Gemini
Google's assistant, strongest when your work already lives in Workspace.
Gemini's advantage is reach: it reads your Docs, Sheets, Gmail and Drive with permission, and its long-context models handle entire textbooks or hour-long videos. For research summarisation over material you already own, that integration beats copy-pasting into another tab.
The free tier in India is unusually generous, which makes it a sensible primary assistant for students who cannot justify a subscription.
What it's genuinely good at
- Deep Google Workspace integration
- Very large context window
- Strong multimodal understanding of video and PDFs
- Generous free access in India
Where it falls apart
- Quality is inconsistent across model tiers
- Occasionally refuses harmless requests
- Workspace features need admin approval on college accounts
Alternatives to Gemini
Who should use Gemini
- Students and teams living inside Google Docs and Drive
- Summarising long PDFs and lecture recordings
- Multimodal work involving video
What it costs
Free tier covers most personal use; Google AI Pro subscriptions add frontier models and more storage. Many Indian telecom and student offers bundle it free for a year.
Frequently asked
Is Gemini free in India?
The base tier is free, and Google has repeatedly run free Pro offers for students and select telecom customers.
Can Gemini access my Gmail safely?
Only after you grant the Workspace extension permission, and you can revoke it at any time in your Google account settings.