Code with Claude models in Kiro, on the free plan
Kiro is an AI code editor. Its free plan includes Claude Sonnet 4.5 with 50 credits a month. And when you first upgrade to Pro, you get the rest of that month free plus 500 trial credits. Here is the exact setup, and how not to get charged by surprise.
What you get (check the date)
- Free plan, $0: 50 credits a month, Claude Sonnet 4.5 and open-weight models, with limits.
- Pro, $20/month: 1,000 credits a month. Bigger plans exist (Pro+, Pro Max, Power).
- First Pro upgrade: the rest of the month is free, plus 500 trial credits to use within 12 months. A valid credit card is required.
Source: kiro.dev/pricing. Offers change: read that page today before you upgrade. "Paying zero" means the free plan; Pro is paid after the free days.
Setup
- Go to kiro.dev and download Kiro for your system.
- Open it and sign in with one of the options it offers. You start on the free plan.
- Open your project folder.
- In the chat, open the model selector and choose Claude Sonnet 4.5 (or leave it on Auto).
- Give it one small, real task from your project and check how many credits it used.
Make the free credits last
- One clear task per request: "add a contact form to contact.html with name, email, message" beats "improve my site".
- Point it to the exact files instead of letting it read the whole project.
- Fix tiny things (a typo, a color) yourself: don't spend credits on them.
Task: [one sentence, one result] Files to change: [path/to/file] Don't touch: [files or parts to keep] Done when: [what I should see in the browser]
If you upgrade to Pro: avoid the surprise charge
- The free days run until the end of the month you upgraded. Kiro bills paid plans on the 1st of each month, so your first bill arrives on the 1st of next month.
- Put a calendar reminder one or two days before.
- Keep it only if the free plan really wasn't enough for your project. Otherwise cancel before the renewal.
- If you go back to Free, your unused trial credits stay, but only for free-tier models.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a Claude Pro subscription?
No. Claude Pro is Anthropic's own subscription. Kiro is a separate editor that gives you access to Claude models inside it, with its own credits and limits.
What happens when my 50 credits run out?
You wait for next month's credits or you upgrade. Check the pricing page for the exact rules today.
Prefer to have it done for you?
Booking systems, websites, automations: I build them for your business, with a fixed price quoted before we start.