Amazon Q Developer vs Windsurf
AWS's coding assistant, strongest on AWS-native work and legacy Java transformation, with an unusually generous free tier. An agentic AI editor, priced on daily and weekly quotas since retiring credits in March 2026.
At a glance
| Amazon Q Developer | Windsurf | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $19/seat/mo | $20/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Plans offered | 2 | 4 |
| Team pricing | $19/seat/mo | $40/seat/mo |
| Vendor | Amazon Web Services | Windsurf |
| Best for | Teams building on AWS, where the service integration is the point | Developers who want agentic editing with predictable quotas |
| Main trade-off | Clearly strongest on AWS-native work; less compelling if your stack is elsewhere | Smaller ecosystem and extension community than a VS Code fork |
The short answer
Choose Amazon Q Developer if teams building on aws, where the service integration is the point. Choose Windsurf if developers who want agentic editing with predictable quotas. The rest of this page is the detail behind that.
Pricing
Amazon Q Developer
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 50 agentic requests/month · Latest Claude models in IDE or CLI · Perpetual, not a trial |
| Pro | $19/seat/mo | Expanded agentic request limits · 4,000 lines/month of Java transformation, pooled at account level · Admin dashboards · IP indemnity |
Pricing verified
Windsurf
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Limited quota |
| Pro | $20/mo | Daily and weekly quotas rather than credits |
| Max | $200/mo | Highest quota |
| Teams | $40/seat/mo | Org management |
Pricing verified
Amazon Q Developer
Strengths
- A perpetual free tier with 50 agentic requests a month and access to current Claude models -- more generous than most paid entry tiers were a year ago
- IP indemnity included at $19, where competitors reserve it for enterprise pricing
- Java transformation genuinely automates legacy version upgrades, which is drudgery nothing else targets
- Procurement is trivial where AWS is already an approved vendor
Trade-offs
- Clearly strongest on AWS-native work; less compelling if your stack is elsewhere
- Only two tiers, so there is no middle ground above 50 requests
- Java transformation lines are pooled across the whole account, so a large org shares one budget
- General coding quality is not obviously ahead of cheaper, more focused tools
Amazon Q Developer: who it suits
Buy it if
- Teams building on AWS, where the service integration is the point
- Organisations carrying legacy Java that needs version migration
- Anyone wanting IP indemnity without an enterprise contract
Skip it if
- Developers with no AWS footprint -- the differentiators are all AWS-shaped
- Heavy individual users, since the jump from 50 free requests goes straight to a seat licence
- Teams whose main criterion is raw editing experience, where Cursor and Zed are stronger
Visit Amazon Q Developerfrom $19/seat/mo · free tier available
Windsurf
Strengths
- Quota-based pricing is easier to reason about than credits
- Strong agentic flows built into the editor itself
- Priced level with Cursor at the Pro tier
Trade-offs
- Smaller ecosystem and extension community than a VS Code fork
- The March 2026 pricing change reset how quotas work, so older comparisons are wrong
- Less established than Copilot or Cursor
Windsurf: who it suits
Buy it if
- Developers who want agentic editing with predictable quotas
- Anyone who disliked credit-based billing elsewhere
Skip it if
- Teams needing the broadest editor and IDE coverage
- Anyone depending on a large third-party extension ecosystem
Visit Windsurffrom $20/mo · free tier available
Common questions
- Is Amazon Q Developer or Windsurf cheaper?
- Amazon Q Developer starts at $19/seat/mo and Windsurf at $20/mo. Amazon Q Developer is cheaper at entry level, though the allowances differ.
- Who should not use Amazon Q Developer?
- Developers with no AWS footprint -- the differentiators are all AWS-shaped. Heavy individual users, since the jump from 50 free requests goes straight to a seat licence. Teams whose main criterion is raw editing experience, where Cursor and Zed are stronger.
- Who should not use Windsurf?
- Teams needing the broadest editor and IDE coverage. Anyone depending on a large third-party extension ecosystem.
- Does Amazon Q Developer or Windsurf have a free tier?
- Both offer a free tier, so you can evaluate each before paying.