Async IDEvsKiro
Generated from the two spec rows. Green marks the better value where a spec has a clear direction. Everything else is just different.
Async IDE
ZYKJShadow · AI-native IDE
#37OSSMCP
Panel
6.45 spec wins
- Reliability
- 5.7
- Usefulness
- 6.5
- Cost
- 8.2
- Longevity
- 5.3
“It bridges to Telegram, Slack, Discord and Feishu, so four separate apps can now tell you the build is broken.”
Kiro
Amazon Web Services · AI-native IDE
#57MCP
Panel
6.53 spec wins
- Reliability
- 6.3
- Usefulness
- 6.7
- Cost
- 5.7
- Longevity
- 7.3
“Makes you write requirements, design and tasks before any code, so the credit meter starts running before the first line does.”
Spec by spec
| Spec | Async IDE | Kiro |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| Category | AI-native IDE | AI-native IDE |
| Runs | local | local, cloud, sandbox |
| Platforms | macos, linux, windows | macos, linux, windows, web |
| Context window | not documented | not documented |
| Protocols | ||
| MCP client | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| Capabilities | ||
| Runs terminal commands | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-file edits | Yes | Yes |
| Git operations | Yes | Yes |
| Browser control | YesBrowser automation with custom headers and fingerprint is one of the built-in tools. | YesEvery Kiro Web sandbox ships a headless Chrome with Playwright MCP, the agent-browser CLI and the Chrome DevTools MCP server preinstalled; the local IDE and CLI have no built-in browser tool. |
| Sandboxed execution | No | YesKiro Web runs each task in its own isolated execution environment with configurable access controls. |
| Multi-agent orchestration | YesAgent and Team toolchains are shared with the IM bot bridge, each with its own model, workspace and allowlist config. | Yes |
| Headless / CI mode | No | Yes |
| Models | ||
| Backbone | Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama, vLLM, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint | Claude, GPT, DeepSeek, Qwen, MiniMax, GLM |
| Bring your own model | Yes | NoKiro exposes a picker over its own curated model list plus an Auto router; no custom base URL, Bedrock deployment or self-hosted endpoint is documented. |
| Local models | Yes | NoNo local or OpenAI-compatible endpoint is documented; only Kiro-hosted models are selectable. |
| Cost | ||
| Pricing model | byok | mixed |
| Starts at | $0/mo | $20/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Bring your own key | Yes | NoKIRO_API_KEY for headless runs is a Kiro platform token billed against Kiro credits, not your own provider or AWS account key. |
| Openness | ||
| Open source | Yes | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | proprietary |
| GitHub stars | 474 | 4,343 |
Which one would each critic pick
| Critic | Async IDE | Kiro | Pick |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Juez | — | — | not enough reviews |
| El Amigo | 6.8 | 7.3 | Kiro — Pick Kiro if you want an agent that makes you write requirements and a design before it touches code, and accept that the bill is a credit meter you cannot route around with your own key. |
| El Crítico | 6.0 | 6.3 | Kiro — Kiro meters every task in credits with per-model multipliers and no key of your own, and the headless CLI ships a --trust-all-tools flag that turns off the only approval gate it has. |
| El Profesor | 7.0 | 6.5 | Async IDE — The control loop is named and exposed: Think, Plan, Execute, Observe, with each stage visible and interruptible rather than collapsed into one opaque completion. |
| La Inversora | 5.8 | 7.8 | Kiro — Kiro is AWS's entry, and the question is never whether AWS can fund it, only whether AWS keeps caring. |
| La Jefa | 5.3 | 7.0 | Kiro — SSO and centralized billing exist, steering files make rules enforceable, and the meter has an admin-controlled overage switch; approved with conditions. |
| El Hacker | 7.8 | 4.3 | Async IDE — Apache-2.0, Ollama and vLLM named directly rather than implied, MCP servers attach, and each agent carries its own model, workspace and allowlist. |
Picks are derived from each critic's own scores. Humans vote on matchups on the duels page.