Google Antigravity Guide (2026): Google's Free Agent-First IDE Explained

Google Antigravity is Google's agent-first development platform: a desktop IDE, command-line tool and SDK where AI agents plan, write, test and verify code while you supervise. It launched in November 2025 alongside Gemini 3, and the big Antigravity 2.0 update at Google I/O in May 2026 added multi-agent orchestration, a new CLI and an SDK. Its free individual tier makes it one of the best ways to try agentic coding without paying.

New to AI-assisted development? Start with what is vibe coding. Comparing tools? See our AI coding tools comparison.

What makes Antigravity different

Most AI editors started as code editors and added an AI sidebar. Antigravity flips that: the agent is the main interface, and the editor is where you go to inspect or tweak its work.

It has two main surfaces:

• Agent Manager: a mission-control view where you start tasks, run several agents in parallel across workspaces, and review their progress.
• Editor: a familiar VS Code-style editor with AI completions and inline commands for hands-on work.

Artifacts: proof of work you can review

Instead of a wall of chat logs, Antigravity agents produce artifacts: task lists, implementation plans, code diffs, screenshots and browser recordings. You can comment on an artifact (like leaving a comment on a Google Doc) and the agent adjusts without stopping. This makes reviewing agent work much faster, and it's a natural fit for spec-driven development.

A browser agent that tests its own work

Antigravity's agents can control a Chrome browser to click through your app, check the UI and capture recordings. For web projects this closes the loop: the agent builds a feature, opens it, and confirms it actually works.

What's new in Antigravity 2.0

Announced at Google I/O on May 19, 2026:

• Multi-agent orchestration: run several agents at once, design custom subagent workflows, and schedule tasks to run in the background.
• Antigravity CLI: a new, faster command-line agent built in Go. It replaced Gemini CLI, which stopped serving free and individual Google AI accounts on June 18, 2026.
• Antigravity SDK: build your own agents on Google's coding infrastructure.
• Gemini 3.5 Flash: the new default model, which Google says beats Gemini 3.1 Pro on coding benchmarks while being much faster.
• Native integrations with Google AI Studio, Firebase and Android development, plus voice commands.

Antigravity pricing (October 2026)

Business and enterprise options are available through Google Cloud. Check antigravity.google↗ (opens in a new tab) for current limits.

Getting started with Antigravity

1. Download Antigravity from antigravity.google↗ (opens in a new tab) for macOS, Windows or Linux.
2. Sign in with a Google account.
3. Choose how much autonomy to give the agent. Beginners should require approval before the agent runs terminal commands.
4. Open or create a project folder, then start a task in the Agent Manager, such as: "Create a Next.js app with a landing page and a waitlist form."
5. Review the implementation plan artifact before letting the agent build, then check the screenshots or recording it produces.
6. Commit to Git after each working step.

Tips for better results

• Approve plans, not just code. Comment on the implementation plan artifact to fix the approach before any code is written.
• Add project context. Antigravity reads rules and workflow files; a clear AGENTS.md with your stack and conventions helps any agent.
• Use the browser agent for verification. Ask it to "open the app and confirm the signup flow works on mobile width."
• Run agents in parallel on separate tasks, not the same files, to avoid conflicts.
• Watch your quota. Long autonomous runs on the free tier can hit rate limits quickly; break work into smaller tasks.
• Keep security in mind. Agents that can run commands and browse the web can be targeted by prompt injection. Use the security checklist and don't give agents more access than they need.

Antigravity vs other tools

• vs Cursor: Cursor has a more mature editor and wider model choice; Antigravity has a better free tier and stronger built-in browser testing.
• vs Claude Code: Claude Code is the stronger agent for complex, long-running work in most developers' experience; Antigravity is more visual and free to start.
• vs Devin Desktop: both are agent-first IDEs with roots in the same Codeium team. See what happened to Codeium.
• vs GitHub Copilot: Copilot works in your existing editor and is tightly integrated with GitHub.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Antigravity free?

Yes. Individuals can use it free with rate limits. Paid Google AI plans raise those limits.

Does Antigravity only work with Google Cloud?

No. It's a general-purpose development tool for any language or framework. It simply has extra integrations for Firebase, Android and AI Studio.

What happened to Gemini CLI?

For free and individual Google AI accounts, Gemini CLI was retired on June 18, 2026 and replaced by the Antigravity CLI. Enterprise customers kept access.

Can I use non-Google models in Antigravity?

Antigravity has supported some third-party models alongside Gemini, but its best-optimized experience is with Google's Gemini models. Check the model picker for current options.