Google Gemini's AI coding tool is now free for individual users
A free version of Gemini Code Assist, Google’s enterprise-focused AI coding tool, is now available globally for solo developers. Google announced today that Gemini Code Assist for individuals is launching in public preview, aiming to make coding assistants “with the latest AI capabilities” more accessible for students, hobbyists, freelancers, and startups.
“Now anyone can more conveniently learn, create code snippets, debug, and modify their existing applications — all without needing to toggle between different windows for help or to copy and paste information from disconnected sources,” said Ryan J. Salva, Google’s senior director of product management. “While other popular free coding assistants have restrictive usage limits, with usually only 2,000 code completions per month, we wanted to offer something more generous.”
Completions Comparison with GitHub Copilot
Google's Gemini Code Assist provides 90 times more monthly code completions than GitHub Copilot’s free tier. GitHub Copilot, the most direct competitor to Gemini Code Assist, also provides a free user tier that’s limited to 2,000 code completions and 50 Copilot Chat messages each month. In contrast, Google is offering up to 180,000 code completions per month, a significant increase that sets it apart from its competitors.
Features and Capabilities
Like the enterprise version, Gemini Code Assist for individuals is powered by Google’s Gemini 2.0 artificial intelligence model. It can generate entire code blocks, complete code as you write, and provide general coding assistance via a chatbot interface. The tool is compatible with Visual Studio Code, GitHub, and JetBrains developer environments and supports all programming languages in the public domain.
Developers can interact with Gemini Code Assist using natural language, allowing them to request specific code snippets or functions. The tool currently supports 38 languages and can process up to 128,000 chat input tokens in the token context window, enabling effective code generation based on user input.
Limitations of the Free Tier
While the free Individual tier offers substantial capabilities, it does not include all the advanced features available in the Standard and Enterprise versions of Gemini Code Assist. Users who require productivity metrics, integrations with Google Cloud services like BigQuery, or customization options using private code data sources will need to upgrade to Google’s paid tiers.
Overall, Google's decision to offer Gemini Code Assist for individual users for free presents a valuable opportunity for developers to access advanced AI coding assistance without cost barriers.
