Cursor vs Kiro
Cursor vs Kiro (AI Code Editors & IDEs). Agent test scores: Cursor 8.4/10, Kiro 9.7/10. Kiro scored 1.3 higher overall in our separate rubric v0.1 tests (editions and tasks can differ — see Edition tested and the notes below). Pricing: Cursor — Via The X Subscription (prices exclude tax; checked 2026-11-06): Free $0 (limited); Plus $8/mo (Cursor models only; no third-party models; no own API keys); Premium $30/mo (4× Plus usage; third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit); Super $100/mo (15×); Ultra $200/mo (50×); Teams $30/$100/$200 per seat/mo. Annual: Plus $80/yr, Premium $300/yr, Super $1,000/yr, Ultra $2,000/yr. Legacy Pro $20/mo for existing subscribers only. Grok API on paid plans is billed separately and does not draw from the weekly Cursor-model pool.; Kiro — Free $0 (50 credits/mo); Pro $20/user/mo (1,000 credits); Pro+ $40 (2,000); Pro Max $100 (5,000); Power $200 (10,000); add-on credits $0.04 each.
Every fact on this page comes from our tool records and test logs. Last updated:
- VibeToolRank score
- 8.4/10
- Last tested
- 2026-10-16
- Runs
- 1 (single run)
- Outcome score
- 9/10
- Edition tested
- Cursor 3.25.6 for Linux, Free Hobby plan, Agent with default model Cursor Grok 4.6 Medium
- Free plan, as measured
- 2026-10-16, 1 Hobby run: no visible limit hit; Agent Stats 0/394 after one T1 todo app
- Free plan
- Yes: ongoing Free ($0) — limited Agent, Chat, and Tab with Cursor models (Grok and Composer); not a trial
- Price
- Via The X Subscription (prices exclude tax; checked 2026-11-06): Free $0 (limited); Plus $8/mo (Cursor models only; no third-party models; no own API keys); Premium $30/mo (4× Plus usage; third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit); Super $100/mo (15×); Ultra $200/mo (50×); Teams $30/$100/$200 per seat/mo. Annual: Plus $80/yr, Premium $300/yr, Super $1,000/yr, Ultra $2,000/yr. Legacy Pro $20/mo for existing subscribers only. Grok API on paid plans is billed separately and does not draw from the weekly Cursor-model pool.
- Pricing checked
- 2026-11-06
- VibeToolRank score
- 9.7/10
- Last tested
- 2026-11-02
- Runs
- 3 runs
- Outcome score
- 10/10
- Edition tested
- kiro-cli 2.37.1, Kiro Free (AWS Builder ID), model auto, agent v3 Default/vibe (not Spec)
- Free plan, as measured
- About 0.80 credits for three Free Auto T3 bug-fix runs on 2026-11-02 (plus ~0.03 smoke); earlier Free IDE T1 todo used ~0.6. Observed ~0.27 credits per T3-sized Auto run in that test — not a monthly capacity promise; larger or follow-up tasks use more
- Free plan
- Yes: perpetual Free with 50 credits/mo — Auto, Claude Sonnet 4.5/4.0, and open-weight models (DeepSeek 3.2, MiniMax M2.5/M2.1, GLM-5, Qwen3 Coder Next); flagship Claude Opus / Sonnet 5.5 / GPT-5.6 need a paid plan
- Price
- Free $0 (50 credits/mo); Pro $20/user/mo (1,000 credits); Pro+ $40 (2,000); Pro Max $100 (5,000); Power $200 (10,000); add-on credits $0.04 each
- Pricing checked
- 2026-11-02
Side by side
| Field | Cursor | Kiro |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | CursorAI-native code editor. | KiroSpec-driven agentic IDE from AWS. |
| Pricing | CursorVia The X Subscription (prices exclude tax; checked 2026-11-06): Free $0 (limited); Plus $8/mo (Cursor models only; no third-party models; no own API keys); Premium $30/mo (4× Plus usage; third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit); Super $100/mo (15×); Ultra $200/mo (50×); Teams $30/$100/$200 per seat/mo. Annual: Plus $80/yr, Premium $300/yr, Super $1,000/yr, Ultra $2,000/yr. Legacy Pro $20/mo for existing subscribers only. Grok API on paid plans is billed separately and does not draw from the weekly Cursor-model pool. | KiroFree $0 (50 credits/mo); Pro $20/user/mo (1,000 credits); Pro+ $40 (2,000); Pro Max $100 (5,000); Power $200 (10,000); add-on credits $0.04 each |
| Free tier | CursorYes: ongoing Free ($0) — limited Agent, Chat, and Tab with Cursor models (Grok and Composer); not a trial | KiroYes: perpetual Free with 50 credits/mo — Auto, Claude Sonnet 4.5/4.0, and open-weight models (DeepSeek 3.2, MiniMax M2.5/M2.1, GLM-5, Qwen3 Coder Next); flagship Claude Opus / Sonnet 5.5 / GPT-5.6 need a paid plan |
| Pricing verified | Cursor2026-11-06 | Kiro2026-11-02 |
| Edition tested | CursorCursor 3.25.6 for Linux, Free Hobby plan, Agent with default model Cursor Grok 4.6 Medium | Kirokiro-cli 2.37.1, Kiro Free (AWS Builder ID), model auto, agent v3 Default/vibe (not Spec) |
| Tested on | Cursor2026-10-16 | Kiro2026-11-02 |
| Outcome score | Cursor9 | Kiro10 |
| Speed score | Cursor8 | Kiro10 |
