Up to this point, anyone with a free Google account could use Gemini 3.6 Flash and get a varying amount of access to 3.1 Pro. Beginning in October 2026, that same account will get Flash-Lite, and that is all.
Google is narrowing which Gemini models are available to personal account holders, and the changes affect both the free tier and the lowest-priced paid plan. Users without a subscription will be restricted to Flash-Lite, the smallest model in the lineup, while the stronger Flash and Pro models will be off the table.
The $4.99 plan gets thinner too
Pro is being removed from AI Plus, the $4.99/month plan. Subscribers on that plan will still have Flash-Lite and Flash.
Access to all three models will require either AI Pro at $19.99/month or AI Ultra, priced at $99.99 or $199.99/month. In other words, getting back the Pro model, which free users could reach in some form until now, costs about four times what Plus does.
The structure will be recognizable to anyone who has used ChatGPT, as it follows the same freemium approach OpenAI takes. Google has posted the complete breakdown of its subscription tiers on its support page.
Most people won’t notice, which is the point
In practice, the change probably won’t affect many people much. Casual users of Google’s AI generally don’t know which model is answering them, so a quiet move from Flash to Flash-Lite will likely go unnoticed.
Power users account for only a few percent of the overall user base, and most of them are probably already paying. Plus subscribers are the group that will clearly feel it, since Pro no longer comes with the $4.99 plan.
Google may also be planning for what comes next. The company could be preparing for the larger Gemini 4 Argon, which may cost more to run.
For AI Plus subscribers who depend on Pro, the choice is simple: either Flash is good enough for their needs, or they will soon be paying $19.99/month.