Google Upgrades Gemini Code Assist with Agent Mode — Free for All Developers (March 2026)

Google has made Gemini Code Assist free for individual developers and fully equipped it with autonomous Agent Mode — a move that reshapes the AI coding assistant market and puts direct pressure on GitHub Copilot. As of March 13, 2026, Google's latest frontier model, Gemini 3.1 Pro, is available to all Gemini Code Assist users, including the free Individual tier.

What Happened

Google's Gemini Code Assist has undergone a significant transformation in early 2026. The product, originally launched as a paid enterprise offering, is now completely free for individual developers — no credit card, no trial expiry. The free Individual tier includes up to 180,000 code completions per month, access to Agent Mode for autonomous multi-step coding tasks, and is powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google's most capable reasoning model.

The March 2026 update — captured in official release notes on March 13 — added Gemini 3.1 Pro and Gemini 3.0 Flash as available models in both VS Code and IntelliJ, for agent mode, chat, and code generation. Earlier in the month, on March 4, the File Outline and Finish Changes features graduated from preview to general availability.

Key Details

• 180,000 free completions/month — 90 times more generous than GitHub Copilot's free tier of 2,000 completions
• Agent Mode included in free tier — autonomous multi-file, multi-step coding available to individual users (with daily request limits)
• Gemini 3.1 Pro added March 13, 2026 — the latest frontier model is now available for code generation, chat, and agent tasks
• Supported IDEs: VS Code and IntelliJ — with VS Code getting broader tool access via the Gemini CLI built-in toolkit
• MCP server support — Agent Mode can connect to external tools via Model Context Protocol for extended capabilities
• No Google Cloud account required — sign in with any Google account to get started

What Developers Are Saying

Developer reaction on Reddit's r/singularity and r/programming has been largely positive, with a note of competitive satisfaction. "You see why competition is good? They're pushing the technology so hard we can't keep up with all the models and prices constantly dropping," wrote one frequently upvoted commenter. On DEV Community, developer Alan West summarized the shift: "If you're a solo developer or student who doesn't want to pay $10/month for Copilot, Gemini Code Assist is a genuinely good free alternative. The quality gap has closed significantly."

The skepticism is mainly centered on Google's track record: the company has deprecated popular developer products before, and some teams are reluctant to build workflows on a product that could be sunset. One commenter noted: "At a company, Copilot Business or Enterprise is a safer bet given privacy implications and Google's history." For individual developers, however, the cost argument is hard to ignore.

What This Means for Developers

Concretely, this means that individual developers, students, and freelancers now have access to a capable autonomous coding agent — powered by one of the best reasoning models available — at zero cost. Agent Mode can plan multi-step changes across a codebase, execute terminal commands, read and write files, and iterate on the output without manual prompting at each step. The 180,000 monthly completions cap is effectively unlimited for typical individual use.

For teams considering paid AI coding tools, Gemini Code Assist for Standard ($19/user/month) and Enterprise ($45/user/month) add admin controls, Google Cloud integration, audit logging, and higher usage limits. But for individual contributors, the free tier removes the last barrier to adoption.

What's Next

Google's March release notes reference a public roadmap for the Gemini CLI, which powers the VS Code integration. GitHub Actions integration for the Gemini CLI is now in beta, suggesting closer DevOps workflow integration is coming. Google has also indicated ongoing improvements to Agent Mode context management and checkpointing — features that allow agents to resume tasks after interruption.

Developers can start using Gemini Code Assist for free by installing the VS Code or IntelliJ extension at codeassist.google and signing in with any Google account.

Sources

• Google Blog — Try free Gemini Code Assist — Official announcement of free individual tier
• Gemini Code Assist Release Notes — March 2026 updates including Gemini 3.1 Pro
• Google Developers — Agent Mode Overview — Official documentation
• DEV Community — Google Made Gemini Code Assist Free. What's the Catch? — Community analysis and developer reactions
• VentureBeat — Google makes Gemini Code Assist free with 180,000 code completions — Market context and competitive analysis
• ByteIota — Gemini Code Assist Free: 180K Completions Beat Copilot — Feature comparison with GitHub Copilot