Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
Claude vs Google Gemini vs Meta AI
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
Pick it if: People whose work already runs on Gmail, Google Workspace or an Android phone.
Pick it if: Heavy WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook users, and Ray-Ban Meta glasses owners, who want a free assistant without installing anything new.
Overview
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | Meta's free assistant, built into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Ray-Ban Meta glasses. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | US$4.99/mo | $7.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | No | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.6Winner | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | No |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | – |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | No | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 14/ 17 | 16/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and light daily use. | Free Free Light use and seeing how it feels. | FreeOur pick Free Almost everyone. Chat, search and voice cost nothing. |
ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days. | Google AI Plus US$4.99/mo Casual users who want Gemini in Gmail and more storage. | Meta One Core $7.99/mo People who make lots of AI images and clips for social. | |
Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code. | Google AI ProOur pick US$19.99/mo Anyone who works in Google Workspace every day. | Meta One Premium $19.99/mo Heavy creators who keep hitting the Core limits. | |
Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people. | Google AI Ultra From US$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 (US$19.99, or A$32.99 in Australia) 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. | Stay on the free plan. The paid Meta One bundles only raise image and video limits, and Meta doesn't publish the actual numbers, so only pay if you're making a lot of AI visuals for social. |
Key features
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Claude | Google Gemini | Meta AI |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude, Google Gemini or Meta AI?
Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude 4.6/5, Google Gemini 4.2/5 and Meta AI 3.9/5). 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. Meta AI is best for quick answers inside WhatsApp or Instagram and free image and short video generation.
Which is cheaper, Claude, Google Gemini or Meta AI?
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 US$4.99/mo. Meta AI: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $7.99/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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