Claude Code vs Google Antigravity (2026): Free Tier, Pricing and Which to Pick

Google Antigravity vs Claude Code in 2026: Antigravity's free tier and $19.99-$199.99 plans, what changed for Gemini CLI users, and which agent fits your workflow.

Short version: Antigravity is Google's agent-first development environment, and its free tier is the most generous way to use a serious coding agent without paying. Claude Code is Anthropic's agent, starting at $20 a month, and remains the stronger choice for terminal-first developers who rely on hooks and MCP. If you used Gemini CLI for free, note the change in June: Antigravity CLI replaced it for unpaid and Google One users.

Google Antigravity plans and prices in 2026

Antigravity's pricing in 2026

Google restructured the paid tiers in May 2026, replacing the old $249.99 Ultra price with two levels. The current plans, from Antigravity's pricing page:

Individual, free: unlimited tab completions and command requests, with basic weekly limits on the agent models.
Google AI Pro, $19.99 a month: a higher weekly limit plus a flexible credit pool.
Ultra 5x, $99.99 and Ultra 20x, $199.99: five and twenty times the Pro quota.
Organization: billed by consumption through Google Cloud rather than per seat.

The Gemini CLI change

Gemini CLI's own quota documentation states that for unpaid-tier and Google One users, Gemini CLI was replaced by Antigravity CLI on 18 June 2026. Many "free AI coding" guides written before then are now out of date on this point.

Claude Code in one paragraph

Claude Code runs in the terminal, as a desktop app, on the web, and inside VS Code and JetBrains. It starts at $20 a month on Claude Pro, with $100 and $200 tiers above. Its strengths are long multi-file tasks, hooks that run your own scripts during a session, and MCP servers you can scope per user or per project.

Claude Code vs Antigravity at a glance

How to choose

Start with the budget.

- Zero budget: Antigravity's free tier.

- Already paying $20 for an AI plan: use the agent that plan includes.

Then match the workflow.

- IDE-first, want agents built into the editor: Antigravity.

- Terminal-first, scripted workflows, hooks: Claude Code.

Keep your tooling portable.

- Store skills as SKILL.md in the repository.

- Document MCP servers so they can be added to either tool.

Our take

Antigravity's free tier changed the maths for students and solo developers, especially in India, where a $20 subscription is a real decision. Start free, and pay only when the limits genuinely get in your way. Because skills and MCP are portable, the first choice is no longer a lock-in.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Antigravity free?+

Yes, there is a free Individual plan with no subscription. It includes unlimited tab completions, unlimited command requests and basic weekly rate limits on the agent models. Paid access starts with Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month, which raises the weekly limit and adds a credit pool, and Ultra tiers at $99.99 and $199.99 raise it further. Organisations are billed by consumption through Google Cloud.

What happened to Gemini CLI?+

According to Gemini CLI's own quota documentation, Gemini CLI was replaced by Antigravity CLI on 18 June 2026 for unpaid-tier and Google One users. If you were using Gemini CLI for free, Antigravity CLI is now the supported path. Gemini CLI remains open source on GitHub and paid and API-key routes are documented separately, so check the current docs for your account type.

Which models can I use in Antigravity?+

Antigravity is not limited to Gemini. Its plan pages list Gemini Flash and Pro models alongside Anthropic Claude Sonnet and Opus models and OpenAI's open-weight gpt-oss, with the free tier subject to weekly limits. Model availability per tier changes, so treat any list as a snapshot and check the pricing page before relying on a specific model.

Can Antigravity use MCP servers and skills?+

Yes. Antigravity supports MCP, and Agent Skills in the open SKILL.md format work across Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex and others. Several popular MCP tools, such as CodeGraph, auto-configure Antigravity during install. That portability means your tooling investment is not locked to whichever agent you pick first.

Should an Indian student or solo developer start with Antigravity or Claude Code?+

If the budget is zero, start with Antigravity's free tier: it is a capable agent at no cost and the weekly limits are fine for learning. Move to a paid plan, on either product, once the limits actually get in your way. Keep your skills and MCP config portable from day one so the eventual switch, if any, is painless.