Google is narrowing the models available in the Gemini app according to the plan you are on. From 9 October, anyone who doesn’t pay will be limited to Flash-Lite, the lightest model, and will lose access to Flash and Pro. The mid-tier subscription changes too: AI Plus keeps Flash but gives up Pro.
What changes, plan by plan
The breakdown, according to Google’s support documentation as picked up by the tech press, is as follows:
- Free account: Flash-Lite only, from 9 October.
- Google AI Plus: Flash-Lite and Flash. Pro disappears on a different date for each account, which Google will communicate by email during October.
- Google AI Pro: Flash-Lite, Flash and Pro, plus Deep Think, the parallel-reasoning mode previously reserved for AI Ultra.
- Google AI Ultra: no losses; it keeps all the models.
Flash-Lite is designed for everyday requests: summaries, short answers, rewrites. Pro is for the heavier tasks, such as advanced maths and programming. Anyone who currently draws on Pro from the free plan or from AI Plus will therefore notice less thorough answers to complex requests.
Effort levels and usage limits
Around the same time, the app is expected to introduce three effort levels, low, medium and high, selectable for each model. The higher the level, the more accurate the answer, but the larger the share of your limit it uses up. Similar controls already exist in Google AI Studio and in Antigravity.
This change concerns which models you can choose, but it is separate from the quota system. The usage limit resets every five hours up to a weekly cap, and what counts is the complexity of your requests, the features used and the length of the conversation. AI Plus has double the standard limit, AI Pro four times.
What they cost in Italy
According to Italian price lists, Google AI Plus costs €4.99 a month, after a cut from €7.99, and includes 400 GB of cloud storage. Google AI Pro costs €21.99 a month, or €219.99 a year. In the United States the prices are $4.99 and $19.99 a month. In the news published so far, Google has not announced any difference in timing for Italy: individual emails will tell each subscriber when their turn comes.
What is still unclear
The position of Gemini 4 Argon, the most powerful model Google has unveiled, which for now is available only on a limited basis, remains open. It isn’t known whether it will count as a Pro-tier model or sit at a level above. We covered it in our article on Gemini 4 Argon and limited access.
What we think
The move is consistent: Google is nudging regular Gemini users towards subscriptions. The most delicate point is AI Plus. It was the plan designed for people who want more without spending €22, and having Pro made it very good value. Without Pro, the difference from the free tier comes down to Flash, more quota and storage space.
The comparison with the competition remains favourable on price: at €4.99, Plus costs less than the entry-level plans of ChatGPT and Claude, quoted at $8 and $20 a month. But you pay less partly because you get less.
For those who use Gemini only for quick questions and translations, Flash-Lite will be enough. Anyone working with code, long documents or calculations should try the new model before 9 October and see whether the difference justifies the jump to AI Pro. AI Plus subscribers, meanwhile, have a few weeks to decide whether to keep the plan or drop down to the free one.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
