Amazon Q Developer (aws.amazon.com/q/developer) is Amazon's AI-powered coding assistant and the successor to AWS CodeWhisperer. It provides code suggestions, autonomous agents for multi-step tasks, security scanning, and deep integration with AWS services. Amazon Q Developer supports developers throughout the entire development lifecycle with code completion, chat-based assistance, code transformation, and test generation capabilities.
How Amazon Q Developer Works
Amazon Q Developer integrates directly into Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, Eclipse, and the AWS Console. It provides real-time code suggestions as you type, similar to GitHub Copilot, but with additional capabilities including autonomous agents that can implement features, refactor code, or upgrade dependencies across multiple files. The platform understands cross-file relationships and provides codebase-wide context for more accurate suggestions. It also includes conversational AI for asking technical questions and getting code explanations.
Key Features
- Autonomous agents — carry out multi-step tasks like implementing features, refactoring code, or upgrading dependencies
- Code transformation — automated version and framework upgrades like migrating Java 8 to Java 17 with minimal manual input
- Project-wide context — understands relationships across files and provides codebase-aware suggestions
- Security scanning — built-in vulnerability analysis with suggested fixes for common security issues
- AWS integration — conversational AI for AWS resource queries, cost analysis, and infrastructure questions
- Test generation — generates unit tests and full test suites based on existing code
- IDE support — works in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, Eclipse, and AWS Console
- Reference tracking — identifies and attributes open-source code snippets with license information
Amazon Q Developer Pricing
- Free Tier — Perpetual — code suggestions in IDE and CLI, reference tracking for licenses, limited chat interactions (50/month), limited agent tasks (50/month), security scans, available to Builder ID users and IAM users.
- Pro — $19/month per user — unlimited code suggestions, unlimited chat and agent tasks, advanced code transformation (4,000 LOC/month pooled at account level for Java upgrades), codebase customization, enterprise access controls, priority support, SOC/ISO/HIPAA/PCI compliance eligible.
Java transformation usage: Free tier includes 1,000 LOC/month per user for code upgrades. Pro tier includes 4,000 LOC/month per user pooled at account level. Additional usage charged at $0.003 per LOC submitted.
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Who Should Use Amazon Q Developer?
Amazon Q Developer is built for development teams already using AWS infrastructure who want deep integration with AWS services and resources. It is particularly well-suited for teams modernizing legacy Java applications, organizations requiring enterprise compliance (SOC, ISO, HIPAA, PCI), and developers who frequently interact with AWS Console and CLI. The perpetual free tier makes it accessible for individual developers and students, while the Pro tier scales well for teams with IAM Identity Center integration.
