Gemini Spark Alternative: Tasks in Gemini vs a Squad on Your Files

A Gemini Spark alternative is another way to give a knowledge worker an agent, when the work should stay on files you already have rather than on Google's computer, in Gmail, or in a browser Gemini drives. Google introduced Spark in May 2026 as a 24/7 agentic assistant. Its help page now says the beta was renamed Task. xSquads for Work is a squad of specialised agents on your own files and folders, local-first, with review before a card is done.

xSquads is our product. Claims about Spark and Tasks below come from TechCrunch, Google's blog, Google's help page, and the X post linked in the sources.

Short answer

Choose Tasks in Gemini when you want Google's agent: schedules, skills, Connected Apps, and a browser, on a personal Google Account with Google AI Pro or Ultra, where Google offers it. Choose xSquads for Work when the work is a folder on your machine and you want a squad you can review. Choose a software factory when the outcome is software that has to ship as a pull request. OpenAI Dots, Meta Muse, and Claude Duet are different products. The sourced comparisons are OpenAI Dots alternative, Meta Muse alternative, and Claude Duet alternative. This page does not re-argue them.

What Google says Spark and Tasks are

On 19 May 2026, at Google I/O, Google introduced Gemini Spark. TechCrunch reported it as a 24/7 agentic assistant, built from Gemini base models and an agentic harness from Google Antigravity. TechCrunch quoted Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai calling it "your personal AI agent that helps you navigate your digital life, taking action on your behalf and under your direction." The same article quoted him saying Spark runs on dedicated virtual machines on Google Cloud, so you do not need to keep a laptop open. TechCrunch reported integrations with Gmail, Google Docs, and other Workspace products, a dedicated Gmail address you can use to email Spark, web access through Chrome, and progress tracking on mobile through Android Halo. TechCrunch also reported that Spark could connect to other services over MCP, and that Google expected more connections later. At the time of that article, Spark was in testing, and Google expected to offer it to Google AI Ultra subscribers the following week.

TechCrunch reported that Pichai described Spark as taking on long-horizon tasks with minimal oversight. Google's help page says the feature is experimental, that Gemini can make mistakes, and that supervision matters because the built-in checks do not stop every unwanted action.

On 30 June 2026, Google's blog said Spark was rolling out on the Gemini macOS app, in beta, for Google AI Ultra subscribers aged 18 and over, starting in the US. Google said Spark can work across desktop files and apps, and that it only has access to the files you give it permission to use. The post's examples are sorting PDFs in Downloads into folders, and creating a budget spreadsheet from invoices saved on the computer. Google said Spark works with Google Keep and Google Tasks, and with Canva, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, and Zillow Rentals, and that custom MCP support lets you connect other apps. Google also said Spark can track topics and react as events happen, across blogs, news sites, social media, finance, shopping, weather, sports, and email.

The rename is on Google's help page, not in the May or June announcements. Tasks in Gemini answers "Where did Spark go?" by saying Spark had been in beta with subscribers since May, that people kept asking Gemini to finish "tasks," and that Google renamed it Task so the name would match that word. The page says you find it in the Chat and Task toggle next to the prompt box, and that existing tasks and schedules are still in the sidebar.

The same page is the current requirements list. To assign tasks you must be 18 or over, sign in with a personal Google Account, have a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription, have Keep Activity on, and opt in to Personal Intelligence. For now, Google says the feature is not available if you sign in with a work or school Google Account. For now, it is not available in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom. Google says it is available in the Gemini mobile app, the Gemini app on Mac, and the web app at gemini.google.com.

Google describes three pieces. A task is the goal. A schedule is when it runs, at a time or after an event. A skill is reusable instructions for how to do a job. The help page says you can have up to 15 tasks running at once, and that a schedule will not run if 15 are already running. It also says how much of your usage a task consumes depends on how many you assign and how complex each one is, and that higher Google AI subscriptions raise that limit. This page does not state a price.

