Starting Oct. 9, people who use Google's Gemini app without paying will be limited to Flash-Lite, the lightest of Gemini's three model lines, according to an updated Google help page. Free users lose Flash, the step up from Flash-Lite, and the limited access they have today to Pro, the line Google pitches for its hardest problems. Google's plans page still lists free access to Gemini 3.6 Flash and varying access to Gemini 3.1 Pro.
Google sells Gemini as a family of models of different strength. It describes Pro as offering advanced intelligence and complex problem-solving, and its newest Flash-Lite model as the fastest and most cost-effective of its generation. Google's help page says premium models, including Pro, use up more of a person's allowance and can make them hit their limit sooner. Google has not said whether the change is meant to save on the cost of running its larger models.
In the U.S., Google AI Plus costs $4.99 a month, AI Pro $19.99 and AI Ultra from $99.99. AI Plus subscribers keep Flash-Lite and Flash but lose Pro, and Google says they will get an email explaining when the change reaches them. AI Pro and AI Ultra keep all three model lines, and AI Pro subscribers also gain Deep Think, an extra-effort mode that Google's plans page has so far presented as an Ultra feature.
Google's help page says people will also be able to set each model's effort to low, medium or high, which controls how hard it works on an answer. Higher effort gives more thorough answers, Google says, but uses up more of a person's limit. Since May 17, Gemini has measured adult users' usage by how much work each request takes, with limits that refresh every five hours until a person reaches a weekly cap. AI Plus gives twice the free allowance, AI Pro four times, and AI Ultra five or 20 times the AI Pro allowance, depending on the plan.
The change covers personal accounts in the Gemini app. Google's help page gives no reason for it, does not say which version of Flash-Lite free users will get, and does not give a date for AI Plus subscribers.