Claude vs. Gemini: Which one actually writes better code?

There are many options when it comes to having AI help you code. There's OpenAI's Codex (or simply ChatGPT), GitHub's Copilot, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude. Which is the best? I've used both Gemini and Claude extensively, and it's not even a close competition.

Gemini has an edge with Antigravity

A proper IDE is just easier to work inside of

My first experience with any form of vibe coding was Gemini in Antigravity a few months ago. I tried using ChatGPT to write some code for me a year or so ago and it didn't end well—but vibe coding hadn't really taken off at that point yet.

With Gemini and Antigravity , I have actually been able to accomplish a lot. One of the best parts of Gemini is its native integration with an IDE as part of your subscription. Don't get me wrong, I love a terminal interface, but sometimes a proper IDE is just the better answer.

There are IDEs that use Claude (Antigravity is one of them!) but none of those IDEs use your Anthropic subscription , and they all rely on their own subscriptions. So, if you want a first-party experience with an AI LLM and an IDE, then Gemini and Antigravity are the perfect tools for the job.

Google's Gemini models are quite advanced and capable. I've used them to build not just simple websites, but also full stack web apps with typescript, next.js, SQL, and a lot of dependencies. I've also used Gemini to build apps for both Android and iPhone with relative ease.

One of the best features of Gemini though is just how generous the limits are. For $20 per month for the Google AI Pro plan, you can code for hours upon hours without hitting the limits. I hit the limits several times during heavy coding sessions, but I was typically able to work around that by just changing models and working with another model until my primary one reset.

The experience is solid, and the code seems fairly decent—though Gemini does like to say a build succeeds in the chat and then, when you go to try it, the build fails spectacularly and you have to tell Gemini to go back and keep working on it.

Claude pulls ahead thanks to Claude Code and its plugins

Claude's plugins and plugins really set it apart

While I love working in an IDE when I need to write code, if I'm not writing a ton of code, then the IDE just gets in the way—that's why I love Claude Code.

Claude Code lets me just get right to the point of vibe coding and having the AI write the code for me. Now, all the files are still right there on my computer, so I can open an IDE if I need to make edits to them, but that's a rare occasion for me because Claude simply writes better code than Gemini did.

With Gemini, I frequently had to remove a stray}character in a SwiftUI file. I can't even begin to describe how many times it added an extra}to the end of a function, which would then break the compilation (that it said completed successfully), and I would have to go in and fix.

Claude Code simply doesn't do that, which means I have less need for an IDE. Claude Code also features a large selection of plugins that really extend its capabilities.

I have quite a few plugins installed for Claude Code that add a variety of features. For instance, claude-mem is a way to have Claude remember more of your conversations and also save on token usage. There's a Notion plugin that lets Claude Code search pages, make new pages, and more.

Other plugins that I have are the code-review plugin, context7 , figma, frontend-design , and many more. These all add different capabilities to Claude Code, and there's also a public marketplace where other people can publish plugins that you can install—if you trust them.

When it matters most, Claude offers a better experience and better code

Claude generates better code with fewer issues compared to Gemini

Gemini is a fantastic tool and I'm very glad I had access to Google AI Pro when I got back into development a few months ago. Gemini was able to get me multiple MVP (minimally viable products) for various apps and websites that I was working on building.

Now, however, I use Claude Code exclusively. claude simply generates better code with fewer issues for me. When I do run into a complex issue, Claude Code's plan mode typically allows me to one-shot fix them because it takes the time to really dive deep into the code and figure out what's going wrong and exactly how to fix it.

I wish Gemini was better at writing code, because it's far cheaper than Claude Code, but it's just not there yet. On a technical level, Gemini 3.0 Pro and Gemini 3.0 Flash are both at a very similar level to Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Opus 4.6.

But I feel like the system prompts and the ability to create claude.md files for Claude Code to reference when coding gives Claude the edge up for development. At the end of the day, Claude Code is what I (and many other developers) choose because it outputs the best product with the least hassle.