Kiro vs. Cursor #
Cursor is an AI-powered code editor developed by Anysphere. Kiro is an AI IDE developed by AWS. Both tools aim to enhance developer productivity. Both tools are forks of Visual Studio Code and integrate advanced AI capabilities directly into the IDE.
Summary #
Both Kiro and Cursor are AI-powered IDEs that enhance developer productivity, but they take different approaches to AI-assisted programming. Here are the key differences:
Kiro’s Unique Advantages:
- Spec-driven development: Structured approach to complex development tasks that formalizes the software development process - this is unique to Kiro
- Agent Hooks: Automated triggers that execute predefined agent actions when specific events occur in the IDE
- Flexible Autonomy: Both Autopilot mode (autonomous end-to-end task completion) and Supervised mode (human review before applying changes)
Cursor’s Unique Advantages:
- More Model Choices: Supports multiple providers (Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI) with automatic selection capabilities
- Predict Next Edit: Tab-tab functionality that predicts your next edit based on recent changes
- Memories & Checkpoints: Automatically generated rules based on conversations that maintain context across sessions; automatic snapshots of agent changes for easy rollback
Feature Comparison #
Last comparison date: August 2, 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 costs 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 | ✅ | ✅ | |
| 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 supports 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 rules. | ✅ 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. Cursor doesn't even explicitly explain how to use this feature in its UI. | |
| / Commands | Add open and active files to the context | ❌ | ✅ | Not important. Cursor doesn't even explicitly explain how to use this feature in 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. |
| 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 #
Last updated: August 2, 2025. For the latest pricing information, please check the official Kiro and Cursor websites.
Personal Plans #
- Kiro pricing plans include fixed numbers of Vibe requests and Spec Task requests.
- Cursor pricing plans include monthly agent usage budget calculated by model API prices.
Pro Plan Trial
Both Kiro and Cursor offer a 2-week free Pro plan trial. During the trial period, Kiro provides an additional 100 Spec Task requests. Cursor doesn’t explicitly specify the number of agent calls or model API usage quota.
| Kiro Plan | Cursor Plan | Cost (per month/per user) | Kiro | Cursor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Hobby | $0 | • 50 x Vibe requests | Limited (no official specification) |
| Pro | Pro | $20 | • 225 x Vibe requests • 125 x Spec Task | • ~225 Sonnet 4 requests, or • ~550 Gemini requests, or • ~650 GPT 4.1 requests |
| Pro+ | - | $40 | • 450 x Vibe requests • 250 x Spec Task | - |
| - | Pro+ | $60 | - | • ~675 Sonnet 4 requests, or • ~1,650 Gemini requests, or • ~1,950 GPT 4.1 requests |
| Power | Ultra | $200 | • 2,250 x Vibe requests • 1,250 x Spec Task | • ~4,500 Sonnet 4 requests, or • ~11,000 Gemini requests, or • ~13,000 GPT 4.1 requests |
After exceeding the plan, Kiro charges $0.04/Vibe request and $0.2/Spec Task request.
After exceeding the plan, Cursor offers AUTO (automatic model selection) or charges based on model API fees, with Sonnet 4 approximately $0.09/request.
Kiro’s Advantages:
- Transparent pricing, simple calculation: Fixed costs and call counts.
- Cheaper overage fees: After exceeding quota, Vibe costs $0.04/request, lower than Cursor’s ~$0.09/request (based on Sonnet 4 pricing).
Cursor’s Pricing Advantage:
- AUTO mode: After exceeding quota, can choose AUTO (no model selection), no additional fees.
Enterprise Plans #
Enterprise plans typically support SSO (Single Sign-On), user management, usage statistics, and unified billing. Kiro has not yet announced whether all three paid tiers apply to enterprises, so the following content is for reference only.
- Kiro pricing plans include fixed numbers of Vibe requests and Spec Task requests.
- Cursor pricing plans include fixed number of requests (Sonnet 3.7 and Sonnet 4 Thinking mode requests count as 2).
| Kiro Plan | Cursor Plan | Cost (per month/per user) | Kiro | Cursor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | - | $20 | • 225 x Vibe requests • 125 x Spec Task requests | - |
| Pro+ | Teams | $40 | • 450 x Vibe requests • 250 x Spec Task requests | 500 x Sonnet requests (Sonnet thinking consumes two requests) |
| Power | - | $200 | • 2,250 x Vibe requests • 1,250 x Spec Task requests | - |
After exceeding the plan, Kiro charges $0.04/Vibe request and $0.2/Spec Task request.
After exceeding the plan, Cursor offers AUTO (automatic model selection) or charges model API prices with 20% markup, paying additional fees (Sonnet 4 approximately $0.11/request).
Kiro’s Advantages:
- Transparent pricing, simple calculation: Fixed costs and call counts.
- More call counts: $40 plan, Kiro includes more call counts than Cursor.
- Cheaper overage fees: After exceeding quota, Vibe costs $0.04/request, lower than Cursor’s ~$0.11/request (based on Sonnet 4 pricing).
Cursor’s Advantage:
- AUTO mode: After exceeding quota, can choose AUTO (no model selection), no additional fees.