Antigravity vs Claude Code: which should you use?

Google Antigravity and Claude Code are both agentic coding tools, and they make opposite trades. Antigravity, Google's agent platform since November 2025, and since May 2026 a desktop app, IDE, CLI and set of editor extensions, has a free plan with a weekly limit, runs Gemini 3.x models, and on Google AI Pro and Ultra plans also runs Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5. Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan from $17 a month and runs only Claude, Opus 5.5 by default. On Artificial Analysis's independent coding agent index, Claude Code scores 68 to Antigravity's 42, while Antigravity's tasks cost about a sixth as much and finish far faster. Neither is open source.

Key takeaways

• Antigravity is free to start, with a weekly quota; Claude Code has no free plan.
• Antigravity runs Gemini, plus Claude 5.5 models on some paid plans and GPT-OSS-120b; Claude Code runs Claude.
• Independent tests favor Claude Code: 68 to 42 on Artificial Analysis's index and 66% to 15% on Terminal-Bench 4.0, at $14.19 a task against $2.47.
• Antigravity asks for review by default; Claude Code starts in auto mode in the terminal. Both have a flag that approves everything.

What is Google Antigravity?

Google launched Antigravity on November 18, 2025 with Gemini 3 Pro, as an agent-first IDE built on VS Code, with an agent manager, browser control and "artifacts" such as task lists, screenshots and recordings that you comment on. Antigravity 2.0, at Google I/O on May 19, 2026, added a standalone desktop app, the Antigravity CLI and an SDK, and in August extensions arrived for VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Zed and Xcode. The CLI replaced Gemini CLI for personal accounts on June 18 (Is Gemini CLI still free?).

How do their prices compare?

Antigravity: the individual plan is free, with a weekly quota Google doesn't quantify. Google AI Pro ($19.99 a month) and Ultra (from $99.99) raise the limits, refreshing every five hours up to a weekly cap, with AI credits for overage; Google says Ultra gives five times Pro's usage. Business plans start at $30 a seat. You can't bring your own key (Google).

Claude Code: Claude Pro at $17 a month billed annually or $20 monthly, Max at $100 or $200, or a Team seat at $20 to $25. Limits are shared with chat and unpublished, with usage credits at API rates past them. Is Claude Code free?

Which models can each run?

Antigravity's models page lists:

• Every plan: Gemini 3.8, 3.7 and 3.6 Flash and Gemini 3.1 Pro.
• Google AI Pro (not trials) and Ultra: Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5.
• Free, AI Plus and Pro: Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6, and GPT-OSS-120b, both leaving on November 2, 2026.

Google's plans page says third-party models need Ultra, which contradicts the models page, so check in the app before you pay for Pro to get Claude. Claude Code runs only Claude models, Opus 5.5 by default, with Sonnet 5.5 and Fable 5.1 a /model away.

How do they handle autonomy and safety?

Antigravity asks for review by default, and its CLI offers settings to proceed inside a sandbox, always proceed, or be strict; allow, ask and deny rules cover file access, commands, URLs, browser actions and MCP tools, with deny winning and anything unconfigured asking (Google). /goal runs until a task is done, and a sandbox for terminal commands is available but off by default.

Claude Code has Manual, Accept edits, Plan and Auto modes; Auto, where a classifier approves actions, is the default in the terminal and VS Code. Both tools share the same name for the flag that skips every prompt. Claude Code for non-technical people explains the prompts.

Which is better on benchmarks?

Claude Code, by a wide margin, in the one independent head-to-head we found. Artificial Analysis ran Antigravity's SDK with Gemini 3.8 Flash at high effort and Claude Code with Sonnet 5.5 at max effort:

• Coding Agent Index: 42 against 68.
• DeepSWE: 66% against 72%.
• Terminal-Bench 4.0: 15% against 66%.
• Cost per task: $2.47 against $14.19.
• Time per task: 11.7 minutes against 1.5 hours.

Two caveats: it tested the SDK with a Flash model, not Antigravity running Gemini 3.1 Pro or Claude, and an earlier version of the same page showed a narrower gap, so the scores move as models change. We read it on October 5, 2026. The models themselves are compared in Gemini vs Claude for coding.

Which should you use?

• A free start, Google's stack, or an agent that tests in a browser: Antigravity.
• The strongest results on hard tasks, and Claude Code's ecosystem of plugins, skills and hooks: Claude Code.
• Claude models without a Claude plan: Antigravity on Google AI Ultra, or Pro once you've confirmed it in the app.
• The lowest cost per task: Antigravity.

Other agents are compared in Claude Code alternatives and Claude Code vs Codex. For a group steering one agent together in a browser, Poly (usepoly.co) runs Claude Code and Codex in a shared room; it doesn't offer Gemini models.