Is there any way for another AI coding tool to find favor with startup founders? It must compete with established options like Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini Code Assist, GitHub Copilot, the many other AI-enhanced VSCode variants, and popular coding environments like Replit and Lovable.
Amazon is attempting to do just that by using a classic strategy: giving its tool away for free. The cloud giant announced it will provide qualified early-stage startups with a free year of credits to its competitor, Kiro Pro+. AWS CEO Matt Garman made the announcement during his keynote speech at the re:Invent 2025 conference.
These eligible startups can request free credits for up to 100 users. However, there are restrictions. Only startups that have secured venture capital funding from the pre-seed to Series B stages are eligible. While U.S.-based startups can apply, the offer is not available in every country. Geographic restrictions include France, Germany, Italy, much of South America, and, naturally, trade-sanctioned nations. All applications must be submitted by December 31.