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If you thought Gemini was just another ChatGPT alternative, wait until you see what Google’s AI Studio has in store. In true Google fashion, the platform offers more than a dozen powerful AI tools — and many of them are completely free to use. From Nano Banana to real-time transcription, AI Studio now gives vibe coders so many more ways to plug Gemini into their own apps. While these tools are free to start with, usage is subject to free-tier limits (like rate caps, daily quotas, and token ceilings). If you exceed those, you can keep building with pay-as-you-go pricing or upgrade to a premium subscription starting around $20/month — which may be worth it once you see what these tools can do. With 17 prebuilt capabilities, AI Studio lets you explore new possibilities every time you vibe code. These APIs are designed to enable seamless integration of Gemini’s advanced features into a wide range of applications. For those new to vibe coding, think of API like this:The AI model is the kitchen (Gemini). The API is the waiter (these applications). Your app places the order through the waiter, and the kitchen cooks the response (what you build). Among the new additions, here are my favorite stand-out apps to add to your next vibe coding project: 1. Nano Banana The AI tool behind so many viral trends, Nano Banana is arguably one of the most fun among Gemini’s many features. With this API, you can let users remove backgrounds, change lighting or apply styles to a photo simply by typing what they want. 2. Gemini intelligence in your app The API is the real power play. You can embed Gemini into your own app to analyze documents, edit text, summarize pages or generate responses with context. Think of it as an AI engine for productivity tools, knowledge assistants or workflow automation. 3. Create conversational voice apps Using Gemini Live, vibe coders can now give their apps a voice — literally. This module lets you build conversational experiences, powered by Gemini’s reasoning and voice capabilities, for support agents, tour guides or even creative storytelling. 4. Animate images with Veo This tool brings still images to life. Simply upload a product shot or character and turn it into a dynamic video or animated portrait. It’s a direct pipeline into Veo 3’s video generation model, now framed for real-world use cases and easy to add to your own app with just a few clicks. 5. Add fast AI responses (with Flash-Lite) Need more speed? Who am I kidding, the answer is almost always yes when you're vibe coding. The Flash-Lite option gives you Gemini’s fastest model. It’s ideal for autocomplete, support bots, or instant Q&A. Responses feel like real-time chat, even on lightweight devices. 6. Tap into Google Maps and Search You can now build apps that pull in live Google Search or Maps data, which means your AI can cite news articles, discuss current events, recommend restaurants, or provide real-time directions — all grounded in fresh, factual data. 7. Understand, translate or summarize images This one’s a sleeper hit. Upload an image of a receipt, product label or menu and Gemini can instantly extract text, summarize the contents, or translate it. It's perfect for travel apps, accessibility tools, or shopping workflows. 8. Prompt-based video generation Turn blog posts, articles, or product descriptions into short-form video clips. This could power everything from e-commerce content to YouTube Shorts to social campaigns — without needing a production crew. Final thoughts Google is giving vibe coders new ways to do more. This operating system for AI development integrates Gemini into every layer of interaction: visual, verbal, spatial and contextual. Designing with these tools is effortless and intuitive. And Google is betting big that the future of apps will be AI-native from the start. Head to AI Studio and explore the Apps section. Even if you’re not a vibe coder yet, the modules are surprisingly intuitive, and are worth exploring as they hint at what’s coming soon to the rest of Google’s products. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! More from Tom's Guide Amazon cutting 14,000 jobs as it 'innovates much faster' with AII switched from Chrome to Perplexity's Comet — here's 7 reasons why you should too7 genius Copilot prompts that make Windows 11 instantly more useful
