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Herdr vs Kiro
Short answer: Pick Herdr if you want local, persistent coding agents; pick Kiro if you want spec-driven development with AI agents. Herdr has a free plan; Kiro has a free plan, paid from $20/month per user.
HerdrHerdr is a native app for running coding agents.
KiroAgentic IDE with spec-driven development, from AWSWhich to pick
Pick Herdr if you want…
- Local, persistent coding agents
- Integrations with SSH, Tailscale or OSC 7501 (on Herdr's list, not Kiro's)
Pick Kiro if you want…
- Spec-driven development with AI agents
- Spec-driven agentic IDE
- Integrations with AWS IAM Identity Center (on Kiro's list, not Herdr's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Herdr:Herdr is a native desktop app that runs coding agents on your machines and keeps them alive when the UI is closed.
- Kiro:Kiro is an agentic IDE that turns prompts into specs, validates code, and runs parallel AI agents across large codebases.
- Best for
- Herdr:Local, persistent coding agents
- Kiro:Spec-driven development with AI agents
- Who it’s for
- Herdr:Developers who want to run and manage AI coding agents locally across multiple machines.
- Kiro:Professional developers and software teams building and maintaining large codebases.
- Pricing
- Herdr:Freemium
- Kiro:Freemium
- Starting price
- Herdr:—
- Kiro:$20/month per user (KIRO PRO)
- Free plan or trial
- Herdr:—
- Kiro:Free plan (KIRO FREE)
- Plans
- Herdr:—
- Kiro:KIRO FREE $0 · KIRO PRO $20 per user / month · KIRO PRO+ $40 per user / month · KIRO PRO MAX $100 per user / month · KIRO POWER $200 per user / month
- Works with
- Herdr:SSH, Tailscale, OSC 7501, macOS, Linux, Windows, Android
- Kiro:AWS IAM Identity Center
Herdr features
- Persistent agents. Agents run in herdr-core on your machine and continue after the app is closed.
- Multi-machine sidebar. Add any SSH-reachable server, VM or cloud sandbox and see all agents in one UI.
- Phone companion. Monitor and interact with agents from iOS or Android without a middle server.
- Agent-driven UI changes. Agents can modify layout, tabs, keys and themes via plain config files.
- Helper agents. An agent can start other agents, steer their tasks and receive their reports.
- OSC 7501 status protocol. Agents that emit OSC 7501 show real-time working/done/blocked status.
- Open source. Herdr app, herdr-core and Herdr TUI are Apache 2.0 licensed.
- Cross-platform. Runs on macOS (Apple silicon), Linux (x86_64/arm64) and Windows (x86_64).
Kiro features
- Spec-driven development. Generate executable specifications from natural-language prompts and run them against your code.
- Parallel AI agents. Run multiple agents that learn from each session to speed up large-scale code changes.
- Kiro CLI & IDE. Interact via a terminal UI or full-featured IDE with cloud-backed sessions.
- Cloud workspaces. Create cloud sessions that sync local agents, hooks, and steering configurations.
- Model selection & credits. Choose from open-weight, Claude, and premium models; usage metered in credits.
- Team billing & SSO. Per-user plans with consolidated billing, SAML/SCIM SSO via AWS IAM Identity Center.
Herdr vs Kiro FAQ
What is the difference between Herdr and Kiro?+
Kiro: Agentic IDE with spec-driven development, but not a separate native app for persistent agents.
Should I use Herdr or Kiro?+
Pick Herdr if you want local, persistent coding agents or integrations with SSH, Tailscale or OSC 7501 (on Herdr's list, not Kiro's). Pick Kiro if you want spec-driven development with AI agents, spec-driven agentic IDE or integrations with AWS IAM Identity Center (on Kiro's list, not Herdr's).
Is Herdr or Kiro free?+
Herdr has a free plan and paid plans. Kiro has a free plan (KIRO FREE); paid plans start at $20/month per user (KIRO PRO).
Do Herdr and Kiro integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Herdr lists SSH, Tailscale, OSC 7501, macOS and 3 more; Kiro lists AWS IAM Identity Center.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.