On the browser, Google says Gemini can use local Chrome on the desktop or a separate remote browser in the cloud. A local Chrome session needs the device and Chrome awake and running. If you close the device before the task finishes, Google says Gemini might use the remote browser instead. The remote browser keeps working after you close the device. Google says a step such as signing in can pause the task until you take over, and that Gemini asks for confirmation before a task that browses the web. Before it sends a communication, modifies or deletes your data, makes a purchase, completes a financial transaction, or fills out and submits a web form, Google says it asks you to confirm. Google also says you should not schedule work you would not want running while you are offline, because you may not be able to stop it.

On 5 November 2026, Connor on X wrote that everyone talks about Claude Duet, ChatGPT Dots, Grok Bot, and Meta Muse, and asked whether everyone forgot about Gemini Spark. The post still uses the Spark name. Google's help page, read the same day, says the beta was renamed Task.

What Tasks in Gemini do well

These are strengths Google or TechCrunch state.

• It can keep working after you step away. In May, TechCrunch reported dedicated virtual machines on Google Cloud so the laptop need not stay open. Google's help page now separates local Chrome, which needs the device awake, from a remote browser that continues if you close the device. TechCrunch. Google Help.
• Google apps, and a short list beyond them. May coverage names Gmail, Docs, other Workspace products, Chrome, and a dedicated Gmail address for emailing Spark. The June post adds Keep, Tasks, Canva, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, Zillow Rentals, and custom MCP. The help page lists Calendar, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Keep, Sheets, Slides, and Tasks, plus custom apps. TechCrunch. Google blog. Google Help.
• A goal, a time, and a method you can reuse. The help page splits the work into a task, a schedule, and a skill, and says you can run up to 15 tasks at once. Google Help.
• Desktop files, only with permission. Google's June post says the Mac app can sort files and read invoices on the computer, and that Spark only gets the files you allow. Google blog.
• A check before the step you cannot undo. The help page says Gemini asks before sending, changing or deleting data, paying, or submitting a form, and that it can still be wrong. Google Help.

A browser, Google's apps, and a schedule are the job Tasks are for. A squad on a folder does not do that job.

How xSquads for Work compares

xSquads for Work gives each knowledge worker their own squad of specialised agents to delegate to and review. The squad works on your own files and folders, local-first. Cards sit on a shared task board from Backlog to Review to Done. You review before a card is done. The app is on Mac and Windows. It is free with Pro agents.

Tasks in Gemini are Google's agent, on Google's apps and a browser, for a personal Google Account on AI Pro or Ultra where the feature is offered. xSquads is a squad on the files you already have. What a personal AI agent is, for both, is personal AI agent.

xSquads does not drive Chrome through other companies' sites, and it does not sit inside Gmail. If that is the requirement, Tasks in Gemini is the product Google is documenting.

Where a software factory fits

Tasks in Gemini are a goal plus a browser. Shipping software is a production line.

When shipping code is the job, engineers run a software factory. Cloud coding agents raise pull requests from user stories. Review agents check each pull request and request fixes. Self-improving loops feed lessons back into the line. A person still decides what merges. The review layer is those agents. The offer is on xSquads. How the words are used is in what is a software factory.

Use Tasks when Google's agent and its connected apps are the tool. Use the software factory when the outcome is a pull request.

Which one should you choose?

• Choose Tasks in Gemini when you want Google's agent on a personal Google Account: a Chat and Task toggle, schedules, skills, Connected Apps, and a local or remote browser. You need to be 18 or over, on Google AI Pro or Ultra, with Personal Intelligence on. It is not on work or school accounts for now, and not in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom for now. Read Google's help page before you rely on a schedule.
• Choose xSquads for Work when each knowledge worker should delegate to a squad of specialised agents and review the result on their own files. The squad is local-first, on a board from Backlog to Review to Done. The app is on Mac and Windows. Free with Pro agents.
• Choose the software factory when the backlog is software: cloud coding agents raise pull requests from user stories, review agents check each pull request and request fixes, and self-improving loops feed lessons back. A person still decides what merges.

