Overview
Google Antigravity is an AI-native integrated development environment (IDE) launched by Google, based on the Gemini 3 model, adopting an Agent-First design philosophy—where developers no longer occasionally seek help from AI, but AI leads the coding while developers review and guide.
The biggest highlight of Antigravity is that it is completely free to use, directly competing with Cursor and Claude Code. It features a built-in Manager View mode, allowing developers to supervise the AI's coding process from a manager's perspective.
As of 2026-09-17, the managed Antigravity agent in the Gemini API shipped antigravity-preview-09-2026, replacing the 05-2026 build, which shut down on 2026-10-05. The same release added a Files API and a Credentials API, with Gemini 3.8 Flash as the default reasoning model. On 2026-09-23, Google announced that the Antigravity SDK supports local model workflows, starting with Gemma 4 26B A4B through LiteRT in Google AI Edge, so agents can run entirely offline.
Key Features
- Agent-First Design: AI leads coding, developers review and guide, overturning the traditional human-machine collaboration model
- Manager View: Supervise the AI coding process from a manager's perspective, viewing the chain of thought and decision-making process
- Based on Gemini 3: Uses Google's strongest model with a 1 million token context; the 2026-09-17 agent release sets Gemini 3.8 Flash as the default reasoning model
- Completely Free: No paid subscription required, just log in with a Google account to use
- Built-in Terminal and Debugging: AI can autonomously run terminal commands, perform debugging, and view output
- Google Ecosystem: Deep integration with Google services such as Firebase and Cloud Run
- Managed Agent in the Gemini API: antigravity-preview-09-2026 replaced the 05-2026 build on 2026-09-17; built-in tool parameters moved from snake_case to PascalCase, file edits moved to line-range replacements via replace_file_content, and two new search tools find_by_name and grep_search were added, alongside a Files API and a Credentials API
- Local Model Support in the Antigravity SDK: Announced 2026-09-23: the SDK supports local model workflows, starting with Gemma 4 26B A4B through LiteRT in Google AI Edge, so agents can run entirely offline; Google recommends more than 24GB of VRAM or unified memory
Use Cases
- Developers who want to experience an AI-native IDE for free
- Users dissatisfied with Cursor's pricing but seeking a similar experience
- Development teams using the Google Cloud ecosystem
- Tech pioneers trying the Agent-First programming paradigm
- Full-stack web application development
- Developers who need agents to run entirely offline via local models
Pros
- Completely Free: Competing with Cursor at $20/month, this is the biggest killer feature
- Advanced Agent-First Concept: Manager View is unique
- Powered by Gemini 3: Model capability is not inferior
- Google Brand Endorsement: Long-term sustainable development
- Ready to Use: Just log in with a Google account
- Offline Capable: The Antigravity SDK supports local model workflows for fully offline agents
- Actively Evolving: The managed agent in the Gemini API shipped antigravity-preview-09-2026 with a Files API, a Credentials API, and Gemini 3.8 Flash as the default reasoning model
Pricing
Google Antigravity is completely free to use, just log in with a Google account. No paid tiers, all features are open.
Summary
Google Antigravity is a disruptor in the AI IDE arena—completely free, directly challenging Cursor's paid model. The Agent-First design philosophy and Manager View are highly imaginative. The 2026-09-17 agent release brings a Files API, a Credentials API, and Gemini 3.8 Flash as the default reasoning model, while the 2026-09-23 SDK update adds local model support for fully offline agents. If you are willing to try new tools and don't want to spend money, Antigravity is worth a try. However, users in China may need a proxy.
Version History
- Gemini 4 Argon reference and three reasoning tiers (2026-10-09): Google added a Gemini 4 Argon model reference to Antigravity with low, medium and high reasoning levels, matching the unified reasoning selector on the Gemini web app.
- Antigravity SDK adds local model support for fully offline agents (2026-09-23): Google announced that the Antigravity SDK supports local model workflows, starting with Gemma 4 26B A4B through LiteRT in Google AI Edge, so agents can run entirely offline. Google recommends more than 24GB of VRAM or unified memory.
- Antigravity Agent 09-2026 released (2026-09-17): The managed Antigravity agent in the Gemini API shipped antigravity-preview-09-2026, replacing and deprecating the 05-2026 build, which shut down on October 5. Remote sandbox users who only read output steps just swap the agent string; anyone running tools locally or parsing function_call steps has work to do, since built-in tool parameters moved from snake_case to PascalCase and file edits moved from full rewrites to line-range replacements via replace_file_content, joined by two new search tools find_by_name and grep_search. The same release added a Files API and a Credentials API, with Gemini 3.8 Flash as the default reasoning model
- Antigravity 1.0 (2026): Google's IDE-level AI programming platform, natively integrating Gemini 3.5 / Omni + Browser Agent + Design-to-Code, competing with Cursor / Lovable