AWS Kiro AI Tool Pricing Hikes Spark User Fury
Developers using AWS Kiro, the company’s new AI-driven coding tool, are expressing widespread dismay over its recently revised pricing structure. Many users, who initially embraced the tool for its innovative approach to AI coding assistance, are now labeling the updated costs a “wallet-wrecking tragedy,” a sentiment echoed by open-source PHP and Laravel engineer Antonio Ribeiro, who praised Kiro as “a gem” before seeing the unexpected price hike.
Kiro, which AWS introduced last month as a fork of Code OSS (the foundation for Visual Studio Code), distinguishes itself with a unique specification- and task-driven approach to AI coding. Upon its initial unveiling, AWS presented “coming soon” pricing plans that appeared quite reasonable. These included a Free tier offering 50 interactions per month, a Pro tier at $19 per user/month for 1,000 interactions, and a Pro+ tier at $39 for 3,000 interactions, with additional interactions priced at $0.04 each. This initial transparency and affordability contributed to Kiro’s immediate popularity, prompting AWS to introduce a waitlist, during which the initial pricing details quietly disappeared from public view.
Last week, the anticipated new pricing was finally announced, and it proved significantly less generous. AWS now differentiates between two types of Kiro AI requests: “spec requests,” which originate from tasks, and “vibe requests,” which are general chat responses. The complexity of these requests directly impacts consumption; for instance, executing a sub-task requires at least one spec request and an accompanying vibe request for “coordination.” Furthermore, AWS has reserved the right to consume more requests depending on a task’s complexity, a notable shift from earlier reassurances by AWS developer advocate Nathan Peck, who initially suggested that a single interaction could potentially run for several minutes of Kiro iterating on code.
Under the revised scheme, the Free tier now provides only 50 vibe requests, completely omitting spec requests. The Pro tier, priced at $20, includes 225 vibe and 125 spec requests. A Pro+ tier offers 450 vibe and 250 spec requests, while the top-tier Power plan, at $200, grants 2,250 vibe and 1,250 spec requests. The cost for additional requests has also changed dramatically: vibe requests remain at $0.04 each, but spec requests are now five times more expensive, at $0.20 apiece.
This new structure has led to significant user frustration. Antonio Ribeiro, for example, calculates that his light coding usage, which typically involves at least 3,000 spec requests monthly and minimal vibe requests, could now cost him around $550 per month. For full-time coding, his estimated monthly expenditure skyrockets to approximately $1,950. Ribeiro finds vibe requests largely unhelpful, noting that the “vibe agent constantly nags me to switch to spec requests, claiming my chats are ‘too complex’.” As an open-source developer committed to community contributions, he describes this pricing as “a kick in the shins.”
Similar complaints are surfacing across user communities. One GitHub issue highlights that the Pro+ monthly limits were “completely consumed within 15 minutes of usage in a single chat session.” Members of the Kiro Discord community also report widespread concerns about opaque pricing and the unexpectedly high number of requests consumed, often far exceeding what the documentation suggests. Users claim that a single interaction can, in practice, consume four to six vibe requests, rather than just one.
In comparison, Kiro’s competitors appear to offer more favorable terms. Ribeiro points out that Amazon Q costs $40 for 3,000 requests, while Trae provides unlimited requests (though it can be slow), and Windsurf is described as “way more affordable for experimenting.” While the value of AI for developers remains a subject of ongoing debate, the Kiro pricing controversy underscores a significant risk for users: the potential for unexpected and rapidly escalating costs in AI-powered development tools.