Foreword

In the realm of modern software and firmware development, tool selection often dictates the ceiling of your efficiency. With the AI triumvirate (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic) releasing their next-generation flagship models in November 2025, this article explains why I decided to cancel my ChatGPT subscription and go all-in on Google Gemini.

Beyond auditing the AI tools currently at my disposal, I will analyze this shift based on the premise that GitHub Copilot is already a standard development requirement. I’ll cover three key areas: specifications, ecosystem, and cost-performance ratio. I will explain why I believe “ditching ChatGPT for Google One integration” is currently the most cost-effective choice, and discuss the tangible impact this change has had on my workflow.

Inventory and Positioning of Current AI Tools

I currently use three main AI tools:

Perplexity

First is Perplexity, which has basically replaced Google Search in my daily life. By combining it with the Siri Shortcuts integration I wrote about before, I can get precise answers within seconds for most queries. The efficiency is incredibly high.

ChatGPT

Because ChatGPT was the first on the scene, I’ve been subscribed to it the longest. It offers fundamental and stable communication capabilities. Whether it’s image recognition or translation, it rarely has major issues.

I’ve written quite a few articles on how to leverage ChatGPT:

• Using ChatGPT for YouTube Video Analysis and Summarization
• Replacing Google with ChatGPT Search and Setting Up Temporary Chats by Default
• Easily Write High-Quality Git Commit Messages with GPT Tools

The content above isn’t necessarily exclusive to ChatGPT; it applies to any compatible Large Language Model (LLM), such as Gemini, Claude, or Grok.

GitHub Copilot

When it comes to coding, GitHub Copilot is absolutely the main driver. With recent frequent updates to VS Code—such as “Generate Instructions” or the pre-coding Plan Mode—development tasks have become more concrete and error-free. Compared to copy-pasting code into a web chat window, Copilot solves problems directly within the editor, which is significantly more intuitive, faster, and accurate. I’ve covered this in detail before:

Boosting Coding Efficiency and Developer Experience with GitHub Copilot Agent Mode

Of course, if you don’t use GitHub Copilot, major tech companies have released their own CLI tools, such as:

1. claude-code
2. Gemini CLI
3. ChatGPT - codex

Buying an API Key allows you to call AI to modify code directly in the terminal. However, pure text interfaces aren’t always intuitive or visually appealing, which is why Google later released their own GUI tool, Antigravity, to optimize the experience.

Gemini

Finally, Gemini. Its chat mode is largely similar to ChatGPT, making the switch virtually painless. The only thing to note is that the default Flash mode is lightning fast, but I feel the error rate is slightly higher; conversely, Pro mode, while slower, offers accuracy that feels more reliable than ChatGPT.

More importantly, Gemini 2.5 Pro natively supports a massive 1M Token context window. When dealing with huge amounts of data or the contents of an entire book, this large window offers an advantage that other current models struggle to replace.

AI Division of Labor

• Coding: GitHub Copilot.
• Research & Questions: Perplexity.
• Long-text Summarization & Misc: Previously ChatGPT, now handed over to Gemini.

Gemini’s Pricing Strategy

From the discussion above, you can see that since Copilot handles the coding, the functional overlap between ChatGPT and Gemini is very high. Given that both can handle web summarization and daily conversation, the deciding factor is price.

The current individual subscription for ChatGPT costs USD 20 per month. For a single user, when you add up Spotify, YouTube Premium, Netflix, iCloud, and other subscriptions, this expense is significant. A cheaper approach is to share an account with 2-3 friends; split 4 ways, it comes down to USD 5 per month. As long as you aren’t heavy users, sharing works fine.

Although Google’s original family sharing benefits were previously limited until mid-2025, according to the latest official information, this restriction seems to have been lifted. This means: As long as you purchase the 2 TB Google One plan, family members can enjoy the full features of Gemini 3 Pro.

Let’s do the math: The 2 TB Google One plan is USD 19.99/month. If you find 5 friends or family members to form a family group, the cost per person is only USD 3.33/month. This $3.33 buys you not just AI, but also:

• 2 TB of shared (but private) cloud storage.
• Independent AI usage quotas for each person (no worrying about mixed chat histories).
• Gemini integration within Gmail and Docs.

In comparison, the GPT plan offers no extra storage, making it look a bit lackluster. As for whether Google will change its family policy in the future, we’ll have to see, but for now, it’s a great deal.

However, switching to Google comes at a cost. The biggest downside is privacy. By default, Google uses conversation history to train its models. If you mind your conversations being used for training, you must manually do one of the following:

1. Turn on “Temporary Chat” mode.
2. Manually disable “Gemini Apps Activity”.
3. Upgrade to Google Workspace Enterprise.

This experience isn’t as convenient as ChatGPT, where you can simply add temporary-chat=true to the URL to force temporary mode. Google isn’t quite that intuitive yet.

Other Benefits of Gemini (The Ecosystem Bundle)

Besides being cheaper, subscribing to Google One 2 TB comes with a “bundle” of extra advantages. Here they are ranked by my usage frequency, showing what else that USD 3.33 gets you:

1. Gemini Deep Research: Basically my main tool now. It produces complete and highly accurate research reports on complex topics.
2. NotebookLM: Another workhorse. Dump a pile of documents in, and it performs precise summarization and Q&A—and by default, it doesn’t use your data for training.
3. Flow & Whisk (Veo 3.1 / Veo 3): Very practical for creators; useful for making simple videos or transitions, with a monthly quota of 1000 points.
4. Gemini in Gmail/Docs: Very handy for writing emails or polishing documents.
5. Google Meet Advanced Features: Video meetings are no longer limited to 60 minutes, support more than 3 participants, and offer 1080p high definition. No more forced interruptions.
6. Jules (Coding Agent): Currently in Beta, this is an asynchronous programming agent. Fun to play with occasionally.

Conclusion

Google’s family sharing strategy is bound to attract a large number of users moving from ChatGPT to Gemini. By pushing the cost down to USD 3.33/month through family sharing, it not only satisfies the need for AI conversation and Deep Research but also conveniently solves the anxiety over the default 15 GB cloud storage limit.

Unless ChatGPT can offer a compelling alternative (like launching a USD 5/month “ChatGPT Go”), or demonstrate irreplaceable deep system integration—which depends on their negotiations with Apple—I don’t see a reason to stay. Judging by ChatGPT’s current performance within Apple Intelligence, the integration is very average; it’s basically negligible.

References

1. Can the family group members enjoy the Gemini features in the Google One AI Premium Plan 2 TB or not? - Google One Community
2. Claim Google One benefits