Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs

Claude vs Google Gemini

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Claude

4.6

From $20/mo

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Google Gemini

4.2

From $4.99/mo

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Comparing 2 tools. Add one more if you like.

At a glance

Claude4.6

Best overallBest valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.

Google Gemini4.2

Pick it if: People whose work already runs on Gmail, Google Workspace or an Android phone.

Overview

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
In one line	Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents.	Google's assistant, built into Gmail, Docs, Drive and Android phones.
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starting price	$20/mo	$4.99/mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Works with Claude Code	Yes	No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Overall rating	4.6Winner	4.2
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.	4.5	4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.	4.5	4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.	5.0	4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.	4.5	4.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.	4.5	4.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Access & platform
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Mobile app	Yes	Yes
Desktop app	Yes	No
Browser extension	Yes	Yes
API access	Yes	Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace	Yes	Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO	Yes	Yes
Connects to other apps	Yes	Yes
Open source or self-hosted	No	No
AI abilities
Works with your files	Yes	Yes
Understands images	Yes	Yes
Makes images	No	Yes
Makes video	No	Yes
Writes code	Yes	Yes
Runs agents or automations	Yes	Yes
Learns your brand or style	Yes	Yes
Works in many languages	Yes	Yes
Capabilities score	14/ 17	15/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Plans	Free Free Trying it out and light daily use.	Free Free Light use and seeing how it feels.
	ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days.	Google AI Plus $4.99/mo Casual users who want Gemini in Gmail and more storage.
	Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code.	Google AI ProOur pick $19.99/mo Anyone who works in Google Workspace every day.
	Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people.	Google AI Ultra From $99.99/mo Heavy creative and agent users.
Which plan to pick	Start on Free to see if the writing suits you. Most people who stick with it move to Pro within a month; only go to Max if you hit the Pro limits every day or you're running Claude Code for hours at a time.	Skip the free plan for anything serious now that it's Flash-Lite only. AI Pro is the one to buy: it's the cheapest way to get Gemini 4 Argon plus Gemini in Docs and Gmail, and the 5 TB of storage offsets a Google One bill. Ultra is for people generating video all day.

Key features

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Standout features	Projects Artifacts Long documents Web search and connectors Claude Code Memory	Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Drive Deep Research Image and video making Gemini Live Gems Gemini in Chrome

Pros and cons

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Pros	Writing sounds like a person and needs the least editing of any assistant Handles long documents and messy briefs without losing track Projects and memory mean you stop repeating the same context Artifacts turn answers into real documents, slides and small apps One subscription covers Claude Code as well	Reads and acts on your Gmail, Docs and Drive directly AI Pro bundles the top model, Workspace features and 5 TB of storage for one price Deep Research is included even on the free plan Fast, and the mobile and Android experience is polished Video and image generation included on paid plans
Cons	Free and Pro usage limits can bite on a busy day No video generation, and image generation is basic next to ChatGPT Fewer third-party connectors and plugins than ChatGPT	Free plan is now Flash-Lite only, so it's weaker than the free tiers of ChatGPT or Claude Plan names and model access keep changing, which is confusing Writing quality sits behind Claude and the answers can be padded Workspace features need a personal Google account or a Workspace admin to turn them on

Who each one is for

Attribute	Claude	Google Gemini
Best for	Long-form writing and editing Reading and summarising long documents Thinking through a plan or decision Pairing with Claude Code	Searching and summarising your Gmail Drafting in Google Docs Image and video generation on paid plans Hands-free help on Android
You'll find it used by	Writers and marketers Founders Consultants Developers	Google Workspace teams Marketers Small business owners Android users

Questions people ask

Which is better, Claude or Google Gemini?

Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude 4.6/5 and Google Gemini 4.2/5). Claude is best for long-form writing and editing and reading and summarising long documents. Google Gemini is best for searching and summarising your Gmail and drafting in Google Docs.

Which is cheaper, Claude or Google Gemini?

Claude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Google Gemini: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99/mo.

Which is easier to use, Claude or Google Gemini?

Claude rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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