# Claude Code vs Antigravity: Which One Fits Your Work? > Source: > Published: 2026-09-14 00:00:00+00:00 # Claude Code vs Antigravity: Which One Fits Your Work? Claude Code vs Google Antigravity, checked 14 Sep 2026: terminal agent or desktop agent app, Claude inside Antigravity, plans, limits and a verdict. Pick Google Antigravity if you want a free plan that includes its desktop agent app, plus Gemini models with Claude 4.6 on the side. Pick Claude Code if you work in a terminal, already pay for Claude, and want Anthropic’s newest models such as Opus 5. Everything below was checked on 14 Sep 2026. The Antigravity here is Google’s agent platform, not the 360 degree drone that shares its name and has yet to fix a flaky test. It launched as an IDE on 18 Nov 2025. Google I/O on 19 May 2026 added the Antigravity 2.0 desktop app, a terminal CLI called `agy` and an SDK beside that IDE, and extensions for other IDEs followed on 20 Aug 2026. You can pick one and stop there. Or run both side by side in [Munder Difflin](https://harnessmd.com/download), a free and open source desktop app where every agent picks its own engine: a Claude Code agent at one desk, an Antigravity agent at the next, each a real CLI in its own terminal, signed in with accounts you already have. Our [install guide](/blog/how-to-install-and-use-munder-difflin/) walks through the free Antigravity route. ## What is the difference between Claude Code and Antigravity? [#](#what-is-the-difference-between-claude-code-and-antigravity) Antigravity grew out of a graphical IDE, and Claude Code grew out of the terminal. [Google’s 2.0 announcement](https://antigravity.google/blog/introducing-google-antigravity-2) calls the new app “a new, standalone desktop application” and says “there is no IDE”: you make a Project, add folders, start agents in Local Mode or in their own git worktree, then review their plans, artifacts and changes. The Antigravity IDE stays for hands on editing with Tab completion, and the `agy` CLI shares the desktop app’s agent harness and settings. Claude Code starts from a prompt in your shell. [Anthropic’s overview](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview) adds a VS Code extension, a JetBrains plugin that needs the CLI, the web, and a desktop app that runs sessions side by side and requires a paid plan, all on one engine, so `CLAUDE.md`, settings and MCP servers carry across. Both let you watch parallel agents from one screen. The real difference is the starting point: a window in Antigravity, a shell prompt in Claude Code. ## Can Antigravity use Claude models? [#](#can-antigravity-use-claude-models) Yes, but not the newest ones. [Google’s models page](https://antigravity.google/docs/models) lists Claude Sonnet 4.6 (thinking), Claude Opus 4.6 (thinking) and GPT-OSS-120b beside Gemini 3.8, 3.7 and 3.6 Flash and Gemini 3.1 Pro, ticked for free, Pro and Ultra but not Enterprise, on a separate meter with its own weekly and five hour limits. The free plan card on Google’s pricing page also lists “Claude Sonnet & Opus 4.6”. Only Google’s plans doc disagrees, listing third party models under Ultra, so check the picker on your own account. Officially, Claude Code runs Claude only: Anthropic’s gateway docs say Anthropic doesn’t support routing it to other models through any gateway, though Ollama documents a way. On Anthropic’s API, `opus` resolves to Opus 5, `sonnet` to Sonnet 5 and `fable` to Fable 5.1; Pro defaults to Sonnet 5 and Max to Opus 5. ## Is Antigravity cheaper than Claude Code? [#](#is-antigravity-cheaper-than-claude-code) At the bottom, yes: Antigravity has a $0 plan and Claude Code has none, as of 14 Sep 2026. The first paid step costs about the same. Antigravity’s pricing page labels the free Individual plan “Generally Available” with “Basic weekly rate limits”. [Google’s plans post of 19 May 2026](https://antigravity.google/blog/changes-to-antigravity-plans) put Google AI Pro at $20 a month, split Ultra into $100 and $200 monthly tiers with 5x and 20x Pro’s tokens, and pooled Gemini Flash and Pro into one limit “drawn down as per API pricing”. The plans docs add that Pro quota refreshes every five hours until a weekly cap, free quota refreshes weekly, Pro and Ultra users can buy AI credits for overage, and limits “are subject to modification”. On [Claude’s pricing page](https://claude.com/pricing) on 14 Sep 2026, Free has no Claude Code, Pro costs $20 billed monthly ($17 a month billed annually) and Max starts at $100 a month for 5x or 20x Pro’s usage, on a rolling five