Where these facts come from

Read on 5 November 2026. Products change. Check the vendor page before you decide.

• Google introduces Gemini Spark (TechCrunch, 19 May 2026): the I/O launch, the 24/7 agentic assistant, the Antigravity harness, Pichai on the personal agent and on dedicated VMs so the laptop need not stay open, Gmail, Docs, and Workspace, emailing Spark at a dedicated Gmail address, Chrome, Android Halo, MCP, and the expectation that Google AI Ultra subscribers would get it the following week.
• Gemini Spark updates (Google blog, 30 June 2026): the Gemini macOS app in beta for Google AI Ultra subscribers aged 18 and over, starting in the US, desktop files with permission, Keep and Tasks, Canva, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, and Zillow Rentals, custom MCP, and real-time topic tracking.
• Manage your tasks and workflows in Gemini Apps (Google Help): the rename from Spark to Task, the Chat and Task toggle, existing tasks and schedules, age, personal Google Account, Google AI Pro or Ultra, Keep Activity, Personal Intelligence, the country limits, mobile, Mac, and gemini.google.com, schedules, skills, Connected Apps, local Chrome and the remote browser, the 15-task cap, and confirmation before sending, changing data, paying, or submitting a form.
• Connor on X (5 November 2026): a post that still asks whether everyone forgot Gemini Spark, naming Claude Duet, ChatGPT Dots, Grok Bot, and Meta Muse.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Gemini Spark alternative?

A Gemini Spark alternative is another way to delegate work to AI agents when that work should stay on your own files, rather than on Google's computer, in Gmail, or in a browser Gemini drives. xSquads for Work is a squad of specialised agents on your own files and folders, local-first, with a shared task board from Backlog to Review to Done.

What is Gemini Spark?

TechCrunch reported Gemini Spark, announced at Google I/O on 19 May 2026, as a 24/7 agentic assistant built from Gemini models and an agentic harness from Google Antigravity. It ran on dedicated virtual machines on Google Cloud, with Gmail, Docs, and other Workspace integrations. Google's help page says the beta was later renamed Task.

Where did Gemini Spark go?

Google's help page says Spark had been in beta since May, that people kept asking Gemini to finish tasks, and that Google renamed it Task. You find it in the Chat and Task toggle next to the prompt box. Existing tasks and schedules stay in the sidebar.

Who can use Tasks in Gemini?

Google's help page says you must be 18 or over, signed in with a personal Google Account, on Google AI Pro or Ultra, with Keep Activity on and Personal Intelligence opted in. For now it is not available on work or school accounts, and not in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom.

How is xSquads different from Tasks in Gemini?

Tasks in Gemini are Google's agent for a personal Google Account, with schedules, skills, Connected Apps, and a local or remote browser. xSquads for Work gives each knowledge worker a squad of specialised agents on their own files, local-first, and a board from Backlog to Review to Done. The app is on Mac and Windows, and it is free with Pro agents.

Can I use Tasks in Gemini and xSquads together?

Yes. Tasks in Gemini cover schedules, Google apps, and browser steps on Google's side. xSquads covers a squad on your own files. Shipping code is a software factory: cloud coding agents raise pull requests from user stories, review agents check each pull request and request fixes, and a person still decides what merges. They answer different jobs.

Related Reading

• xSquads for Work and the waitlist.
• Personal AI agent: the definition a squad and a personal agent sit under.
• OpenAI Dots alternative, Meta Muse alternative, and Claude Duet alternative.
• Grok Bot alternatives: the other agent named beside Spark in the 5 November post.
• Software factory, xSquads, and what is a software factory.

Raina Rufus, Founder of xSquads

xSquads for Work is free with Pro agents. The app is on Mac and Windows. Download it.