Google Opal is the most impressive no-code app builder I’ve tested, and it’s completely free to use

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: Google’s AI efforts are something I’ve always had a complicated relationship with. Their journey has been interesting, to say the least. They began with whatever Bard was, which eventually led to the rebrand to Gemini, and I still think their main consumer-facing AI products are still finding their footing. ChatGPT is still the default the average person reaches for when they think of AI, Claude has built its own loyal following among more technical people (and well, everyone now), and Gemini is just…there.

However, something I’ve always stood by is that Google’s best AI work isn’t happening directly within Gemini. It’s all happening in Google Labs, and while the tools you’ll find there are powered by Gemini under the hood, they feel like entirely different products. They’re focused and built to solve a specific problem instead of trying to be everything for everyone. Opal is a tool Google began testing in Labs in mid-2025, and with all the…