| Cost score | Cursor9 | Kiro10 |
| Developer experience score | Cursor7 | Kiro8 |
| Reliability score | Cursor8 | Kiro10 |
| Overall score | Cursor8.4 | Kiro9.7 |
What our tests found
Cursor
In one agent turn with no follow-ups, Cursor built our T1 todo app as a single index.html in about 2.5 minutes and tested it in its built-in browser. We verified it ourselves in headless Chrome: add, complete, delete, filters, reload persistence and a 375px mobile layout all passed, and the only console error was a missing favicon. On Linux it needed --no-sandbox and showed a keyring dialog. Single run.desktop app, free plan
- Working todo app in one turn, about 2.5 minutes, with no follow-ups
- Every T1 check passed in our own headless browser test, including mobile
- Tested its own work in a built-in browser
- Free Hobby plan was enough for one T1; no visible quota limit hit (Agent Stats 0/394)
- On Linux it needed --no-sandbox and showed an OS keyring dialog on first launch
- The agent ran commands without asking for approval by default
- Free usage is published as Limited, not a hard public number; heavier Agent work needs a paid X Subscription plan
- Free and Plus do not include third-party models; Premium and above bill them at API list price from prepaid credit
Who it’s for: Developers who want an AI-first VS Code-style editor with a built-in agent on Cursor models. Use Free to evaluate Agent on those models. Plus adds a larger weekly Cursor-model pool and still has no third-party models and no own API keys. Premium and above is where the official docs put third-party models, Cloud Agents, Bugbot, and Origin.
Kiro
Three Free CLI T3 runs on 2026-11-02: each fixed the seeded cart.js discount bug so node --test passed 4/4 in 17–18s, leaving cart.test.js untouched and self-running the tests. Used about 0.80 of 50 monthly Free credits total ($0 spent) after Builder ID device-flow login; no API key.Free CLI / AWS Builder ID
- 3/3 Free CLI T3 runs fixed the bug in 17–18s with 4/4 tests passing
- Agent edited cart.js and ran node --test itself
- Used only about 0.80 of 50 monthly Free credits for three runs ($0)
- Free Builder ID session supports headless chat without an API key
- Free is 50 credits/mo and excludes Claude Opus, Sonnet 5.5, and GPT-5.6
- Official API keys / documented headless KIRO_API_KEY path need Pro or higher
- First login still needs interactive browser or device flow
- Headless Free runs need --trust-all-tools and --trust-workspace
Who it’s for: Developers who want a spec-driven agentic IDE/CLI from AWS, with a usable free tier for small tasks — and paid tiers that put several flagship models on one credit pool.
Verdict
Scores use rubric v0.1 from separate runs. Editions and tasks can differ (see Edition tested and What our tests found); some tests were a single run, which caps reliability scores. Overall: Cursor 8.4, Kiro 9.7. Check the free-tier limits above against your project before choosing.
FAQ
Which is better, Cursor or Kiro?
In our tests Kiro scored higher overall (9.7/10 vs 8.4/10). Scores use the same rubric (v0.1) but came from separate runs; editions and tasks may differ (see Edition tested and test summaries), so check the per-dimension scores for what matters to you.
Is Cursor free?
Yes: ongoing Free ($0) — limited Agent, Chat, and Tab with Cursor models (Grok and Composer); not a trial (pricing checked 2026-11-06).
Is Kiro free?
Yes: perpetual Free with 50 credits/mo — Auto, Claude Sonnet 4.5/4.0, and open-weight models (DeepSeek 3.2, MiniMax M2.5/M2.1, GLM-5, Qwen3 Coder Next); flagship Claude Opus / Sonnet 5.5 / GPT-5.6 need a paid plan (pricing checked 2026-11-02).
How much does Cursor cost compared with Kiro?
Cursor: Via The X Subscription (prices exclude tax; checked 2026-11-06): Free $0 (limited); Plus $8/mo (Cursor models only; no third-party models; no own API keys); Premium $30/mo (4× Plus usage; third-party models at API list price from prepaid credit); Super $100/mo (15×); Ultra $200/mo (50×); Teams $30/$100/$200 per seat/mo. Annual: Plus $80/yr, Premium $300/yr, Super $1,000/yr, Ultra $2,000/yr. Legacy Pro $20/mo for existing subscribers only. Grok API on paid plans is billed separately and does not draw from the weekly Cursor-model pool.. Kiro: Free $0 (50 credits/mo); Pro $20/user/mo (1,000 credits); Pro+ $40 (2,000); Pro Max $100 (5,000); Power $200 (10,000); add-on credits $0.04 each.
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Scores come from our own tests and are never for sale; sponsored placements are always labelled. Some links are affiliate links (currently Railway). Disclosure