GitHub Copilot vs Amazon Q Developer

GitHub Copilot and Amazon Q Developer side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.

At a glance

Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.

Key differences

GitHub Copilot lists a free tier and Amazon Q Developer does not.

GitHub Copilot has the lower starting price ($10/mo against $19/mo for Amazon Q Developer). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.

Both are in our Code & Dev Tools category.

About each tool

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GitHub Copilot

GitHub's AI coding assistant: completions, chat, code review and agents in VS Code, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Xcode and on GitHub. Free plan; Pro is $10 a month.

Who it is for

Individual developers, students, and teams or enterprises that want AI help inside their editors and GitHub workflows. GitHub sells separate individual, Business and Enterprise plans, with admin budgets and pooled credits for organizations.

Strengths

• A free plan is available, with 2,000 code completions a month and limited chat and agent use
• GitHub's feature matrix lists VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Neovim and Eclipse, plus GitHub.com, GitHub Mobile and the command line
• On paid plans, code completions and next edit suggestions do not use AI credits
• Copilot Student is free for verified students, and GitHub says verified teachers and popular open-source maintainers may be eligible for free Copilot Pro
• Business and Enterprise plans pool credits across the organization, with admin budgets at enterprise, cost-center and user level

Limitations

• Usage is metered in AI credits (1 credit equals $0.01) based on token use. Included credits reset monthly and do not carry over
• On individual plans, Copilot pauses once the included credits run out unless you turn on paid additional usage and set a budget
• Annual Pro and Pro+ subscribers stay on the older premium-request system until the plan expires (300 and 1,500 requests a month, $0.04 per extra request), then move to Free

GitHub Copilot profileVisit site ↗

A

Amazon Q Developer

AWS coding assistant with chat, suggestions and Java/.NET upgrades. AWS has blocked new sign-ups since 15 May 2026 and ends IDE plugin support on 30 April 2027, pointing to Kiro.

Who it is for

AWS's page describes it for developers working in JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, VS Code and Eclipse (preview), and for teams doing Java upgrades or .NET porting. AWS now directs new users and existing IDE users to Kiro.

Strengths

• AWS lists IDE support for JetBrains, IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio, VS Code and Eclipse (preview)
• Listed features include inline code suggestions, inline chat, agentic coding, unit test generation, vulnerability scanning and AWS guidance
• It includes Java upgrade and .NET porting transformation agents
• The pricing page lists reference tracking and suppression of public-code suggestions on both tiers
• The Pro tier includes an admin dashboard and IP indemnity, which the Free tier does not

Limitations

• AWS says new sign-ups were blocked from 15 May 2026: no new Free Tier accounts in the IDE plugins and no new subscriptions in the AWS Console. Adding seats to an existing Pro subscription is still allowed
• The IDE plugins and paid subscriptions reach end of support on 30 April 2027, and Java and .NET transformation in the plugins will no longer be accessible after that date
• Pro agentic requests are listed as included with limits and no number is published. Transformation is 4,000 lines per user a month, pooled at the payer account, then $0.003 per extra line
• AWS says that from 29 May 2026 one older Claude model is no longer available on Pro, and that its latest coding models are available exclusively on Kiro

Amazon Q Developer profileVisit site ↗

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