Why I Ditched Cursor for Kiro - The Ultimate AI IDE for Beginners🚀

As many of you know, I canceled my Cursor subscription last week. Here's why I finally pulled the plug:

1. It constantly rewrote my code without permission
2. It ignored my carefully crafted product docs and requirements, doing whatever it wanted
3. Once it entered Agent mode, there was no stopping it - one wrong move and your entire architecture would be a mess
4. No matter how many cursorrules I defined, it wouldn't follow them
5. Worst of all, they kept reducing token limits while removing features, forcing me into auto mode that burned through my quota instantly

After much frustration, I switched to ClaudeCode.

I enjoyed a blissful week until Anthropic's ban wave hit. They've now banned 3 of my accounts (plus one proxy account), and rumor has it their account pool is down $200K.

I've been limping along using ClaudeCode with Kimi K2's API. But CLI tools like CC have a major issue - they change code too quickly without checkpoints. Once I accept a diff, there's no way to restore to a checkpoint (a feature I used constantly in Cursor because I always forget to git commit).

Want to download the Kiro AI IDE without waiting on a waitlist? Head over to our blog for detailed instructions and the download link: Download the Kiro AI IDE without Waitlist. Start your seamless coding journey today!

KIRO - From Prototype to Production

This morning, while scrolling through Reddit's vibedev subreddit, I discovered Amazon's new AI IDE - Kiro.

After intensively using it for just one hour, I'm now strongly recommending it. While others might tell you to take advantage of Kiro's free period, I want to share the workflow I learned after downloading and studying their manual. This is truly the essential IDE for vibecoding beginners - maybe not the most powerful product, but definitely the most beginner-friendly.

Incredibly User-Friendly Onboarding

Kiro offers two modes: vibe mode and spec mode. If you're doing full-stack development, I strongly recommend spec mode.

Vibe mode is similar to Cursor - it communicates with you through natural language and completes simple tasks. It's perfect if you just need to create a static HTML page.

But what's truly impressive is spec mode. In spec mode, Kiro breaks your requirements into three steps. You submit your requirements (or reference a file with #filename) and tell it to "create a spec." It follows a structured workflow:

1. First, it generates a requirements clarification document and asks if you're satisfied
2. Next, it creates a product design (PRD) based on your approved requirements
3. Finally, it develops an implementation plan based on the PRD

Once you approve each step, you can start implementing based on the plan.

Comprehensive Dashboard Management

Unlike typical AI IDEs, Kiro has the most sophisticated dashboard I've seen. It integrates specs (task management), Agent Hooks (agent automation), Agent Steering (rule prompts), and MCP servers. In ClaudeCode, you'd need to configure, define, and manage all of these yourself. In Kiro, you can set everything up through a visual interface using natural language.

Extremely Beginner-Friendly

If you're a beginner wanting to quickly understand website development methods, tech stacks, or script writing logic, you'll find Kiro incredibly powerful after using it for a short time.

Intuitive Diff Capabilities

Unlike Cline or Cursor, which show additions and deletions in a single screen, Kiro uses a side-by-side diff view that I find more intuitive. Cline's diff becomes unwieldy when there are too many code changes to fit on one screen. The traditional diff approach in Kiro avoids this problem entirely, with perfect line-by-line correspondence.

Checkpoint Rollbacks for Any File

Each file can be rolled back individually rather than restoring all file changes at once. This approach helps us avoid rolling back correct code during code review, eliminating the need to manually apply processed code.

Conversation-Based Follow Execution

Kiro's "follow" feature is fundamentally different from Cursor's "accept." Heavy Cursor users know that in agent mode, Cursor automatically applies code changes and executes them without waiting for your acceptance. Kiro, on the other hand, completes the entire conversation before letting you decide which changes to accept.

After a conversation ends, Kiro lists all modifications for your review. You can examine each code change - what was changed, where, what effect it has, and why it was done. Just highlight any part you want to discuss and chat about it.

In about a month, you can fully master a complete NextJS + Supabase project. Compared to ClaudeCode where you can't see what's happening after execution, Kiro's approach - where every step can be rolled back, reviewed, and processed - is incredibly beginner-friendly.

Interruptions Welcome

This is my favorite feature in ClaudeCode - you can interrupt at any time, and it will replan based on your new information. If you try this in Cursor, it will likely miss context. But in Kiro, I've never encountered this issue - it clearly remembers where it was interrupted. Of course, ClaudeCode still handles this best, no question.

It Calls You to Action

Have you ever finished other work, returned to ClaudeCode to check progress, only to find it stuck waiting for you to confirm running npm, python, or node? I specifically found a hook to notify me when it needed my input. Kiro has this feature built-in - I was moved to tears of joy.

Best Practices After 3 Hours of Development

I used Kiro for the final sprint of my MCPcombo website, and it handled content processing as well as ClaudeCode, getting it right on the first try. Here's my workflow, which you might find useful:

Set Up Agent Steering with Your Requirements or Repository

Like Cursor, all projects should start by setting up prompts. Kiro has three prompt types: product, structure, and tech, corresponding to product manager, architect, and programmer roles. Prepare these three prompts first (they're automatically generated by Claude 4 Sonnet).

Write Your Requirements to Kiro and Execute the Spec Command

Reference your requirements file with # and tell Kiro to generate a spec. It will create three documents: requirements, product, and tasks. Treasure this workflow - I spent countless hours testing different approaches to constrain LLM development before arriving at this process, and Kiro just delivers it effortlessly. These three documents significantly improve model stability, ensuring development strictly follows your goals.

Execute Tasks One by One from the Task Page

Continue executing tasks from the task list. Test when complete, then deploy.

Requirement Changes

You can directly modify requirements and have Kiro update the product and task documents, or update the product document and have it update tasks. Then repeat the spec command and execute tasks.

In conclusion, if you're looking to get started with vibecoding, Kiro is absolutely the best choice, no question.

What's your experience with AI coding tools? Have you tried Kiro yet? Let me know in the comments!