Amazon Q Developer homepage

Amazon Q Developer

by Amazon Web Services

AWS generative-AI coding assistant with inline and agentic modes

Product with AI agentsSupervised

Last reviewed 2026-06-19

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Amazon Q Developer is AWS's generative-AI assistant for the software development lifecycle, operating in two modes. The first is a traditional inline coding assistant: real-time code suggestions across many languages, inline chat to explain, optimize, and document code, and CLI completions with natural-language-to-bash translation. The second is an agentic mode where a high-level natural-language task triggers multi-step work across files, including implementing features, refactoring, generating tests and docs, running code reviews, and performing large-scale upgrades such as Java version migrations and Oracle-to-PostgreSQL conversions. Autonomy varies by surface. In the IDE the agent usually proposes a reviewable plan and diffs that a developer approves. In its more autonomous deployments (the preview GitHub integration and code-transformation jobs) you assign a task and it implements the change, opens a pull request, runs checks, and iterates, bounded by PR review gates. It is built on Amazon Bedrock using multiple foundation models, with Anthropic Claude explicitly named. It evolved from Amazon CodeWhisperer and reached general availability in 2024.

What it can do

  • Generate inline code completions

    Copilot

    Suggests code in real time from single lines to full functions across many languages.

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  • Implement features and refactor across files

    Supervised

    Takes a natural-language task and implements multi-file changes, proposing a reviewable plan and diffs for approval.

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  • Implement GitHub issues and open PRs

    Autonomous

    In preview, picks up a GitHub issue, implements the change, opens a pull request, runs checks, and iterates, bounded by PR and merge gates.

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  • Transform and modernize applications at scale

    Supervised

    Performs large-scale upgrades (Java versions, .NET migration, Oracle-to-PostgreSQL) and scans code for vulnerabilities.

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Strengths

  • +Deep native AWS integration that nothing else matches for AWS teams
  • +Strong enterprise governance (IP indemnity, admin dashboards, data opt-out, reference tracking)
  • +Differentiated large-scale transformation and migration agents

Limitations

  • −Opaque about which model serves a request, with limited model choice
  • −Value skewed to AWS users; lags Copilot and Cursor on momentum elsewhere
  • −Uneven maturity: the GitHub integration is still preview and MCP is CLI-centric

Overview

Amazon Q Developer is AWS's generative-AI coding assistant. It works inline (completions, chat, CLI) and as an agent that takes higher-level tasks across files. It evolved from Amazon CodeWhisperer and is built on Amazon Bedrock.

What it does

Inline completion is copilot-level; multi-file feature work and migrations propose reviewable plans and diffs (supervised); the preview GitHub integration resolves issues and opens PRs bounded by review (autonomous for that surface). It also scans code for vulnerabilities and runs large-scale transformations.

Integrations & setup

Plugs into VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, and Eclipse, plus the AWS Console, GitHub (preview), GitLab, and ChatOps in Slack and Teams. It supports MCP (CLI-centric) and function calling.

Pricing

Freemium: a free tier with limited agentic requests and transformation lines, and a Pro plan at $19/user/mo with higher limits, admin controls, and IP indemnity.

Best for / not for

Best for AWS-centric teams and enterprises modernizing legacy Java or .NET. Less compelling for teams outside the AWS ecosystem who want the broadest model choice.

Alternatives

GitHub Copilot and Cursor lead the in-IDE coding space; Windsurf is an agentic IDE peer.

What people are saying

We aggregate real LinkedIn discussion into sentiment for the agents people search most. Amazon Q Developer isn't tracked yet, want it added? Request tracking.

FAQ

Is Amazon Q Developer just autocomplete?+

No. It does inline completion as a copilot, but it also has an agentic mode that implements features, refactors across files, runs migrations, and (in preview) resolves GitHub issues and opens pull requests.

Which models power Amazon Q Developer?+

It runs on Amazon Bedrock using multiple foundation models, with Anthropic Claude explicitly named. AWS does not disclose the exact model serving each request.

Sources

Last reviewed 2026-06-19

Alternatives & related

GitHub Copilot
AI pair programmer with inline completions plus a multi-step coding agent
Cursor
AI-first code editor with fast tab completion and a supervised coding agent
Windsurf
Agentic AI IDE whose Cascade agent edits across your codebase
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's AI: an in-app copilot plus a Copilot Studio agent platform