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Claude Code vs Gemini CLI: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

Claude Code and Gemini CLI are both listed under AI coding agents. Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0); Claude Code is not: no open-source license detected by GitHub (proprietary terms). GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: Claude Code 153,364 (anthropics/claude-code) vs Gemini CLI 108,386 (google-gemini/gemini-cli). Stars measure attention, not quality. Claude Code is the better fit for: anyone relying on the Bash sandbox or permission rules (the 2.1.309 fixes close real gaps). Gemini CLI is the better fit for: organizations on Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise (Google says their access is unchanged). Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.

Our pick: Pick Claude Code for anyone relying on the Bash sandbox or permission rules (the 2.1.309 fixes close real gaps); pick Gemini CLI for organizations on Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise (Google says their access is unchanged). No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. Updated (America/Chicago).

By Agentic Weekly, operated independently from Texas, US · Published · Last updated (America/Chicago) · How we work

Evidence: Claude Code has a Tested entry; Gemini CLI is Reported (scope on each tool page). The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago) and are Reported. The What we measured section lists what we have actually run, with links to the test logs, and what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.

Claude Code

Anthropic · v2.1.310

Tested (smoke test)

Update now if you use the sandbox or run Claude Code on a cloud provider; skip if you wanted flashy new features, this is a hardening release.

Gemini CLI

Google · v0.65.0

Reported

Skip it as a new starter on a consumer plan; keep it only if you are on an enterprise license or a paid API key.

Side by side, from what we recorded

Each row compares one recorded fact for both tools. Rows are not weighted and nothing is added up into a score; the note under each row says what the marker means.

  • Evidence

    Tested (smoke test) (Claude Code is ahead on this row) for Claude Code
    Reported for Gemini CLI

    Tested = we ran it (smoke test); Reported = we read official sources

  • Editorial rank: AI coding agents

    #1 (Claude Code is ahead on this row) for Claude Code
    #3 for Gemini CLI

    Lower is higher on our list; an editorial pick, not a benchmark

  • Release date

    Oct 23, 2026 (Claude Code is ahead on this row) for Claude Code
    Oct 20, 2026 for Gemini CLI

    Newer date only; says nothing about quality

  • Pricing we could verify

    Not verified for Claude Code
    Not verified for Gemini CLI

    About our evidence only, not about the price

  • Steps in our setup guide

    4 for Claude Code
    4 for Gemini CLI

    Counts our guide's steps, not difficulty

  • Sources we cite

    3 for Claude Code
    3 for Gemini CLI

    How much we had to read; more is not better

A list of recorded differences, not a quality score or a ranking. We have not benchmarked these tools against each other; the smoke-test row links each tool's own log. How we label evidence.

What we measured

We have run Claude Code ourselves but not the other tool, so no head-to-head result exists yet. Everything else on this page is Reported from vendor and GitHub pages.

Our own tests for Claude Code and Gemini CLI
TestClaude CodeGemini CLI
Hands-on test log (install and a real task)Tested: Claude Code 2.1.310, Oct 25, 2026: partly worked. Claude Code 2.1.310 edited calc.py through its Edit tool with a local 3B model on the second prompt (85.9 s); the first, vaguer prompt made no edit. Full test logNot tested yet. What we will run: the same failing-unit-test fix in a fresh repository, scored by whether the tests pass, with wall time and tool calls.

How we test and label results: methodology. All test logs: test hub.

Claude Code vs Gemini CLI at a glance

Claude Code and Gemini CLI are both listed under AI coding agents. Agentic Weekly's Claude Code page names Gemini CLI as an alternative. Claude Code: Update now if you use the sandbox or run Claude Code on a cloud provider; skip if you wanted flashy new features, this is a hardening release. Gemini CLI: Skip it as a new starter on a consumer plan; keep it only if you are on an enterprise license or a paid API key.

Claude Code and Gemini CLI side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)
FeatureClaude CodeGemini CLI
VendorAnthropicGoogle
Listed underAI coding agents, Vibe coding, Agent buildingAI coding agents
LicenseNo open-source license detected by GitHub (proprietary terms)Apache-2.0
Public repositoryanthropics/claude-code: 153,364 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)google-gemini/gemini-cli: 108,386 stars, last push Oct 26, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)
Latest release we sawv2.1.310, Oct 23, 2026v0.65.0, Oct 20, 2026
EvidenceTested (scope on its tool page)Reported from vendor pages

How Claude Code and Gemini CLI differ

  • Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0); Claude Code is not: no open-source license detected by GitHub (proprietary terms).
  • GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: Claude Code 153,364 (anthropics/claude-code) vs Gemini CLI 108,386 (google-gemini/gemini-cli). Stars measure attention, not quality.
  • Latest release we saw: Claude Code v2.1.310 on Oct 23, 2026; Gemini CLI v0.65.0 on Oct 20, 2026 (3 days earlier).

Which should you pick?

  • Pick Claude Code if: anyone relying on the Bash sandbox or permission rules (the 2.1.309 fixes close real gaps); teams running Claude Code through Bedrock, Vertex or Foundry. Skip it if: you are looking for new headline capabilities; these two releases are mostly fixes.
  • Pick Gemini CLI if: organizations on Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise (Google says their access is unchanged); people using Gemini CLI with a paid Gemini API key. Skip it if: you are on a Google AI Pro/Ultra plan or the free individual tier: Google says Gemini CLI stopped serving those requests on June 18, 2026.

Strengths and limits

Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page
FeatureClaude CodeGemini CLI
StrengthsVery frequent releases with detailed notes; Works in terminal, VS Code and desktop, with plugins and skills; Sandbox and permission model keeps getting tighterOpen source under Apache-2.0; Weekly releases and a fast-moving issue tracker; Enterprise access unchanged per Google
LimitsThese notes are long and mixed together; hard to tell which fixes affect you; Some changes are behavior changes (for example ultrareview now requires workspace trust, and sed -i no longer previews edits); Pricing and plan limits were not checked for this write-upNot available on consumer plans since June 18, 2026 (per Google); README says it is not optimized for the latest Gemini models; This release is mostly bug fixes

What we did not verify

  • Claude Code: Pricing and plan limits (not fetched).
  • Gemini CLI: What Antigravity CLI is like in practice (not tested; only Google's own description was read).
  • Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.

What others found

Gemini CLI 2.0 vs Claude Code — Which AI Dev Tool Wins in 2026? · Andy Lo ·
Watch on YouTube

Third-party video, not one of our tests. Nothing here is marked Tested because of it.

FAQ

Is Claude Code or Gemini CLI open source?

Claude Code: No open-source license detected by GitHub (proprietary terms). Gemini CLI: Apache-2.0. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.

Which was updated more recently, Claude Code or Gemini CLI?

Claude Code's newest release we saw is v2.1.310 (Oct 23, 2026); Gemini CLI's is v0.65.0 (Oct 20, 2026). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.

What is the main difference between Claude Code and Gemini CLI?

Gemini CLI is open source (Apache-2.0); Claude Code is not: no open-source license detected by GitHub (proprietary terms). GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: Claude Code 153,364 (anthropics/claude-code) vs Gemini CLI 108,386 (google-gemini/gemini-cli). Stars measure attention, not quality.

Sources

Page history

  • : First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

Markdown version for agents: /compare/claude-code-vs-gemini-cli.md