G
GAI coding assistant and agents for editors, terminal, desktop and GitHub
Free, from $10/mo
Kiro vs LM Studio
Pricing, features, platforms and who each one suits — side by side.
K
Choose Kiro if…
- you work on Web
- you're in its core audience: software developers, engineering teams
L
Choose LM Studio if…
- you need an API to build on
- you're in its core audience: developers, privacy-conscious professionals
Side by side
Feature Kiro LM Studio
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$20/mo$20/mo
Free plan
Free trial
API
Open source
Trains AI on your content—No
Data retention—Prompts and responses not retained; cloud requests processed transiently (Zero Data Retention)
Security and compliance—GDPR
Updates, last 90 days97
Agent mode—
CLI / terminal—
Cloud agents—
AI PR review—
MCP support—
PlatformsWeb—
CategoryCode AssistantsLocal & Open Models
CompanyAWSElement Labs, Inc.
Based in—United States
Founded——
Part of——
Key features
K Kiro
- Turns prompts into requirements, designs and task lists
- Parallel agents running locally or in the cloud
- Property-based tests to catch edge cases
- Checks requirements for contradictions and gaps
- Headless CLI for PR reviews in CI/CD
- Agent hooks that run tasks on triggers
- Model choice: Claude, GPT-5.6, open-weight or Auto
- Supports MCP, AGENTS.md and Agent Client Protocol
L LM Studio
- Bionic agent creates and edits documents, slides and PDFs
- Coding, automation and computer control tasks
- In-app download of local LLMs
- Runtime powered by MLX and llama.cpp
- Real-time on-device voice transcription in multiple languages
- Optional US-hosted open frontier models with zero data retention
- LM Link connects up to 5 devices on Free
- JavaScript and Python SDKs plus the lms CLI
Plans and prices
From each vendor's site. Prices change — confirm before buying.
Kiro
Kiro Free$0
Kiro Pro$20
Kiro Pro+$40
Kiro Pro Max$100
Kiro Power$200
EnterpriseCustom
LM Studio
Free$0
Bionic+$20 USD/month
Pro$100 USD/month
Strengths and limitations
Kiro
- Free plan with 50 credits per month
- No daily or weekly rate limits on paid plans
- Choice of many models, plus an Auto mode
- IDE supports Open VSX extensions and VS Code settings
- Unused monthly credits do not roll over
- Each team member needs their own subscription
- Use through third-party automation harnesses is not permitted
- Not all premium models are available in all regions
LM Studio
- Free plan includes the agent, local models and offline transcription
- Voice data is processed locally
- Cloud services are stated to use Zero Data Retention
- SDKs for JavaScript and Python plus a CLI
- Hosted frontier models require a paid plan starting at $20/month
- Free plan has only limited web search
- Team subscription plans are not yet available
More comparisons
Other options to consider
GG
Free, from $10/mo
G
AI coding assistant and agents for editors, terminal, desktop and GitHub
Code AssistantsFree plan
C
CC
Free, from $8/mo
O
OOpenAI's coding agent for the desktop, CLI, IDE, web and iOS, included in ChatGPT plans
Free, from $8/mo
O
Free, from $8/mo
O
OpenAI's coding agent for the desktop, CLI, IDE, web and iOS, included in ChatGPT plans
Code AssistantsFree planAPI
W
WW
Free, from $20/mo
W
AI coding IDE and command center for running local and cloud coding agents
Code AssistantsFree planAPI
D
DAutonomous AI software engineer that writes, tests and reviews code to merge-ready PRs
Free, from $20/mo
D
Free, from $20/mo
D
Autonomous AI software engineer that writes, tests and reviews code to merge-ready PRs
Code AssistantsFree plan
J
JRun and review AI coding agents across projects in JetBrains IDEs, web and CLI
Free, from $10/mo
J
Free, from $10/mo
J
Run and review AI coding agents across projects in JetBrains IDEs, web and CLI
Code AssistantsFree plan
Built from each vendor's public website; we haven't tested them hands-on. Editorial policy