# Claude Code vs Gemini CLI: Which Terminal Agent (2026)

> Claude Code vs Gemini CLI — first-party stability and a deep programmable harness vs open-source TypeScript, big free tier, and a looming Antigravity transition.

For a stable, deeply extensible terminal agent you can build a team workflow around, pick Claude Code. Pick Gemini CLI for open-source TypeScript hackability and Gemini's free tier — but note the June 18, 2026 cutover that stops serving free/Pro/Ultra users and steers them to the new Antigravity CLI.

Claude Code and Gemini CLI both put an agent in your terminal, but they sit on opposite sides of an old trade: **first-party stability and depth versus open-source reach and a free tier**. As of mid-2026 that trade comes with a wrinkle — Gemini CLI is mid-transition to a different tool.

## The short answer

- **You want a stable, deeply extensible agent to build team workflows on** (MCP, subagents, hooks, skills) → **Claude Code**.
- **You want open-source TypeScript you can fork and a big free tier on a Google account** → **Gemini CLI** — but read the migration note below.
- **You're an individual relying on Gemini's free tier** → know that **Antigravity CLI**, not Gemini CLI, is where Google is sending you after June 18, 2026.

## What each is

**[Claude Code](/tools/claude-code) is Anthropic's first-party terminal agent — closed-source, but a deep programmable harness.** The agentic loop runs end to end (plan, edit, run tests, open the PR), and everything around it is extension surface: [MCP servers](/guides/mcp/claude-code-mcp-setup) for reach, [subagents](/glossary/subagent) for delegation, hooks for deterministic rules, plus skills and plugins for packaged workflows. It's tuned for Anthropic's models (Opus 4.x, Sonnet), reads `CLAUDE.md`, and is git-native. There's no free agent tier — it runs through Pro/Max plans or an API key.

**[Gemini CLI](/tools/gemini-cli) is Google's open-source terminal agent — Apache-2.0, TypeScript, ~105K GitHub stars.** It runs [Gemini 3](/glossary/reasoning-model) with a 1M-token [context window](/glossary/context-window), supports [MCP](/glossary/model-context-protocol) and community extensions, and launched with a standout free tier (on a personal Google account). The catch is timing: at Google I/O on May 19, 2026, Google announced it's consolidating tooling under **Antigravity**. On June 18, 2026, Gemini CLI stops serving free, Pro, and Ultra users — they're pushed to the new Go-based Antigravity CLI — while only Standard/Enterprise license holders keep it unchanged.

## Dimension by dimension

| | Claude Code | Gemini CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Models | Anthropic (Opus 4.x, Sonnet), tuned | Gemini 3 (1M-token context) |
| Pricing / free tier | Paid (Pro/Max) or API key; no free agent | Big personal-account free tier — ending June 18, 2026 for individuals |
| Open source | No (first-party Anthropic) | Yes — Apache-2.0, TypeScript |
| Context window | 1M tokens at standard pricing | 1M tokens |
| Extensibility / MCP | MCP + subagents + hooks + skills + plugins | MCP + open-source extensions + config |
| Ecosystem | Anthropic, Agent SDK, GitHub Action | ~105K stars, but transitioning to Antigravity CLI |

## How to choose

The honest decider in June 2026 is **continuity**. If you depend on Gemini CLI as an individual, you're a day from the cutover: the [tool itself](/tools/gemini-cli) keeps running as an open-source repo, but Google's hosted free/Pro/Ultra access ends June 18, and the official path forward is Antigravity CLI — a *different* tool (rewritten in Go, agent-first) that, by Google's own framing, is still catching up feature-for-feature. That's real migration risk for anyone betting a workflow on it now.

[Claude Code](/tools/claude-code)'s trade-off is the inverse: you give up open-source forkability and a free agent tier, but you get a stable first-party target with the deepest extensibility in the field. Its failure modes are cost (no free loop) and lock-in to Anthropic's models — switching providers isn't its lane.

So: pick **Gemini CLI** if open-source ownership and Gemini's economics matter more than stability, and you're comfortable following the Antigravity migration. Pick **Claude Code** if you're encoding team policy or building durable workflows on a harness that won't move under you. If model *freedom* across providers is the real requirement, neither is the answer — see [the open-source CLI field](/guides/prompting/ai-coding-agents-cli-2026) and [OpenCode's comparison](/guides/comparisons/claude-code-vs-opencode). And if your alternative is OpenAI's terminal agent, weigh [Claude Code vs Codex CLI](/guides/comparisons/claude-code-vs-codex-cli) instead.

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_Source: https://agentscamp.com/guides/comparisons/claude-code-vs-gemini-cli — Guide on AgentsCamp._