Amazon CodeWhisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer was an AI-powered coding assistant from Amazon Web Services (AWS) designed to help developers write software more efficiently. It generated real-time code recommendations from natural-language comments and existing code inside supported development environments. AWS originally introduced CodeWhisperer as a machine-learning-powered coding companion focused on improving developer productivity.

On April 30, 2024, Amazon CodeWhisperer became part of Amazon Q Developer. AWS migrated CodeWhisperer’s core capabilities, including coding suggestions, command-line suggestions, code reviews, and its dashboard, into Amazon Q Developer. As a result, CodeWhisperer is no longer positioned as a separate current AWS product.

The current Amazon Q Developer platform expands on CodeWhisperer’s original functionality. It provides AI assistance throughout the software-development lifecycle, including code generation, code explanation, debugging, security scanning, code transformation, optimization, and refactoring.

One of CodeWhisperer’s core capabilities was AI code completion. Developers could write a comment describing what they wanted to accomplish or begin writing code, and the assistant could suggest code directly inside the IDE. This helped reduce repetitive programming work and provided developers with contextual coding assistance.

Amazon Q Developer retains this inline code-suggestion capability while adding broader conversational and agentic development features. Developers can now use chat to ask questions about code, generate new code, modify existing code, and work through development tasks.

The platform also provides agentic coding. Amazon Q Developer can work through development tasks with greater autonomy, helping developers make changes across a codebase rather than limiting assistance to individual lines or snippets. Agentic coding is available in supported IDE environments including Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, and Visual Studio.

Another important capability is security scanning. Amazon Q Developer can identify potential security vulnerabilities in code and provide recommendations or fixes. This extends the original CodeWhisperer experience beyond code generation into software-quality and security workflows.

Amazon Q Developer also supports code transformations. For example, developers can use it to help modernize applications and perform supported language or framework upgrades. AWS documents Java transformations and .NET/C# transformations among its supported capabilities.

The platform works across several integrated development environments. Current support includes Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs such as IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm, Eclipse, and Visual Studio. Developers can also use Amazon Q Developer through the command line and AWS development environments.

CodeWhisperer’s original documentation also listed support for AWS environments including SageMaker AI Studio, JupyterLab, Amazon EMR Studio, AWS Glue Studio, AWS Lambda, and AWS Cloud9. These capabilities have been incorporated into the broader Amazon Q Developer ecosystem where applicable.

A major advantage for AWS-focused developers is the platform’s understanding of AWS services and applications. Amazon Q Developer can answer questions about AWS architecture, resources, best practices, documentation, and application development. This makes it particularly useful for teams already building and operating workloads on AWS.

Amazon Q Developer is powered by Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s managed foundation-model platform. AWS states that Amazon Q Developer’s models are augmented with AWS content to provide more relevant answers for AWS development tasks.

The platform supports multiple programming languages, including Python, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Kotlin, C, C++, Shell scripting, SQL, and Scala. AWS also documents support for additional languages across specific features such as inline suggestions, code reviews, and customizations.

Amazon Q Developer also supports MCP servers, allowing developers to connect AI-assisted workflows to external tools and services. AWS currently documents MCP support across its supported IDE environments.

Pricing has also changed since the CodeWhisperer era. CodeWhisperer previously had Free and Professional tiers, but those plans were replaced by Amazon Q Developer Free and Pro after the product transition. The current Free tier includes limited agentic usage, while Amazon Q Developer Pro costs $19 per user per month.

The Free tier currently includes 50 agentic requests per month, while Pro provides increased limits and additional capabilities such as Identity Center administration, dashboards, controls, and IP indemnity.

For developers who want an AWS-focused coding assistant with a free entry tier, inline code generation, conversational assistance, security scanning, code transformations, and agentic coding, Amazon Q Developer is the current successor to CodeWhisperer.

Pricing

Amazon CodeWhisperer’s current capabilities are available through Amazon Q Developer.

Free

• $0
• 50 agentic requests per month
• Access to AI coding assistance
• IDE and CLI access
• Latest supported models
• Suitable for individual developers

Pro

• $19 per user/month
• Increased agentic-request limits
• Increased Java and .NET transformation limits
• Identity Center support
• Administrative dashboards
• Administrative controls
• IP indemnity
• Additional professional capabilities

Pricing Model

Freemium / Subscription

Pricing Note

Amazon CodeWhisperer no longer has separate pricing because it became part of Amazon Q Developer on April 30, 2024. The current successor uses a Free tier and a $19/user/month Pro subscription.

Review

Amazon CodeWhisperer was an effective AI coding assistant, particularly for developers working within the AWS ecosystem. Its original strengths included real-time code suggestions, IDE integration, command-line assistance, and code reviews.

Its transition into Amazon Q Developer has significantly expanded its capabilities. Developers now receive not only autocomplete but also conversational assistance, agentic coding, security scanning, code transformation, debugging, optimization, and refactoring.

The strongest advantage is its AWS integration. Developers building applications on AWS can use Amazon Q Developer to ask questions about AWS architecture, services, resources, and best practices while working directly within their development environment.

The free tier is another advantage, particularly for individual developers who want to experiment with AI-assisted coding without immediately paying for a subscription. The Pro plan provides higher limits and enterprise-oriented administration features.

The main limitation is that CodeWhisperer itself is now a legacy product name. Users searching for the current service should use Amazon Q Developer rather than expecting a separate CodeWhisperer platform.

Another consideration is that some capabilities vary by IDE and programming language. AWS documents different language support for inline suggestions, transformations, code reviews, and customizations, so developers should check feature-specific compatibility before deployment.

For AWS-focused developers and teams that want AI assistance throughout coding and software-development workflows, Amazon Q Developer is a strong successor to CodeWhisperer.