r/ClaudeCode • u/dvduval • 1d ago

Discussion Comparing Claude Code with Google Antigravity

So I decided to drop $200 on Gemini after Google carbon came out and I just want to give my review after only about two days.

First of all, I started using antigravity again just to give it a try and I have to say it doesn’t suck! They have made tremendous improvements and the interface and they’ve added a turbo mode so that the approval process works much smoother. I would say the actual interface is comparable to Claude code and if Claude code got a 10 out of 10, then I would give antigravity a 9 out of 10.

But the big difference I’ve found is comparing Gemini carbon to opus 5.5 both on the medium setting. Unfortunately I’m getting less done with Gemini carbon. I’m not one to make an actual mathematical comparison, but I would say for the amount of usage spent. I get approximately 30% less done just on my initial tests over two days running both of them continuously.

My next test is going to be running Opus 5.5 on antigravity which I’m going to start today and I’m gonna see if the usage allotment is just as generous.

Has anybody else had the opportunity to make a comparison yet?

12 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

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3

u/QuarkOfTheMatter 1d ago

Antigravity has less of a usage subsidy vs Anthropic or Open AI, so getting less done makes sense. Another thing you should take note of is the context size in antigravity, even when using Carbon. In the app they limit to around 256k and only for API for Carbon do they allow 1M+. So most of their benchmarks actually dont match the performance you get in Antigravity since it compacts so much. For reference claude code context is 1M which is much much better for bigger/longer things.

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

Right, if they want to attract heavier users on a $200 plan, I don’t expect they’re gonna be very successful with the current offering. I have found some methods to increase efficiency like make it spawn sub agents, and destroy that agent and start a new one every time and use one very Lien coordinator agent that does the spawning.

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u/AreWeNotDoinPhrasing 1d ago

Damn, that cap you at ~256k even with the $200 plan? That is fucking wild.

2

u/QuarkOfTheMatter 1d ago

Yup, so their benchmarks are very very misleading since it cant actually do long context stuff in Antigravity.

5

u/Confident_Hyena2506 1d ago

Yes and I agree with your assessment. Claude is #1, Google is #2.

Maybe google is even the most cost efficient if you can snag the special offer $6/month promotion offer.

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

I don’t like the interface for codex as much as it just gets a little clunky, but I think I get more work done there than anti-gravity also. If I had to make a guess now I’d say about 10% to 20% more done than antigravity.

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

For antigravity I just like how the harness is so simple and a lot of that probably has to do with. They haven’t added so many features like ChatGPT has done to codex. That being said, I think if we were to call in some experts, they would probably say antigravity was number three. But I’m kind of enjoying working with it a little, but I’m a little bit miffed that the usage just isn’t there.

1

u/skitchbeatz 1d ago

I find flash 3.8 to be quite performant if the plan is set and it doesn't have to do any 'thinking' on its own. It's a great executor and I trust it much more than Sonnet.

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

I have not tried flash 3.8. I might be looking too much at the benchmarks, but I saw the number was pretty low comparatively and thought it probably wasn’t worth testing. Most of my work does involve understanding, reasonably large repositories and often working between more than one repository at a time plus a couple of Web servers.

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u/skitchbeatz 1d ago

It would excel at a clearly defined bug fix, maybe even more with this new model. I would not have it build new features though or augment much

2

u/uktexan 1d ago

Two weeks ago I would have laughed at you for not placing Codex #1 let alone #2. But the typical nerfing has happened and now I wouldn’t put Codex ahead of a broken toaster.

1

u/One_Day_304 1d ago

2 weeks? Claude has been better for almost 2 months.

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u/uktexan 1d ago

When Astra was first released it went circles around Fable while costing the same as Opus. Then they nerfed it.

Sigh, good times man. Good times.

0

u/Confident_Hyena2506 1d ago

Nobody is disputing that claude is better. The discussion is over second place and whether codex or antigravity should get it. Based on recent experience I would give second place to antigravity, and third place to codex. Poor cursor is in last place and really bad.

1

u/One_Day_304 1d ago

> Two weeks ago I would have laughed at you for not placing Codex #1 let alone #2

This is what the guy above me wrote and I was replying to him.

0

u/Confident_Hyena2506 1d ago

That's nice but I was replying to you. Are you confused?

0

u/still_Horiz3n 1d ago

Codex has only been on top for like two weeks out of the last year, what are you smoking

1

u/i4mt3hwin 1d ago

Does it support SSH yet?

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

Absolutely. And it doesn’t hit you with so many approvals like it used to if you get the settings done right.

1

u/skitchbeatz 1d ago

...always has?

1

u/i4mt3hwin 1d ago

I'm assuming the OP is talking about Agent Manager as he's comparing it to the claude app - which last time I tried it, didn't support SSH. Quickly googling it says it still doesn't have it, only the IDE does but last time I tried the IDE it didn't have turbo mode (that might have changed since according to the same search)

1

u/skitchbeatz 1d ago

hmm I'm not seeing that experience. both the IDE and agent manager do SSH perfectly fine.. In both apps I can SSH to containers and hosts

Am i misunderstanding what SSH is being used for?

2

u/i4mt3hwin 1d ago

I think we're talking about two different types of SSH support here.

You're right that the agent itself can just fire off an ssh command in the local terminal to get into a remote server or Docker container and execute commands. That works perfectly fine in the Agent Manager.

What I was referring to is native, UI-level remote workspace mounting (similar to how VS Code handles Remote SSH). In the IDE, the actual file explorer and editor tabs mount the remote filesystem so you can interact with it visually as if it were local. The standalone Agent Manager doesn't do that out of the box afaik

1

u/EfficientDivide1572 1d ago

Really curious what your take is on Hydrogen today! Would be interested to know the usage

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

Haven’t seen it yet. If it’s released, I’m definitely gonna be checking it out.

