Claude vs Gemini: which assistant fits your work

Claude vs Gemini starts from common ground: both have a free plan and a plan near $20, and both now carry coding agents. They split on almost everything else: what they can create, which office suite they plug into, how much text they can read at once, and how much they cost to start. Below is a side-by-side on facts from Anthropic's and Google's own pages, checked in October 2026, plus two prompts you can run in both.

Short verdict: who should pick which

• You work in Gmail, Docs and Drive: Gemini. From Google AI Plus it works directly inside Google apps.
• You work in Microsoft 365 or Outlook: Claude. Pro adds Claude for Microsoft 365 and Claude for Outlook.
• You read long documents on a free or cheap plan: Claude. Anthropic lists up to 1M tokens on every plan, depending on the model. Gemini lists 32K tokens free and 128K on Plus.
• You need images or video: Gemini. Claude's models produce text only.
• You want a terminal coding agent with your chat plan: Claude Code comes with Claude Pro. Gemini's plans list Jules, an asynchronous coding agent, with higher limits on Pro.
• You want the lowest price: Gemini, at $4.99 for Google AI Plus.

Adding ChatGPT to the mix? See ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini.

Feature table, from the vendors' own pages

Gemini wins more rows on paper, and most of them are about media and bundling. Claude's two clear wins, context on low tiers and Microsoft tools, matter most to people who read long files or work in Office.

Which is better for writing, coding, research and images

Writing

Neither vendor publishes a writing score we could quote, so we will not crown one. Gemini drafts inside Gmail and Docs on paid plans, which saves copy and paste. Claude Pro adds Claude Design, Slides and Docs, and its Projects keep drafts and source files together. The practical test is the first prompt below, run in both with your own brief. Our Claude prompts and Gemini prompts pages have more writing starters.

Coding

Claude has the deeper coding offer for individuals. Claude Code runs in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, a desktop app and the browser, and plugs into GitHub Actions and Slack. Anthropic's model docs describe Opus 5.5 as built for long-running agentic coding. Google's plans list Jules, an asynchronous coding agent, and agent-model rate limits in Google Antigravity that rise with Pro and Ultra. On the API, Gemini 3.8 Flash supports code execution, function calling and computer use in preview. See our AI coding tools page and the Claude Code prompts collection.

Research

Gemini gives Deep Research on the free plan; Claude's Research starts at Pro. For reading a long report or a whole contract in one go, Claude's context is larger on Free and on the cheap tier. Once you pay for Google AI Pro, Gemini matches it at 1M tokens. Gemini's API also accepts video, audio and PDF directly, which helps with mixed sources.

Images and video

Only Gemini makes them. Its free plan includes image generation and editing and limited access to Nano Banana Pro, and video generation starts at Plus. Claude reads images you upload but answers in text. For Gemini image ideas see Gemini photo prompts.

Saved instructions, apps and student offers

Both assistants now use the word skills for saved, reusable instructions. Claude lists Skills on every plan, Free included; our Claude Skills section explains how they work. Google's release notes say skills arrived in Gemini on September 30, 2026, that you can stack several for one task, and that skills will soon replace Gems. On the desktop, Claude has apps for web, desktop and mobile, while Google released a Gemini app for Windows on September 10, 2026. Students should look at Google's August 19, 2026 offer of a free year of Google AI Pro for eligible US college students before paying for either.

Same prompt in both: run it and compare

We do not print outputs, since both vendors update their models often. Copy a prompt, fill the blanks, run it in Claude and in Gemini, and compare the results side by side.

I want you to act as a contract reviewer. Read the document below and list every clause about [payment / termination / liability]. For each one quote the exact text, explain it in one plain sentence, and flag anything unusual. Document: [paste text]

I want you to act as a coding tutor. Explain what this code does line by line for someone who knows [language] basics, then suggest one improvement and show the changed lines only. Code: [paste code]

The first prompt tests long-document reading: paste something long and check whether every quote is real. The second tests explanation and restraint.

Pricing, plan by plan

US list prices before tax; Google shows local prices in other regions. For developers, Anthropic lists Sonnet 5.5 at $2 input and $10 output per million tokens, Opus 5.5 at $4 and $20, and Haiku 4.5 at $1 and $5. Google lists Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview at $2 and $12 for prompts up to 200K tokens, and Gemini 3.8 Flash at $0.75 and $3.75 through December 31, 2026, then $1.50 and $7.50.

FAQ

Is Claude better than Gemini?

For long documents on a low-cost plan, coding agents and Microsoft 365, Claude has the edge. For Google apps, images, video, storage and price, Gemini does.

Which is better for coding, Claude or Gemini?

Claude includes Claude Code from Pro, an agent that works in your terminal and IDE. Gemini's plans include Jules, an asynchronous coding agent, and access to Google Antigravity's agent model. Try the coding prompt above in both on your own code.

Does Claude or Gemini have a bigger context window?

In the apps, Claude lists up to 1M tokens on every plan, by model. Gemini lists 1M on Pro and Ultra, 128K on Plus and 32K without a plan. In the APIs both sit at about 1M.

Can Claude make images like Gemini?

No. Anthropic lists text output for current Claude models. Gemini creates and edits images even on its free plan.

What do the free plans of Claude and Gemini include?

Claude Free gives Sonnet and Haiku models, web search, file creation with code execution, memory, connectors, skills, voice mode and up to five Projects. Gemini's free plan gives 3.6 Flash, varying access to 3.1 Pro, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live and 15 GB of storage.