Gemini is Google's AI assistant and the most affordable paid option among top AI chatbots. AI Plus starts at $7.99/month (vs $20/month for ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro). It offers the largest context window at 1M tokens on AI Pro, native Google Workspace integration, and multimodal input including video and audio. Best for: Google Workspace users, long-document analysis, and budget-conscious teams.

I showed my team what Gemini does inside Google Docs and they stopped switching between tabs.

That reaction captures why Gemini matters: it’s the only top AI assistant that lives inside the tools you already use. Draft an email in Gmail, summarize a spreadsheet in Sheets, generate slides from a doc — all without leaving Google Workspace.

But the pricing is what turns heads. At $7.99/month for AI Plus (Google AI plans), Gemini costs less than half of ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro. And with a 1M token context window on the Pro tier — enough to process an entire novel or full codebase in a single prompt — Gemini handles document analysis at a scale the competition can’t match at any price.

What is Gemini?

Gemini is Google’s AI assistant, powered by the Gemini 3 model family. It handles text, images, video, and audio input — the most multimodal of the three major AI assistants. Gemini is available as a standalone app, through Google Workspace integration, as an Android assistant replacement, and through the Gemini API for developers.

The current flagship is Gemini 3 Pro, which scored 76.2% on SWE-bench Verified and approximately 91.9% on GPQA Diamond. While these trail ChatGPT and Claude on coding benchmarks, Gemini leads on context window size and price-to-capability ratio. Google also released a Deep Think reasoning mode in February 2026 for complex multi-step problems.

Key Features That Matter

Google Workspace Integration

Gemini works natively inside Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet. Summarize email threads, draft replies, analyze spreadsheet data, create presentations from documents, and get AI-generated meeting notes — all within the apps your team already uses. No copy-paste, no tab-switching.

1M Token Context Window

Available on AI Pro and AI Ultra tiers, the 1M token context processes approximately 750,000 words in a single prompt. Load an entire codebase for cross-file analysis, process a full legal contract set, or analyze months of customer feedback in one conversation. This is 5x Claude’s 200K and 8x ChatGPT Plus’s 128K maximum.

Multimodal Input

Gemini natively processes text, images, video, and audio. Upload a YouTube video for summarization, analyze a product photo for improvements, or transcribe and summarize a meeting recording. ChatGPT and Claude handle text and images but not native video or audio input.

Jules Coding Agent

Jules is Google’s AI coding agent (expanded limits on AI Pro, highest on AI Ultra) that can autonomously work through coding tasks. Combined with Gemini CLI for terminal-based development, Google is building a developer toolchain to compete with Claude Code.

Pricing Breakdown

Plan	Price	Key Limits	Best For
Free	$0/mo	Gemini 3 Flash, limited daily credits	Trying Gemini, casual use
AI Plus	$7.99/mo	200GB storage, Gemini 3 Pro access, 128K context	Budget-conscious users
AI Pro	$19.99/mo	2TB storage, 1M context, Jules, Gemini CLI, $10/mo Cloud credits	Professionals and developers
AI Ultra	$249.99/mo	30TB storage, Deep Think, YouTube Premium, $100/mo Cloud credits	Power users, creators

The value proposition changes by tier. AI Plus at $7.99/month is the cheapest way to access a top-tier AI model. AI Pro at $19.99/month is competitive with ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro while adding a 1M token context and $10/month in Google Cloud credits. AI Ultra is the most expensive consumer AI subscription at $249.99/month, but it bundles YouTube Premium, 30TB storage, Google Home Premium Advanced, and $100/month in Cloud credits — which may offset the cost for heavy Google ecosystem users.

Google rebranded from the former “Gemini Advanced/Premium” naming to AI Plus/Pro/Ultra in early 2026. AI Plus rolled out globally in January 2026 (Google blog).

Pricing was last verified on February 19, 2026 from Google AI plans.

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Gemini

Gemini is the right choice if you:

Live in Google Workspace — Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Drive are your daily tools
Need to process very long documents (1M context window is unmatched)
Want the cheapest entry into paid AI ($7.99/month AI Plus)
Work with video and audio content that other AI assistants can’t process natively

Consider alternatives if you:

Need the best coding assistant — Claude leads SWE-bench at 80.8% vs Gemini’s 76.2%
Want the broadest ecosystem — ChatGPT has 800M+ users, GPT Store, and more third-party integrations
Need the longest output — Claude generates up to 128K tokens per response vs Gemini’s variable output
Require US-restricted features — Personal Intelligence, Project Mariner, and some agent features are US-only

Head-to-head: Gemini vs ChatGPT
Three-way comparison: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini
Budget team picks: Best AI tools for small business

Gemini Review

Ratings

Pros

Cons

I showed my team what Gemini does inside Google Docs and they stopped switching between tabs.

What is Gemini?

Key Features That Matter

Google Workspace Integration

1M Token Context Window

Multimodal Input

Jules Coding Agent

Pricing Breakdown

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Gemini

Ratings

Pros

Cons

I showed my team what Gemini does inside Google Docs and they stopped switching between tabs.

What is Gemini?

Key Features That Matter

Google Workspace Integration

1M Token Context Window

Multimodal Input

Jules Coding Agent

Pricing Breakdown

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Gemini

Related Pages

Get the AI tools briefing