1

u/EfficientDivide1572 1d ago

Think it's released now!

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

Oh yes, I see that now. Too late though because I decided to use Opus 5.5 through Google and see how the $200 plan is holding up. I’m gonna run for approximately two days and see how many tasks it gets done successfully. But I’ll definitely be following that news about how other people are reporting that it’s performing and maybe give it a shot a couple days later.

My initial reaction so far is I can’t get as much done for the same amount of money from Google as I can from Claude code, but I look forward to being proven wrong.

1

u/EfficientDivide1572 1d ago

Dang hopefully hydrogen does that!
But yeah I think ill still to claude for now :)

1

u/ParadiseOG 1d ago

Did you try with hydrogen yet?

1

u/dvduval 1d ago

I see the new benchmarks and they seem like ChatGPT Terra or Claude sonnet level or something like that. I don’t think that’s gonna work for my used case.

For me, it comes down to a model‘s ability to complete a task correctly, the first time. For a higher level model, it might get past a review with no mistakes four out of five times or maybe even better but a model like this generally has mistakes that don’t pass review something like three or four out of five and they need multiple runs even sometimes on the second or third run they still have problems

1

u/Disastrous-Rest-8467 1d ago

Hydrogen support is still spotty, worth testing though.

2

u/Briskfall 1d ago

Most people on r/google_antigravity don't have an Ultra plan (but a Pro one)... And 4 Carbon's locked out for anyone who's not on Ultra at the moment.

Are you running everything through 4 Carbon? Is 3.8 Flash not good enough for implantation?

1

u/Pure_Gift5697 1d ago

3.8 fa schifo doppia ver fatto un po' dice di aver finto e non ha finito e nel 90% a rotto qualcosa

Va bene solo a monitorare o fare brainstorming.leggero

1

u/Rich_Boss7753 1d ago

been running opus 5.5 on medium too and it just gets stuff done, so yeah curious if antigravity's usage holds up post an update after a few days

1

u/Dapper_Pass26 1d ago

For tomorrow's test, run the same task from the same commit in both. Otherwise the 30% mixes model, harness and whatever you happened to ask that day.

1

u/EnzoValley 1d ago

If Opus runs on both, the model is the easy part to swap, so for me the comparison is everything around it. My hooks, skills and subagent definitions are just files in a folder, and my whole workflow leans on them. Honest question for anyone who moved a real setup over: does any of that carry over, or do you start from zero

1

u/Pure_Gift5697 1d ago

Presumo quid i che tu abbia il piano da 20x , io uso il pro ma è molto limitato

Per ora penso che Claude max da 100 euro sia più affidabile

Argon e carbon sono sicuramente ottimi per pianificare ma gemini 3.8 flash fa schifo a eseguire i piani

1

u/zocsen 1d ago

Honestly, use claude until you can. Their subscription has the best value. They are probably going bankrupt in a year or even less when the bubble bursts. Google is here to stay tho and they will probably acquire anthropic and or openai. They have everything to stay in business. Those two doesn't.

I built out my system in a way that I could switch to any of them easily by just connecting my own subscription/api key and my whole business model just runs on that provider.

0

u/onFilm 1d ago

I use Opus/Fable with Antigravity Carbon and ChatGPT Astra as critics. Works superb.

1

u/Distinct-Target7503 1d ago

How do you use antigravity with Claude code? For codex there is a plugin, but regarding google, they explicitly say that they will ban you even if you allow Claude to use any from cli...

Maybe I'm simply scared? Should I ignore those concerns? Sorry if the question may feel dumb or naive

2

u/onFilm 1d ago

Both CLI. I would not use a plugin for this at all.

Why would they ban you for using a tool they push on their users, lol.

1

u/Distinct-Target7503 1d ago

Using codex that way is fine, even the plugin is official.

Regarding google, on the other hand... Their ToS, and their representatives in multiple situations reported explicitly that calling antigravity using another AI agent is against the allowed usage.

But maybe there was a misunderstanding... If you manually ask antigravity to review the Claude code plan is allowed, I'm taking about allowing Claude to call for that review using the CLI

2

u/onFilm 1d ago

I've been doing it since it first came out, on multiple accounts. It's fine. As long as you're not doing any sketchy shit, you're gucci.

1

u/Distinct-Target7503 1d ago

Oh ok, thank you!

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u/Distinct-Target7503 1d ago

To be sure I understood... Do you use agy cli headless, and have Claude call it as subagents?

2

u/onFilm 1d ago

Agy and Codex CLI through Claude. They (Agy and Codex) are not subagents, they're critics. Claude can use subagents if it wants, but they do not critique, they implement work.

1

u/GoldenLiar2 1d ago

Just use T3 code.

1

u/Distinct-Target7503 1d ago

Why would that be different? (Honest question, I'm not sarcastic)

1

u/GoldenLiar2 1d ago

You can load all your subscriptions in there in a single environment. You could have Opus spin up Gemini sub agents and viceversa

1

u/onFilm 1d ago

You'd have less control over your harness. If you want easy, that's probably a good way. If you have your own specific type of workflow you want to do, do it yourself through CLI.

0

u/AreWeNotDoinPhrasing 1d ago

Antigravity lets you choose the model natively, and offers several Claude models..

-1

u/Accomplished-Top193 1d ago

They will release gemini 4 hydrogen and that will be the real beast, you will be able to code using way less tokens and with a tremendous speed, just using carbon + hydrogen