Claude vs Gemini

Detailed comparison of Claude and Gemini. See which tool is best for your specific needs.

Claude logo
Claude

Anthropic's assistant, strongest on long documents and agentic coding

Starting atFree
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Gemini logo
Gemini

Google's assistant, deepest multimodal input and Workspace integration

Starting atFree
View full review →

Claude vs Gemini: Long Context and Multimodal Compared

Both advertise 1M-token context, but they bill it very differently: Claude charges one flat rate, while Gemini roughly doubles above 200K. Gemini takes far more input types and is wired into Workspace.

Verdict

Choose Gemini for multimodal input, Workspace integration, and cheap high-volume work on the Flash tier. Choose Claude when prompts are genuinely long, because Gemini's pricing step penalises exactly that.

Long-Context PricingClaude

Claude bills 1M context at a flat $5.00 / $25.00 per 1M on Opus 5. Gemini 3.1 Pro starts at $2.00 / $12.00 but steps to $4.00 / $18.00 above 200K tokens — so the long prompts you'd buy a 1M window for cost double.

Input TypesGemini

Gemini natively accepts text, image, audio, video, and PDF. Claude accepts text, image, and PDF but not audio or video.

Entry PriceGemini

Gemini 3.7 Flash at $0.75 / $3.75 per 1M is well below Claude Haiku 4.5 at $1.00 / $5.00, and keeps a 1M window where Haiku drops to 200K. Note the Flash rate is promotional through 2026-12-31.

Coding & AgentsClaude

Claude's Opus and Fable tiers lead on agentic coding and long-horizon autonomy. Gemini 2.5 Pro remains strong on coding but the family is tuned more broadly.

EcosystemGemini

Gemini is embedded in Google Workspace, Docs, and Gmail. Claude integrates through API and third-party tools rather than an owned productivity suite.

Choose Claude if

  • Your prompts routinely exceed 200K tokens and flat pricing matters
  • You are building agents or doing repository-scale coding
  • You want predictable per-token cost with no tier steps

Choose Gemini if

  • You need audio or video input alongside text
  • Your team already runs on Google Workspace
  • You are optimising cost on high-volume, shorter prompts

Last updated 2026-08-13

FeatureClaudeGemini
Starting PriceFreeFree
Free Tier
Context Window1M tokens1M tokens
Vision Input
Reasoning Mode
Open Weights
Web Search
API Access
API Access
Top Pros
  • 1M-token context at standard pricing on Opus, Sonnet and Fable — no long-context surcharge
  • Output pricing undercuts the OpenAI flagship ($25 vs $30 / 1M on the top mainstream tier)
  • Strongest reported results on agentic coding and long-horizon autonomous work
  • Widest native input support — text, image, audio, video and PDF in one model
  • Flash tier is among the cheapest capable models at $0.75 / 1M input
  • Native Google Workspace, Docs and Gmail integration
Main Cons
  • Fable tier is expensive at $10 / $50 per 1M and requires 30-day data retention
  • Smaller consumer feature surface than ChatGPT (no native image generation)
  • No open-weight route
  • Pro pricing doubles above 200K context, which penalises exactly the long-document work you'd buy it for
  • Flash pricing is promotional and increases on 2027-01-01
  • Flagship Pro tier still carries a 'preview' label
Best For
codinglong documentsagentsanalysis
multimodalworkspace integrationcost sensitiveresearch

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