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What Is Gemini CLI? And What Happened When It Became Antigravity CLI

Gemini CLI was Google's open-source AI coding agent for the terminal, with a famously generous free tier. In June 2026 Google replaced it for individual users with Antigravity CLI. What Gemini CLI does, who can still use it, and what to use now.

Gemini CLI is Google's AI coding agent for the terminal. You run gemini in a project folder, describe what you want, and it reads your files, edits code and runs commands using Google's Gemini models.

It became popular fast for one reason: a free tier that gave anyone with a Google account a large daily allowance of requests. That changed in 2026.

What changed in June 2026

On 19 May 2026, Google announced it was folding Gemini CLI into Google Antigravity, its agent-first development platform. On 18 June 2026, Gemini CLI (and the Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions) stopped serving requests for:

  • people using it free with a personal Google account,
  • Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

Those users were moved to the new Antigravity CLI (command: agy), built in Go and sharing a back end with the Antigravity desktop app. (Google's announcement)

Gemini CLI still works for:

  • paid Gemini API keys and Google Cloud's Agent Platform (formerly Vertex AI),
  • organisations with Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licences.

So if you're following an older tutorial that says "sign in with Google and get 1,000 free requests a day" — that no longer applies to individuals.

What Gemini CLI does

For those who can still use it, it's a capable terminal agent:

  • Reads and edits your project files from a description
  • Runs shell commands (with your approval) to test and verify
  • Large context window, useful for big codebases
  • MCP support for connecting tools and data (What is MCP?)
  • A GEMINI.md file for project instructions
  • Open source under the Apache 2.0 licence

It works much like other terminal agents. (What is an AI coding agent?)

What to use instead

If you were a free or Pro user:

  • Antigravity CLI / Antigravity — Google's direct replacement. Antigravity has a free individual tier with weekly limits; higher limits come with Google AI plans. (Claude Code vs Antigravity)
  • Gemini CLI with a paid API key — keep the same tool, pay per use.
  • Another terminal agent — Claude Code, OpenAI Codex or the open-source OpenCode, which can use Gemini models through an API key.

Moving tools is easier if your project instructions live in a shared AGENTS.md file rather than a tool-specific one. (AGENTS.md vs CLAUDE.md)

Moving your setup to Claude Code

If you try Claude Code, its /init command detects Gemini CLI configuration and offers to carry it over with /import — instructions, MCP servers and more. (Claude Code /init)

The summary

  • Gemini CLI: Google's open-source terminal coding agent.
  • Since 18 June 2026, free and Google AI Pro/Ultra users were moved to Antigravity CLI.
  • Still available with paid API keys and enterprise licences.
  • Alternatives: Antigravity, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode.

EasySpawn gives you a persistent Linux server with Claude Code installed, where you can also install any other CLI agent — and keep your projects running when you log off. See how it works or join the waitlist.

Related: Claude Code vs Gemini CLI · Best AI Coding Tools in 2026 · Claude Code vs Google Antigravity · The Terminal for Complete Beginners

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