Amp vs Gemini CLI (2026)

Amp

by Amp Frontier Corporation

Gemini CLI

by Google DeepMind

Pros

• ✓Each thread can run in a cloud orb set up with the project's code, tools and plugins, so agents keep working after the laptop closes, and threads can be started or followed from the web, Mac, iPhone or the CLI.
• ✓Multi-model by design: four modes route work across OpenAI, Anthropic and fast models, and on Hobby, Individual and Teams developers can bring a ChatGPT subscription or their own keys with no Amp token fees.
• ✓Team features come at no extra charge, including shared threads, multiplayer, shared portals, plugins and skills and pooled credits, and a GitHub App lets agents open pull requests and read CI status.

Limitations

• –Model usage beyond a tier's included credits is paid separately, through the developer's own provider subscription or keys or through Amp credits at provider API prices, and purchased credits expire after twelve months.
• –Paid tiers are billed monthly and orb time is metered by the minute: Megawatt's 45,000 minutes go faster on larger orbs, and the largest orb size is limited to Gigawatt and Enterprise.
• –SCIM, audit logs, IP allowlisting and regional endpoints are on the quote-based Enterprise tier, and SAML or OIDC SSO needs at least one workspace member on a paid tier.

Pros

• ✓Gemini 3 models with a 1 million token context window: loads entire large codebases into context without manual file selection, a meaningful advantage over Claude Code (200K tokens) and GitHub Copilot for long-horizon refactoring and analysis across complex repositories.
• ✓Open-source Apache 2.0 codebase with 107k GitHub stars: fully auditable and forkable, with extensive community contributions including MCP server integrations, GitHub Actions automation, and VS Code, Sublime Text, and Emacs support.
• ✓Enterprise customers retain full access with Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise licenses: organizations already on Google Cloud infrastructure maintain uninterrupted Gemini CLI access with the latest models, Vertex AI compliance, and existing authentication workflows.

Limitations

• –Free hosted tier ended June 18, 2026: the 1,000 requests/day free tier that made Gemini CLI attractive for individual developers is no longer available. Individual users must migrate to Antigravity CLI or switch to alternative tools like Aider or OpenCode for free terminal AI coding.
• –Antigravity CLI replacement is closed-source: the Go-based successor ships as a proprietary binary, ending the open-source transparency that attracted 107k GitHub stars and 6,000+ community pull requests to the original Gemini CLI project.
• –Locked to the Gemini model family with no multi-model support: developers who prefer Claude for complex reasoning, GPT for specific tasks, or local models for privacy-sensitive codebases must use a separate tool, unlike Aider, Cline, and OpenCode which support multiple LLM providers under one interface.