Gemini CLI

About

Google's open-source terminal AI tool released June 2025 with generous free quotas, bringing Gemini into command-line workflows.

Verification and sources

Verification state

Active

Fields checked (see sources)

Oct 14, 2026

Facts last changed

Oct 14, 2026

Version / scope

Terminal CLI installed via npm, Homebrew, MacPorts or Anaconda; the docs recommend macOS 15+, Windows 11 24H2+ or Ubuntu 20.04+, and a preview channel ships every Tuesday

Runs on

macOS, Windows, Linux

Price checked

Not recorded

• Open-source licence: Apache-2.0 (the repository's LICENSE file).
• Free allowance in the hosted service: Personal Google account: 60 requests per minute and 1,000 requests per day, as listed in the README.
• The CLI code is open source and can be self-hosted; the free allowance belongs to Google's hosted Gemini service, not to a permanent free commercial licence.

Price checked: Oct 14, 2026

Suits

Calling Gemini straight from the terminal for code and file operations, shell commands and page fetching, with Google Search grounding for answers; the repository README leads with “terminal-first” and MCP extensibility.

Limits and caveats

The free allowance comes with a personal Google account (60 requests/min and 1,000 requests/day per the README) and is not what the open-source licence grants; the CLI needs Node.js 20+ and a network connection, and availability follows Google's Gemini Code Assist supported-locations list (this round did not read that list item by item).

Sources

• Gemini CLI — repository README (free tier, built-in tools, preview releases) — read Oct 14, 2026, Supports: version/scope, pricing
• Apache License 2.0 — gemini-cli LICENSE — read Oct 14, 2026, Supports: pricing
• Gemini CLI docs — Installation (recommended macOS 15+, Windows 11 24H2+, Ubuntu 20.04+, Node.js 20+) — read Oct 14, 2026, Supports: platforms

“Suits” and “Limits and caveats” are the desk’s assessment of the sources listed here, not a hands-on test.

Related coverage

Reported event dates: Sep 6, 2026–Sep 6, 2026 · 1 stories

Similar tools