Gemini

Gemini is Google's AI assistant for chat, research, writing, coding and image and video creation, on the web, Android, iOS and in Google apps.

Gemini is Google's AI assistant, available on the web, as an app for Android and iOS and inside Google products such as Gmail, Docs and Chrome. It runs Google's Gemini models, including Gemini 3.5 Flash, and handles text, images, audio, files and video. Deep Research browses hundreds of websites, and with permission a user's Gmail, Drive and Chat, to write cited multi-page reports, while Canvas opens a side panel for documents, code, slides and app prototypes. Gemini Live offers real-time voice conversations, Gems are custom assistants with their own instructions and files, Nano Banana creates and edits images, and Gemini Omni generates video. A free tier is available, and Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra plans add stronger models, higher limits and extra storage.

Gemini at a glance

Best for: Software engineer, Writer, Researcher, Student, Marketer, Social media creator
Runs on: Web, iOS, Android
Pricing: Free; Google AI Pro $19.99/month; Google AI Plus and Ultra plans
Released: February 2024
Category: AI chat assistant
Website: gemini.google.com

Key features

Chat with Gemini 3.5 and other Gemini models
Deep Research reports with citations
Canvas for documents, code and app prototypes
Gemini Live voice conversations
Gems: custom assistants with their own files
Nano Banana images and Gemini Omni video
Connections to Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Maps

Use it for

Summarize long documents or email threads
Research a topic and get a cited report
Create or edit images and short videos
Plan a trip using Maps and Calendar

Companions

Tools that articles about Gemini recommend using with it, each with its job.

Gemini Notebook — Notebooks sync both ways, so sources added in Gemini show up in NotebookLM.
Google Workspace — Gemini drafts in Gmail and Docs and exports reports to Docs.
Perplexity — Perplexity when an answer needs citations.
Claude Code — Claude Code for development work.

Alternatives to Gemini

ChatGPT — Provides tailored responses, image creation, and file uploads.
Kimi — Agent Swarm splits big research jobs across many sub-agents
Meta AI — Free assistant already built into WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
DeepSeek — Free chat with strong reasoning and a very cheap API
Merlin — Access multiple top AI models through one account without switching tabs.
AI Chat Menu Bar — Access chatbots instantly from the menu bar without switching windows.
Claude — Strong writing and coding help, with projects, memory and connectors
RikkaHub — Integrates a Linux workspace for AI agents on Android devices.
Z.ai — Free access to GLM, an open-weight model family strong at coding
Qwen — Free access to Alibaba's open and flagship Qwen models
Duck.ai — Protects conversations from tracking and keeps information completely confidential.
Grok — Live answers from X posts plus built-in image and video generation

All Gemini alternatives