Overview

Just as I was about to start using kiro in earnest, I came across a post on X by SimSta2 hinting at a possible change to the pricing plan.
Since I’m cautious about unexpected charges, I decided to investigate right away.

• Relevant post: https://x.com/shimagaji2/status/1956495182020722854

• Official announcement: Pricing plans are live

TL;DR

• Who’s affected by the new pricing plan
  Users without a Q Developer subscription (logging in via Google / GitHub / AWS BuilderID) are subject to the new plan.
  Monthly allowance: Vibe 50 requests / Spec 0 requests.
  For the first 14 days after the new pricing starts, all users receive a Welcome Bonus of Spec 100 and Vibe 100 requests.

• How to check your usage
  Requires Kiro v0.2.13 or higher. Check from the profile menu in the top-right corner of the editor.
  Shows your allowance and consumption.
  You can upgrade to a paid plan from Upgrade Plan, but all plans have pay-per-use charges if you exceed your limit.

• Effect of logging in with a Q Developer Pro ID
  When logging in with an IAM Identity Center ID that has Q Developer Pro, the Kiro Plan allowance display disappears, meaning you’re (probably) excluded from the new plan’s restrictions.

• Session retention
  Switching accounts doesn’t end your IDE-side Kiro sessions — they remain intact.

• Caution
  Once you use up your free allowance, you’ll automatically switch to pay-per-use billing. Heavy users should be especially careful.

Details

Who is affected

If you don’t have a Q Developer subscription, you’re moved to the new pricing model.
Logging in via Google / GitHub / AWS BuilderID makes you eligible.
(In my case, I logged in with a GitHub account and a WaitList code, so I’m in this group.)

• Monthly allowance: Vibe 50 / Spec 0

• Welcome Bonus (first 14 days after pricing change): Spec 100 / Vibe 100

How to check your usage

• Required version: Kiro v0.2.13 or later (check via Help → About)

  

• Steps

  1. Click the profile icon at the right side of the editor.

     

2. You can monitor your usage.
   (In my case, I’m on the free plan, and my Vibe usage was already over halfway…)

   

• Changing plans
  You can choose a paid plan from Upgrade Plan.
  However, all plans have pay-per-use charges for exceeding the request limit.

  

Logging in with a Q Developer Pro ID

Since all Kiro plans include pay-per-use charges, I tried logging in with an IAM Identity Center ID that has Q Developer Pro.

When checking the profile in this state, the allowance and usage numbers were gone — likely meaning the account is excluded from Kiro Plan’s limits.

Session retention when switching accounts

When switching accounts, IDE-side sessions with Kiro remain intact — no work was lost.

Thoughts and what’s next

It seems that the Kiro plan is a bit less favorable compared to Q Developer — perhaps intentionally to promote Amazon Q Developer usage.
It’s still unclear whether using Kiro under these conditions will have any restrictions.
Personally, I hope that having a subscription to Q Developer would also grant Kiro access (or vice versa). Let’s see how this develops.