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12 hours ago
Earlier this year, I switched from ChatGPT to Claude. I found that Claude was better at following long prompts and remembering past details in a chat log. Still, I was curious what else was out there. About two weeks ago, I decided to sign up for Google AI Plus to see how much Gemini has evolved since I stopped using it late 2024. In all honesty, I found the situation was a bit of a mixed bag.
Let’s start with the positives. Gemini integrates with many different apps and services, has solid web search capabilities, and offers a fairly wide context window. That said, I personally prefer the way Claude responds. It nails a vibe that floats between being too clinical and too much of a “buddy”, and it is much better at tracking long conversations. I also found that in fictional projects, Gemini tended to completely forget core characters and places long before it became an issue for Claude.
If it were just based on how well each model responds, I’d ditch Gemini for Claude once again. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. The truth is that Gemini is a much better value for my needs. Let’s walk through the four major reasons Gemini’s value is just too good to overlook.
One of the great things about Gemini is its multi-modal capabilities. Now, technically speaking, Claude is also multi-modal, meaning it can analyze pictures and other inputs beyond text. What it can’t do is generate them. Gemini, on the other hand, can easily create short video clips, pictures, and more.
How useful are these features in reality? Honestly, it’s less crucial, but I still appreciate the option. While I admit most of what I do is based on text prompts, my kids like to mess around with short video generation, and I actually use AI-generated images for custom short stories for the children of my family and friends, as well as other similar novelty projects. It’s not an absolute necessity, but it’s still a huge plus.
If you are at all invested in Google’s ecosystem, Gemini is hard to overlook. Considering I own multiple Android devices, Chromebooks, Chromecasts, and other Google hardware? I think I qualify.
As previously mentioned, Gemini is available across virtually every major Google app and service these days. Some of its best features do require a Pro-tier subscription, such as deeper integration with Google Drive. That said, many of its core integrations still work well even with the much cheaper AI Plus plan, such as basic Calendar and Gmail AI features.
Even Android itself is increasingly reliant on Gemini, with special features often requiring a paid subscription. Personally, I don’t love spreading my projects across multiple chatbots, so I prefer the idea of a single primary service. With Gemini at the forefront of everything Google, it makes sense for it to be my main AI tool.
While ChatGPT offers a Go plan for just $8/month, it isn’t as feature-rich as Google’s own entry-level plan. As for Claude? Its cheapest plan starts at $20 per month.
With Google One AI plans, you can choose from options starting as low as just $5 per month. That means casual users can get more out of their AI experience than the free tier offers, without paying more than most streaming video services charge.
Beyond the integrations and affordable pricing, there’s another reason I can’t give up Gemini: all the extras that go beyond its core AI capabilities.
As I said earlier, I am very invested in Google’s ecosystem, which means I pretty much have to pay for Google One storage. The cheapest plan starts at $2 for 100GB of data, or you can pay $3 for 200GB. I did this gladly for years, alongside the cost of ChatGPT or Claude.
Then I started to use AI less and less, as I realized my over-reliance on it had become somewhat problematic. That led me back to Gemini. See, I didn’t want to completely ditch AI, but I no longer wanted to spend $20 for the privilege either. With Gemini, I don’t have to.
The Plus tier might lack some of Google’s best integrations, but you get double the usage limits of the free tier and 400GB of storage. That means you’re basically getting the AI and double the storage space of a classic Google One plan for only $2 more.
Even if you want to have access to Pro models and other higher-end features, Google AI Pro might start at the same $20 as Claude, but it includes tons of added value that Claude simply didn’t offer at that price.
First, storage space is bumped up to a massive 5TB. You also get deeper integrations here, along with a few extras like YouTube Premium Lite, Google Home Premium, and Google Health Premium. While I don’t care as much about Google Health’s features personally, I do appreciate ad-free videos and some of the extras included in Google Home Premium.
Bottom line, for Google fans who want maximum value out of their AI plans, Gemini is simply too good to pass up. It might not do everything as well as Claude in my book, but the gap is small enough that I can live with that for all the extra savings and features Google provides.
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