Claude vs Google Gemini
Claude is anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding. Google Gemini is google's AI assistant app, with paid Google AI plans for higher limits. Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Claude | Google Gemini | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding | Google's AI assistant app, with paid Google AI plans for higher limits |
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $17/mo billed annually (Pro) | $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus) |
| Free trial | None stated | None stated |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome extension, API | Web, Android, iOS, API |
| Integrations (vendor's figure) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Open source | No | No |
| Made by | Anthropic |
Choose Claude if…
- You want a desktop app (macOS, Windows).
- The job is drafting and editing long documents and emails.
- The job is summarising and analysing uploaded files.
Choose Google Gemini if…
- Price matters: its cheapest paid plan is $4.99/mo against $17/mo.
- The job is researching a topic with Deep Research.
- The job is drafting emails and documents inside Gmail and Docs.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, Claude and Google Gemini are also compared with their other rivals: ChatGPT vs Claude, ChatGPT vs Google Gemini and ChatGPT vs Perplexity.
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What Claude does
- Web search and file creation in chat
- Code execution for analysing uploaded files
- Memory and connections to other apps
- Projects, task scheduling and Claude Design, Slides and Docs on paid plans
- Chrome and Microsoft 365 extensions on paid plans
- Developer API priced per million tokens
Watch out for
- Claude Code, projects and task scheduling are not in the Free plan
- Usage limits apply on Free and Pro; Max raises them 5x or 20x
- Enterprise adds usage billed at API rates on top of the seat price
What Google Gemini does
- Deep Research reports
- Image creation and editing; video generation on paid plans
- Canvas and custom Gems
- Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other Google apps on paid plans
- Google cloud storage bundled with each plan
- Developer API with free and pay-per-use tiers
Watch out for
- Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other Google apps needs a paid plan, is for ages 18+ and is in select languages
- Video generation is not in the Free plan
- The Free plan has limited access to the Pro model
Questions
Is Claude or Google Gemini cheaper?
On published entry prices, Google Gemini is cheaper: $17/mo billed annually (Pro) for Claude against $4.99/mo (Google AI Plus) for Google Gemini. What each plan includes differs, so compare the limits too.
Do Claude and Google Gemini have free plans?
Both do. Claude: Chat on web, desktop and mobile with web search, file creation, code execution, memory, app connections and artifacts; less usage than Pro; no Claude Code or projects. Google Gemini: Flash model with limited access to the Pro model; image creation, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems; 15 GB storage.