokens for Sonnet vs Cursor’s 128K (requires extra payment for 200K)

Cursor’s Unique Advantages:

More Model Options: Supports multiple providers (Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI) with auto-selection capabilities
Predict Next Edit: Tab-tab feature that anticipates your next edit based on recent changes
Memories: Automatically generated rules based on conversations that maintain context across sessions
Checkpoints: Automatic snapshots of agent changes for easy rollback

Pricing Comparison:

Better Value at Similar Price Points: Kiro Pro ($19) offers 1000 Sonnet requests vs Cursor Pro ($20) with only ~225 Sonnet requests - over 4x more requests for less cost
Higher Tier Advantage: Kiro Pro+ ($39) provides 3000 Sonnet requests compared to Cursor Pro+ ($60) with ~675 Sonnet requests - nearly 5x more requests at 35% lower cost
Both offer unlimited inline completions on paid plans

Feature comparison #

Last comparsion date: July 14, 2025

Category	Feature	Description	Kiro	Cursor	Comments
Model	Model providers	LLM model providers	Anthropic: Sonnet 3.7/4	Anthropic: Claude Sonnet 3.5/3.7/4 Google: Gemini 2.5 OpenAI: GPT 4.1; GPT-4o; o3 xAI: Grok 3 Beta; Grok 3 Min	Claude 4 is the best coding model
	Auto mode	Auto select models based on capacity and performance	❌	✅
	API Keys	Use API keys to directly call model providers. Usually costs more than subscription. Features are usually restricted.	❌	✅	This usually cost more than subscription. Core features like Agent are prohibited in Cursor if using API Keys.
	Context window	The context window of chat	200K for Sonnet	128K for most models	Cursor needs to pay extra if you need 200K context window.
Chat	Q&A Chat	Back-and-forth conversations	✅	✅
Chat	Inline edit	Edit code or ask questions directly in your editor	✅	✅
Agent	Agent mode	Autonomous coding tasks, terminal commands, and code editing	✅	✅	Kiro's agent support Autopilot mode and Supervised mode. Autopilot mode allows Kiro to modify files within the opened workspace autonomously. Supervised mode allows users to review and approve changes before they are applied
	Spec mode	Structured approach to complex development tasks that formalizes the software development process	✅	❌	This is a unique feature in Kiro.
	Checkpoints	Automatic snapshots of Agent's changes to your codebase. Let you undo Agent modifications if needed.	❌	✅
	Planning	Agent plans and manages complex tasks with todos and queuing	❌	✅
	Diffs and Review	Review and manage code changes generated by the AI agent	✅	✅
	Hooks	Automated triggers that execute predefined agent actions when specific events occur in your IDE	✅	❌
Inline Completion	Inline Chat	Ask questions and get suggestions directly in the editor	✅	✅
	Autocompletion	Provides suggestions and completes your code as you type	✅	✅
	Predict next Edit (Tab-tab)	Use recent edits to anticipate the next edit you might want to make, and the location of that edit	❌	✅
Context	Codebase Indexing	Indexes your codebase by computing embeddings for each file. Improves AI-generated answers about your code.	✅	✅
	Rules	System-level instructions to models	✅	✅
	Memories	Automatically generated rules based on your conversations in Chat. Scoped to your project and maintain context across sessions.	❌	✅
	Ignore files	Control file access with ignore files	❌	✅
	Add images	Add images to the context	✅	✅
@ Symbol	@Files	Reference specific files in your project	✅	✅
	@Folders	Reference entire folders for broader context	✅	✅
	@Code	Reference specific code snippets or symbols from your codebase	✅	✅
	@Docs	Access documentation and guides	✅	✅
	@Git	Reference git history and changes	✅ Kiro refers to the current git diff.	✅ Cursor can refer to current git diff, or a specific commit.
	@Past Chats	Work with summarized composer sessions	❌	✅
	@Rules	Work with rules	✅ Refer to steering.	✅ Refer to Cursor rules.
	@Terminals	Reference the contents of the terminal	✅	✅
	@Web	Reference external web resources and documentation	✅	✅
	@Recent Changes	Recent code modifications as context in AI conversations	❌	✅ Cursor prioritizes the last 10 changes.
	# Problems	Reference problems in the current file	✅ Kiro refers to the Problems in the IDE.	❌
	@Lint Errors	Reference lint errors (Chat only)	✅ Lint Errors are included in #Problems.	✅
	# Files	Add files to the context without referencing	❌	✅	Not important. Not even explicitly tell how to use this feature in Cursor on its UI.
	/ Commands	Add open and active files to the context	❌	✅	Not important. Not even explicitly tell how to use this feature in Cursor on its UI.
MCP	Workspace level MCP	Applies to current workspace	✅	✅
	User level MCP	Applies to all projects	✅	✅
	`stdio` transport		✅	✅
	`SSE` transport		❌	✅	Not critical. Can use `mcp-remote` alternative.
	`Streamable HTTP` transport		❌	✅	Not critical. Can use `mcp-remote` alternative.
	Auto-approving trusted tools	To avoid repeated approval prompts for trusted tools	✅	✅
	MCP marketplace	Install MCP servers with one-click installation	❌	✅	This is not critical. Customers can install MCP servers from 3rd party marketplace.
Others	Remote agents	Asynchronous remote agents running in the Cloud	❌	✅ Background agents in Cursor. Additional charge applies.	This is not critical.
Others	Web portal	Run coding agents from a web portal	❌	✅ Additional charge applies.	This is not critical.
User Experience	Parallel session	Allow open multiple tabs, run agents/chat parallel	✅	✅	Both tools can run multiple sessions parallel.
	Task list	Show current tasks and tasks in queue	✅	❌
	History	View and manage chat conversations	✅	✅
	Context Summarization	Automatically summarizes and manages context to keep your chats efficient	✅	✅
	Customize layout	Quickly customize the IDE layout	✅	❌

Price comparison #

Kiro is free with generous limits during the preview period.

Product	Plan	Cost (/mo. per user)	Inline completions	Agent interactions	Additional cost after limits
Kiro	Free	$0	Unlimited	50 Sonnet	Upgrade to other plans
	Pro	$19	Unlimited	1000 Sonnet	Unknown
	Pro+	$39	Unlimited	3000 Sonnet	Unknown
Cursor	Hobby	$0	Limited	Limited	Upgrade to other plans
	Pro	$20	Unlimited	~225 Sonnet 4 requests, ~550 Gemini requests, or ~650 GPT 4.1 requests	Use Auto or pay additional API cost of model providers
	Pro+	$60	Unlimited	~675 Sonnet 4 requests, ~1,650 Gemini requests, or ~1,950 GPT 4.1 requests	Use Auto or pay additional API cost of model providers
	Ultra	$200	Unlimited	~4,500 Sonnet 4 requests, ~11,000 Gemini requests, or ~13,000 GPT 4.1 requests	Use Auto or pay additional API cost of model providers
	Teams	$40	Unlimited	500 agent requests (Sonnet costs two requests when you enable thinking)	$0.04/request