Google has announced the rollout of a free version of Gemini Code Assist, its AI-powered tool for code completion, code generation, and code chat, aimed at helping individual developers improve their productivity. The free version, dubbed Gemini Code Assist for individuals, is now available globally as a public preview and is powered by the Gemini 2.0 model.

In a move that sets it apart from its competitors, the free version of Gemini Code Assist offers an unprecedented 180,000 lines of code completion per month, far surpassing the 2,000 lines offered by rivals such as GitHub Copilot and Amazon Q Developer. According to Google, this limit is so high that even the most dedicated professional developers would be hard-pressed to exceed it.

Analysts see the tool as offering developers low-cost learning opportunities, with IDC's Ritu Jyoti noting that it will help individual developers "accelerate their learning and experimentation and thereby enhance productivity and code quality." Amalgam Insights' chief analyst Hyoun Park added that coding at all levels is becoming an AI-enhanced process, with tools like Gemini Code Assist accelerating access to code libraries and cookie-cutter code.

The free version of Gemini Code Assist supports all programming languages in the public domain and was fine-tuned through analysis of a large number of real-world coding use cases. It also includes a code review option via the public preview version of Gemini Code Assist for GitHub, providing AI-powered code reviews for both public and private repositories.

In addition to its code completion capabilities, Gemini Code Assist for individuals supports IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, JetBrains, as well as Firebase and Android Studio. The chat capability of the tool supports up to 128,000 input tokens, enabling developers to help the tool gain an understanding of local codebases by uploading large files. The chat feature also supports a variety of human languages.

Individual developers can sign up for the service via a personal Gmail account without the need for a credit card. Analysts believe that learning how to work with AI-powered coding assistants like Gemini Code Assist is becoming a necessary skill for developers, with IDC's Jyoti noting that it will be a "critical enabler of the future career for developers."

So why is Google offering Gemini Code Assist for individuals for free? Analysts suggest that it's a seeding tactic, similar to what Google did with its GSuite. This move is also seen as a way for Google to reach its goal of getting 500 million users on Gemini by the end of the year, which is especially important in the competitive market of coding assistants.

IDC's Ritu Jyoti added that Google is trying to "democratize access and create stickiness for its suite of tools and ecosystem as it prepares for the agentic AI disruption." By offering the tool for free, Google can learn more and improve its performance, hopefully converting more individual users to enterprise customers of its current and future platforms.

The launch of Gemini Code Assist for individuals marks a significant development in the coding assistant market, with enormous potential for services like this to revolutionize the way developers work. As The Futurum Group's David Nicholson noted, the free version allows developers to enjoy independence and potentially create the first "solocorn" – a single human entity backed by AI achieving a billion-dollar valuation.