Claude Code vs Kiro
Claude Code (Anthropic) and Kiro (Amazon Web Services) side by side on public data, as of Oct 10, 2026.
Claude Code has 34.4x the GitHub stars of Kiro (150K against 4,356). Claude Code shipped 76 stable releases in the past 90 days.
Which should you choose?
Choose Claude Code if
- you want to use your own model API key
- you prefer the more widely used tool, with more docs and answers around (Gid Score 81 against 48)
Choose Kiro if
- you want to start free: it has a free tier, Claude Code does not
Built from documented features, official prices, status pages and usage data on this page; it does not judge output quality.
Side-by-side numbers
| Metric | Claude Code | Kiro |
|---|---|---|
| Gid Score | 81 | 48 |
| Overall rank | #3 | #73 |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 12.2M | — |
| Downloads, 7-day change | down 15.4% | — |
| Downloads, 30-day change | down 24.3% | — |
| VS Code installs | 27.4M | — |
| Marketplace rating | 3.7 / 5 (899) | — |
| GitHub stars | 150K | 4,356 |
| Homebrew installs, 30 days | 38.8K | 497 |
| Hacker News mentions, 30 days | 1,433 | 15 |
| Latest stable release | 2.1.296 · yesterday | — |
| Stable releases, 90 days | 76 | |
| Terminal-Bench (best run) | 64.8% · v4.0 | — |
| Price | $20/mo | Free + $20/mo |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| First released | February 2025 | July 2025 |
| Interfaces | CLI, IDE extension, Desktop, Web, Mobile, SDK | Desktop IDE, CLI, Web, Mobile, Desktop app |
| Models | Anthropic Claude models via Claude plans, a Console API key or supported third-party cloud providers | Auto (a mix of frontier models) plus selectable Anthropic Claude (Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Fable 5.1), OpenAI GPT-5.6 and open-weight models such as DeepSeek, MiniMax, GLM and Qwen. |
Trends
Claude Code
Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads a codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, with VS Code and JetBrains integrations plus desktop, web and mobile access. It runs Claude models through a Claude subscription, an Anthropic Console API key or supported third-party cloud providers.
Pricing: Claude Code is now included in Pro ($17/month annual, $20/month monthly) and Max ($100-$200/month) plans. Free tier does not include Claude Code. Team plans available with standard seats at $20/seat/month annual ($25 monthly) and premium seats at $100/seat/month annual ($125 monthly). Enterprise plans available with custom pricing.
Latest release 2.1.296:
- Added a code key to the Claude apps gateway's managed.policies[]: the same settings as cli, also applied in Claude Desktop's Code tab; beside desktop, it turns on Claude Desktop's gateway mode
- Added autoCompactWindow to subagent frontmatter and --agents definitions, so a subagent can auto-compact earlier than the main conversation's window
- Added CLAUDECODEWORKFLOWSUBAGENTMODEL to run every workflow agent on one model while other subagents keep theirs
- Added CLAUDECODEOVERLOADEDRETRYMAXDELAYMS environment variable to set a longer maximum delay for the backoff when retrying an overloaded (529) request
Kiro
AWS's agentic IDE built around spec-driven development, with a CLI, Kiro Web for cloud sessions, a mobile app and the open-source Kiro Crew workspace. AWS positions it as the replacement for Amazon Q Developer's IDE plugins.
Pricing: Free $0 (50 credits); Pro $20/mo (1,000 credits); Pro+ $40/mo (2,000); Pro Max $100/mo (5,000); Power $200/mo (10,000); add-on credits $0.04 each; Enterprise via sales.
Claude Code vs Kiro: common questions
How do Claude Code and Kiro prices compare?
Claude Code: $20/mo. Kiro: Free + $20/mo. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page.
Which is more popular, Claude Code or Kiro?
Claude Code has a Gid Score of 81 against 48 for Kiro. The score combines package downloads, editor installs, GitHub activity and attention, updated daily.