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Head-to-head · Nov 2025 – Nov 2026

Kiro vs Windsurf: where developers land.

74 opinions. No direct preference recorded yet. Approval is 59% vs 58%.

74 opinions65 developersNov 2025 – Nov 2026Methodology
Kiro
59%
38 opinions · 30 developers
90 days: –
VS
Windsurf
58%
36 opinions · 35 developers
90 days: –
Our call

There is no clear direct preference yet. Approval is 59% vs 58%; use the decision cards below to choose on workflow.

Choose Kiro if you…

  • You prioritize UX and agent autonomy
  • You want the stronger UX balance in this sample
  • You can accept mixed reliability reports

Choose Windsurf if you…

  • You care about price and free usage
  • You want broad model access on a $20 plan
  • You can tolerate reliability complaints
Where each wins

Kiro and Windsurf: where each one wins.

Net sentiment per topic: praise minus complaints, as a share of mentions. Positive means more praise than complaints. Hover a dot for the raw counts.

KiroWindsurf
TopicMore complaints ← → More praiseNet
UX 11 / 6 mentions
+45 / +33
Cost & pricing 4 / 7 mentions
+50 / +14
Reliability 6 / 3 mentions
−33 / −100
−100−500+50+100

Net sentiment = praise minus complaints, as a share of each tool's mentions. The dot lanes are only for readability; position is the score.

View data table
TopicKiroWindsurfMentions
UX+45+3311 / 6
Cost & pricing+50+144 / 7
Reliability-33-1006 / 3
Why developers switched

The same decision, from both sides.

Paraphrased from comments where a developer named a preference or described a switch. Each links to the original.

Picked Kiro 0 developers

No explicit switches recorded.

Picked Windsurf 0 developers

No explicit switches recorded.

Side by side

The numbers.

MetricKiroWindsurf
Approval59%58%
Last 90 days––
Opinions3836
Developers3035
First-hand opinions2631
Direct picks00
TypeAI IDEAI IDE
Made byAWSCognition
WebsiteVisit ↗Visit ↗
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Methodology

How to read this comparison.

Approval is the positive share of opinions that took a side, with the rank based on the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval. Direct picks count comments where a developer explicitly preferred one tool or described switching. Small samples are noisier; check the opinion counts.

Read the full method →