Google Caps Free Gemini at Flash-Lite Starting October 9

Starting October 9, free Gemini users keep one model and lose the other two. 9to5Google reports that "users who do not pay for Gemini will no longer be able to access (3.6) Flash or (3.1) Pro." What's left for them is Flash-Lite.

Paying $4.99 a month doesn't fully undo the trim. AI Plus subscribers keep Flash-Lite and Flash but lose Pro, and they will "receive an email that explains when these changes will take effect," the site writes.

The compensation sits one tier up. At $19.99/month, AI Pro gains Deep Think, which the article describes as "maximum parallel reasoning" and says was "currently just on the $99.99 and $199.99/month plans."

Alongside the tier reshuffle, the Gemini app is adding "low," "medium," and "high" effort levels per model. Those settings, 9to5Google writes, "will increase the model's ability to complete tasks and provide more thorough answers to queries, but will also use more of your limit."

One question stays open. On Google's unreleased next-generation model, the post simply says: "It's not clear where Gemini 4 Argon will fit in." The reshuffle lands the same week Google added Guided Vision to Gemini Live, one of several Gemini product moves we've tracked this fall.