hour window with weekly caps. Neither company publishes token counts per plan. Our breakdown of [what Claude Code costs](/blog/how-much-does-claude-code-cost/) goes further. ## Is Antigravity CLI a real alternative to Claude Code? [#](#is-antigravity-cli-a-real-alternative-to-claude-code) Yes, `agy` is Google’s answer to the `claude` command. Google’s CLI docs install it with `curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash` on macOS and Linux (PowerShell on Windows), and `agy --help` on version 1.2.2 lists a print mode (`-p`), plan and accept-edits modes, `--sandbox` and an `mcp` subcommand. For another terminal rival, read [Codex CLI vs Claude Code](/blog/codex-cli-vs-claude-code/). ## How does Munder Difflin run Claude Code and Antigravity? [#](#how-does-munder-difflin-run-claude-code-and-antigravity) As two plain CLIs wired differently, per the 0.5.2 source (`src/shared/agentProvider.ts`, `src/main/hive.ts`) we read on 14 Sep 2026. A Claude Code agent launches `claude`. Auto mode, when switched on, adds `--permission-mode bypassPermissions`. Only Claude Code takes the office’s identity through `--append-system-prompt` and hooks through `--settings`, and if `claude` is missing the app installs it with npm or Anthropic’s native installer. An Antigravity agent launches `agy`, and auto mode adds `--dangerously-skip-permissions`, which `agy --help` describes as “Auto-approve all tool permission requests without prompting”. Its brief arrives as the first turn through `agy -i`, and a restart resumes with `--conversation`. For live status and message delivery the app writes a `munder-hive` hook group to both `~/.gemini/config/hooks.json` and `~/.gemini/antigravity-cli/hooks.json`, because `agy` loads hooks from one file and fires them from the other. The hook script does nothing without an agent ID, so your own `agy` sessions are left alone. Two limits: 0.5.2 has no bundled installer for `agy`, so a missing CLI gets a manual install message, and the app drives the CLI, not the Antigravity 2.0 app or the IDE. ## Which should you pick, Claude Code or Antigravity? [#](#which-should-you-pick-claude-code-or-antigravity) Pick Antigravity for a free start and visual, browser heavy work; pick Claude Code for terminal and CI work on the newest Claude models. - **No budget, or just curious about agents:** Antigravity. Google’s plans docs include the CLI and scheduled tasks on every plan. - **Frontend work you want to watch:** Antigravity 2.0 or the IDE, where a built in browser subagent runs interactive browser tests. Claude Code has a Chrome integration too. - **CI pipelines:** Claude Code, with documented GitHub Actions and GitLab CI/CD setups. Antigravity’s`agy -p` also runs headless in CI. - **The newest Claude models:** Claude Code. Anthropic’s docs aim the`opus` alias, now Opus 5, at complex reasoning, while Antigravity lists Claude 4.6. - **A company on Google Cloud:** Antigravity 2.0 and the CLI, through Google Cloud. Google’s docs say the IDE is not supported for enterprise customers, and its models table shows no Claude models on Enterprise. - **Already paying for Claude Pro or Max:** Claude Code, since your plan includes it. ## FAQ Is Google Antigravity free? Yes. Google's pricing page lists an Individual plan at $0 a month with basic weekly rate limits, checked 14 Sep 2026, and Google's plans docs say every plan includes the CLI and scheduled tasks. Google AI Pro and Ultra raise the limits and refresh quota every five hours. Does Antigravity read CLAUDE.md? Not by name in any Google doc we read on 14 Sep 2026. Antigravity takes global rules from `~/.gemini/GEMINI.md` and workspace rules from `.agents/rules`, and the IDE's changelog added `AGENTS.md` rules in March 2026. Google's rules docs let a rule file reference another file with an @ mention, so one workspace rule can point at the `CLAUDE.md` you already have. Can Antigravity use my Claude Code skills? Mostly, because both follow the Agent Skills format: a folder holding a `SKILL.md` file. Claude Code looks in `.claude/skills/`, Antigravity in `.agents/skills/` or `~/.gemini/config/skills/`, so copy or link the folder across. Fields that only Claude Code understands, such as `context: fork`, are not part of the shared standard. Did Antigravity CLI replace Gemini CLI? For most individual users, yes. Google's developer blog said on 19 May 2026 that Gemini CLI would stop serving Google AI Pro, Ultra and free Gemini Code Assist users on 18 Jun 2026. Enterprise licences and paid API keys can keep using Gemini CLI.