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Facts checked against both vendors on September 28, 2026.
This is no longer a close call. AWS has announced that Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins and paid subscriptions reach end of support on April 30, 2027, new sign-ups closed on May 15, 2026, and AWS points developers to Kiro instead. GitHub Copilot is the safe choice for any new purchase. Q Developer only makes sense for existing Pro subscribers who rely on its AWS console assistance or its Java and .NET transformation tooling during the wind-down.
Streamlines coding, testing, and cloud optimization effortlessly.
Amazon Q Developer and GitHub Copilot are both AI coding assistants with completions, chat, agentic tasks and security scanning, but they are on very different trajectories. Copilot is GitHub's flagship and keeps adding surfaces: a cloud agent, code review, a CLI and a multi-vendor model list. Q Developer is being wound down as an IDE product, with AWS steering developers to Kiro, its spec-driven development environment.
This comparison sets out what each does, what it costs, and where Q Developer still has an edge for AWS-heavy teams, so a buyer can decide whether to migrate now, ride out an existing subscription, or standardize on Copilot.
Amazon Q Developer is AWS's generative AI assistant for building and operating AWS applications. In the IDE it provides inline suggestions, chat, code generation, vulnerability scanning and code upgrades, with plugins for JetBrains, Visual Studio, VS Code and Eclipse (preview). It also has a CLI, a presence in the AWS Management Console and console mobile app for cost, architecture and troubleshooting questions, and integrations for Slack and Microsoft Teams. Its distinctive feature is code transformation for Java upgrades and .NET porting from Windows to Linux.
The critical fact is the end-of-support notice. AWS's documentation states: "On April 30, 2027, AWS will discontinue support for Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins." The AWS DevOps blog adds that paid subscriptions and code transformation end the same day, that new sign-ups stopped on May 15, 2026, and that Q Developer in the console and in Slack and Teams is not affected. Existing Pro subscriptions can still add users. AWS recommends Kiro, an agentic development environment for spec-driven development.
GitHub Copilot is GitHub's assistant and agent. Its documentation describes assistive features and agentic ones where Copilot "researches a repository, proposes a plan, edits files, reviews pull requests, runs tools, and prepares tasks for your review." The cloud agent runs in an ephemeral GitHub Actions environment and opens pull requests; code review can be required by repository rulesets; the plan page lists Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok models.
Amazon Q Developer's pricing page lists two tiers. Free costs $0 and includes 50 agentic requests per month and 1,000 lines of code transformation per month. Pro is $19 per user per month with increased agentic request limits (the page does not state the number), 4,000 lines of code transformation per user per month pooled at the account level with extra lines at $0.003 each, an admin dashboard, IAM Identity Center support, IP indemnity and automatic opt-out of data collection. Because new subscriptions closed on May 15, 2026, these prices only apply to accounts that already hold one.
Copilot meters usage in AI credits worth $0.01 each. GitHub's plans page lists Free at $0 with 2,000 completions and limited chat and agent use, Pro at $10 per month with 1,500 credits, Pro+ at $39 with 7,000 credits and Max at $100 with 20,000 credits. Business is $19 per seat per month with 1,900 credits per user and Enterprise is $39 per seat with 3,900 credits per user, with overage at $0.01 per credit. The cloud agent has no separate fee, and GitHub estimates a code review consumes $0.05 to $5 worth of credits depending on effort level.
Q Developer's advantages are all about AWS. Nothing in Copilot answers questions about your own AWS resources, costs and architecture from inside the console, and AWS has confirmed that the console experience is not part of the sunset.
The code transformation agent is the other differentiator. Copilot can help upgrade a Java application through chat and agent mode, but Q Developer packages Java version upgrades and .NET porting as a metered service with 4,000 lines per user per month on Pro and a stated overage price. For a team with a legacy estate and an existing Pro subscription, that is a concrete, budgeted capability until April 2027. Pro also includes IP indemnity and IAM Identity Center integration at $19 per user, matching Copilot Business on price for organizations administered through AWS identity.
Copilot wins on longevity, breadth and choice. It is not being retired, it is open to new customers, and it keeps gaining surfaces. The cloud agent can be assigned work from a GitHub Issue, VS Code or an @copilot comment and returns a pull request with your tests and linters run in Actions. Code review can be made mandatory through rulesets. The CLI and GitHub Mobile are included.
Model choice is broader: Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok are all on the plan page, and Pro+ and above can delegate to third-party coding agents. Q Developer runs on Amazon Bedrock, and AWS has said some models are being withdrawn from Pro during the wind-down. Copilot's free tier, with 2,000 completions, agent mode and a CLI, is also open to individuals, whereas Q Developer's Free tier can no longer be joined.
If you are buying today, pick Copilot. You cannot start a new Q Developer subscription, and any IDE workflow built on it has a fixed end date. Teams that want the AWS-native experience should evaluate Kiro, which AWS positions as the successor and says carries over inline suggestions, chat and code generation.
If you already have Q Developer Pro, the decision is about timing. Keep it if you depend on the transformation agent for a migration that will finish before April 2027, or if your developers value the console integration, which continues. Plan the move regardless: Copilot Business at $19 per seat is the same price as Q Developer Pro and adds a cloud agent, code review and a multi-vendor model list that Q Developer will not receive.
Built from each tool's listing. Vendors can update their own listing after claiming it.
Free tier ($0, 50 agentic requests and 1,000 lines of code transformation per month) and Pro ($19 per user per month, 4,000 transformation lines per user pooled, $0.003 per extra line). New sign-ups closed on May 15, 2026 and paid subscriptions end on April 30, 2027.
Free ($0), Pro ($10 per month, 1,500 AI credits), Pro+ ($39, 7,000 credits), Max ($100, 20,000 credits), Business ($19 per seat per month, 1,900 credits per user) and Enterprise ($39 per seat, 3,900 credits per user). Overage is $0.01 per credit.
