What is Gemini? Free use, pricing, models, student offer, image and video creation

Gemini answers questions, writes, summarizes long documents, generates images and edits photos, and researches the web to produce sourced reports. Because it's tied to your Google account, it can also work with Gmail, Drive and Calendar.

It holds spoken conversations on your phone (Gemini Live), edits a document or a small app with you in a side panel (Canvas), and saves the instructions for a repeated task as a Skill.

Who it's for: students, teachers, office workers, content creators and small business owners; especially anyone who already uses a Google account and Gmail/Drive.

You can use Gemini in a browser without downloading anything. The phone and desktop apps work with the same Google account.

The official pages don't say whether phone verification is required at sign-up; that depends on the Google account's own requirements.

1. 1Open Gemini and type what you want; if you have a file or photo, add it with the + button.
2. 2For up-to-date information or a long report, choose Deep Research; Gemini runs a multi-step web search and prepares a sourced report.
3. 3If you do the same task again and again, save its instructions as a Skill (formerly a Gem).
4. 4If you don't like the answer, ask for a fix such as “make it shorter” or “make it more formal” instead of starting over.

!Gemini can make mistakes. Check numbers, dates and quotes against their source; be careful before you publish or rely on an answer.

!When working with photos of real people, respect consent and privacy rules; presenting generated content as human-made to mislead others violates Google's terms.

Gemini Live holds a natural voice conversation on your phone; you can show it your camera or screen and ask for help. It's free even without a plan.

• Only in the Gemini mobile app (Android, iPhone). Not in the web app or Google Messages.
• Gems and notebooks can't be used in Live; video and music generation aren't supported either.
• The official page doesn't explicitly say that speaking Turkish is supported in Live. Set your phone language to Turkish and try it.

Most of the time you don't pick the model in Gemini: with Auto on, Gemini chooses the model and thinking level for each prompt. On a free account most prompts go to Flash-Lite; those that need reasoning may be routed to Flash or Pro. Choosing a model manually is only possible with a Google AI plan.

Model names and access change often; this section was checked on October 14, 2026. Version numbers aren't given here because the official pages don't agree on them. Deep Think is Ultra-only and experimental.

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) notebooks sync with Gemini: you gather the sources for a project or course in a notebook that carries your work over time, with up to 600 sources per notebook depending on your plan. Details are in the Gemini Notebook guide.

Gemini Notebook guide →

Gemini in Chrome, Antigravity and Gemini CLI are separate products; this page covers the Gemini app.

Connected apps let Gemini work with your own data (email, files, calendar). For this, Keep Activity must be on; when it's off, connected apps are turned off.

Tasks (formerly Spark) lets you hand Gemini a multi-step job to run in the background (organizing your inbox, tracking prices, preparing files). Pro and Ultra only, ages 18 and over, personal accounts; if the plan is canceled, tasks are stopped.

!In November 2026, Gems on personal accounts are being retired and automatically converted to Skills (March 2027 for work accounts, June 2027 for education accounts). Before connecting apps, check which account you are connecting.

Yes. It is free with a Google account. The limit is measured by compute used rather than number of messages: the complexity of your request, the model and feature you use, and the length of the chat all count. Your allowance refreshes every 5 hours, and there is also a weekly limit.

The official page doesn't say whether prices include tax. If you buy through the App Store or Google Play, the store price can differ from the web price; for Ultra, the App Store lists a different price than the web.

Official pricing page last checked on October 28, 2026.

!Before pasting text that names customers, students or patients, mask the names and turn off Keep Activity or use a temporary chat.

In Turkey, students aged 18 and over who are enrolled at a higher-education institution get Google AI Plus free for the first 12 months. The offer is valid until December 31, 2026 (Google Turkey blog, August 28, 2026); sign up at goo.gle/universiteli.

!When the free year ends, the plan automatically renews at the regular monthly AI Plus price. If you don't want that, cancel before the period ends. In Turkey, students get AI Plus, not AI Pro.

There is no special offer on personal accounts for teachers or high school students. If your school uses Google Workspace for Education, Gemini is available with your school account if the admin has turned it on.

1. 1On a computer: gemini.google.com › Settings & help › Manage subscription; Google One settings open. Directly: one.google.com › Settings› then Cancel membership.
2. 2Cancel membership › Cancel again to confirm.
3. 3If you bought it through the App Store: iPhone Settings› then Apple ID› then Subscriptions› then Google One; if through Google Play, cancel in your Play subscriptions.

The list below shows each feature separately: whether it's built into the app, needs a connection, or is on the free plan. A product having a free plan doesn't mean every feature is free.

GeminiImages, music and Deep Research on the free plan; works with Google apps.ChatGPTImage generation and voice chat in one place.ClaudeStrong on long documents, files and code; doesn't generate photos or video.PerplexityFast web search that cites sources.

This comparison is based on each tool's own description; it doesn't show whose answers are better.