Claude Code vs Gemini CLI
Claude Code (Anthropic) and Gemini CLI (Google) side by side on public data, as of Oct 6, 2026.
Claude Code has 32.6x the weekly package downloads of Gemini CLI (14.8M against 453K). Claude Code has 24.5x the VS Code extension installs of Gemini CLI (27.1M against 1.1M). Claude Code has 1.4x the GitHub stars of Gemini CLI (150K against 107K). Over the last 30 days downloads moved -36% for Claude Code and +2% for Gemini CLI. Claude Code shipped 74 stable releases in the past 90 days.
Side-by-side numbers
| Metric | Claude Code | Gemini CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse Score | 80 | 57 |
| Overall rank | #3 | #24 |
| Downloads, last 7 days | 14.8M | 453K |
| Downloads, 7-day change | up 11.6% | up 4.7% |
| Downloads, 30-day change | down 36.4% | up 1.8% |
| VS Code installs | 27.1M | 1.1M |
| Marketplace rating | 3.7 / 5 (894) | 4.1 / 5 (21) |
| GitHub stars | 150K | 107K |
| Homebrew installs, 30 days | 28.3K | 2,855 |
| Hacker News mentions, 30 days | 1,350 | 28 |
| Latest stable release | 2.1.290 · yesterday | 0.62.0 · 7d ago |
| Stable releases, 90 days | 74 | |
| Terminal-Bench (best run) | 57.9% · v4.0 | 65.8% · v2.1 |
| Price | $20/mo | Varies |
| License | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 |
| First released | February 2025 | June 2025 |
| Interfaces | CLI, IDE extension, Desktop, Web, Mobile, SDK | CLI, IDE extension |
| Models | Anthropic Claude models via Claude plans, a Console API key or supported third-party cloud providers | Google Gemini models (Gemini 3 per site) via a Gemini/Vertex AI API key or a Code Assist license |
Trends
Claude Code
Anthropic's agentic coding tool that reads a codebase, edits files and runs commands from the terminal, with VS Code and JetBrains integrations plus desktop, web and mobile access. It runs Claude models through a Claude subscription, an Anthropic Console API key or supported third-party cloud providers.
Pricing: Included in paid Claude plans: Pro $20/month ($17/month billed annually), Max from $100/month (5x and 20x tiers), Team standard seat $20/seat/month annual ($25 monthly) and premium seat $100 annual ($125 monthly). The Free plan does not include it; pay-as-you-go API credits via a Console account are an alternative.
Latest release 2.1.290:
- Added serverToolUses to the result of a mod's turn.step hook: the tool calls the API ran itself (the advisor), each with its id, name, input, start and end
- Added agentId to the tool.check event of plugin hooks, so a hook can tell a subagent's permission check from the main session's
- Added ceiling to the question and verdict a mod's tool.check hook reads, naming the approval an organization requires for a tool
- Added ThemeKey and Color types to the plugin hooks typings, so an editor lists the theme colors a mod's drawing can name
Gemini CLI
Google's open-source terminal agent that brings Gemini models to the command line for code editing, shell commands and MCP tools. Since 2026-06-18 it no longer serves free, Google AI Pro/Ultra or Google One users, who were moved to Antigravity CLI.
Pricing: As of 2026-06-18 the free Code Assist for individuals tier and Google AI Pro/Ultra access ended; Gemini CLI continues with paid Gemini/Vertex API keys (pay as you go) and Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise licenses (1,500/2,000 requests per user per day per the quota docs). Antigravity CLI is free to everyone.
Latest release 0.62.0:
- fix(a2a-server): add early return on unsupported store in tasks metadata endpoint
- Changelog for v0.61.0-preview.0
- Changelog for v0.60.0
- fix(core,acp): format MCP tool call titles as structured signatures and segregate explanations