Gemini 4 Carbon is only going to selected security teams for now. If you want to get work done today, here are the best options, depending on what you are trying to do.
The closest thing: Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon is the obvious stand-in. It is the Gemini 4 model released just before Carbon, it costs exactly the same, and you can use it right now:
- Developers: the Gemini API (paid tier) as
gemini-4-argon, Google AI Studio, or Vertex AI. - Everyone else: the Gemini app with a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.
Carbon beats Argon on every test in Google's table, but Argon was already first on most of them when it launched. Build on it now and switch to Carbon later with one setting. Our sister site gemini4argon.com has the full Argon guide.
Other frontier models
| Model | Where it's strong (Google's table) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Best on OSWorld-2.1 (87.2%), second on FrontierSWE 2 | Operating a computer, hard coding |
| GPT-6 Astra | Best on FrontierSWE 2 (65.5%), close second on SWE-sweep | Hard software engineering |
Both are available today from their makers. If you mainly drive a desktop with an AI agent, Claude Opus 5.5 is the strongest on paper even against Carbon.
Want videos or images? Carbon was never the tool
This catches a lot of people out. Gemini 4 Carbon writes text and code; Google hasn't said it makes pictures or video. Google's creative models are separate, and you can use them today:
On Lumeta they all live in one account with one set of credits, instead of a separate subscription for each, and it is made to cost less than Higgsfield, Magnific and Artlist. Full disclosure: Lumeta is made by the team behind this site.
For security teams
If you work in cyber defense at a government, critical infrastructure operator or major platform, apply to Google's Fairwind Program: it is the only way to get Carbon early. Everyone else can start on Gemini 4 Argon, which was already a leader on CWE-bench.
Which should you pick?
| If you want to... | Use this today |
|---|---|
| Get as close to Carbon as possible | Gemini 4 Argon |
| Run coding agents on big codebases | Gemini 4 Argon, GPT-6 Astra or Claude Opus 5.5 |
| Let an AI operate your computer | Claude Opus 5.5 |
| Make videos | Veo 3.1, Gemini Omni, Seedance or Kling on Lumeta |
| Make or edit images | Nano Banana 2 on Lumeta |
| Hunt and patch vulnerabilities | Fairwind (for Carbon), or Gemini 4 Argon |
Sources: Google's Carbon announcement and benchmark table, Gemini API models, Google's Argon availability post.