Discover/Kiro IDE vs Windsurf IDE
Kiro IDE
VS
Windsurf IDE

Kiro IDE vs Windsurf IDE

An in-depth comparison of Kiro IDE and Windsurf IDE — pricing, features, ratings, and more.

Kiro IDE
4.4
12 reviews
Windsurf IDE
4.9
164 reviews
Higher rated

Side-by-Side Comparison

Kiro IDE
Windsurf IDE
Category
AI Coding Assistant
AI Coding Assistant
Pricing
Free
Free tier; Pro at $15/month; Teams at $35/user/month
Pricing model
free
freemium
Rating
4.4 ★
4.9 ★
Reviews
12
164
Platforms
macOS, Windows, Linux
Windows, macOS, Linux
API Access
✗ No
✗ No
Open Source
✗ No
✗ No

Key Features

Kiro IDE
  • Spec-driven development
  • Autonomous coding agents
  • AWS service integration
  • Steering documents for context
  • Agent hooks for automation
Windsurf IDE
  • Cascade agentic AI
  • Multi-file code editing
  • Terminal command execution
  • Codebase understanding
  • VS Code compatible
  • Multiple AI models
  • Flows for automation

Pros & Cons

Kiro IDE
Pros
  • + Free during preview
  • + Deep AWS integration
  • + Novel spec-driven approach
Cons
  • AWS-focused
  • Early stage product
Windsurf IDE
Pros
  • + Cascade is very capable autonomously
  • + Good VS Code compatibility
  • + Free to start
  • + Fast and responsive
Cons
  • Cascade can make mistakes requiring review
  • Newer than Cursor
  • Credits can run out quickly on free tier