Google has introduced a free tier for its Gemini Code Assist service, as well as previewing AI code review for GitHub, though a privacy notice states that the free version will collect data, including code, and use it to improve machine learning models unless the developer opts out.
In a blog post, Google says the free tier for Gemini Code Assist has the “highest usage limits available,” with up to 180,000 code completions per month. The recently introduced GitHub Copilot free tier offers only 2,000 monthly code completions, though others including AWS Q Developer and Codeium have unlimited AI autocomplete. The company also says that more than 25 percent of its own new code is AI-generated, though reviewed and approved by engineers.
Google’s new offer is called Code Assist for Individuals, and as the name implies, is mainly intended for solo developers and hobbyists. The license does not restrict commercial usage, but the FAQ states that developers must use a personal Google account, rather than one tied to Google Workspace or Google Cloud Identity, in order to qualify for the free tier.
Developers with confidential code should note that by default Google collects data including code edits and code context. A privacy notice appears daily until dismissed.
A key point is that unlike the paid-for Code Assist, preventing Google from using “your prompts, context code and responses to train AI models” requires an opt-out. A confusing matter is that in Visual Studio Code (VS Code) this setting is part of the Gemini Code Assist for Individuals Privacy Notice, not part of the extension settings. There is also a separate telemetry setting that relates to usage statistics and crash reports.
The notice requests that developers should not submit confidential data to Google; but considering that Code Assist works in the background it would be easy to be unaware of what exactly is being sent.
Developers who successfully navigate the privacy settings can use Code Assist in either VS Code or JetBrains IDEs. Features range from code completion and generation, to chat-based assistance, source citations, and smart actions including generating unit tests and quick fixes. More than 20 programming languages are supported including C, C++, C#, Go, Python, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, TypeScript and infrastructure languages such as Terraform.
The paid-for Standard edition is required for IP indemnification, and the pricier Enterprise edition adds code suggestions based on the organization’s own code bases, as well as BigQuery support and other features.
Google has also introduced a GitHub app for AI code reviews. Gemini Code Assist will review pull requests automatically and add its comments and feedback. The product page notes that “Gemini Code Assist is in preview and may make mistakes.”
Despite the generous limits in the new free tier for Gemini Code Assist, the company has work to do convincing developers of its benefits. Many existing reviews for the plugins for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs are poor, with confusion over ties between Gemini Code Assist and Google Cloud Projects. One of the troubleshooting docs confesses that “Gemini is optimized for Google Cloud” but not for other cloud services such as AWS or Microsoft Azure.” This strong Google flavor, combined with confidentiality concerns, may limit take-up.