Before Gemini 4 has even been made available to the general public, Google has already started cutting into Gemini access. Earlier, Google announced that starting October 9, not only will free users be limited to the Flash-Lite model, but even those paying monthly for Google AI Plus will no longer be able to use the Pro model! This change could be said to make Google AI Plus increasingly less appealing.
Google adjusts the models available for each Gemini plan: the free version shrinks from three models to only Flash-Lite, AI Plus loses Pro, effective October 9.
Google added a page to the Gemini Help Center titled “Changes to Gemini model access and limitsIndicating that starting October 9, 2026, personal accounts on Google’s free plan will only be able to use the Flash-Lite model on Gemini web and in the app, while Google AI Plus will get Flash-Lite and Flash, and Google AI Pro and AI Ultra will remain unchanged, with all three models still available.
| Plan (Taiwan Monthly Fee) | Flash-Lite | Flash | Pro | Deep Think |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free user | ✓ | ✓ → ✗ | ✓ → ✗ | ✗ |
| Google AI Plus (165 yuan) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ → ✗ | ✗ |
| Google AI Pro (650 yuan) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ → ✓ |
| Google AI Ultra (3,300/6,500 yuan) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
As shown in the table above, free users originally had access to Flash-Lite, Flash, and Pro, but in the future only the lightest one will remain. However, since they weren’t paying extra anyway, most people may not feel it that strongly—but Google AI Plus users are different. Even though Google AI Plus is a paid plan, Google is making deep cuts, and it’s not cutting quota; it’s that you can no longer use the Pro model. So Google AI Plus users should seize the last chance to use the Pro model.
Google AI Plus will not uniformly lose the Pro model starting October 9. Google officially says that Google will separately notify Google AI Plus users by email of the actual effective time, so the timing of the change may not be exactly the same for different users.
Some readers may not be entirely clear on the differences between the three Gemini models.
Simply put, Pro is Gemini’s flagship model, skilled at complex math and programming problems; Flash balances speed and reasoning ability, and is what most people use most often for everyday chatting, writing, and organizing information; Flash-Lite is more of an “efficiency” model, focused on fast responses and low compute cost, suitable for lightweight tasks like simple Q&A, translation, and summarization.
It’s worth noting that this time, Google AI Pro not only didn’t have any models cut, but actually added Deep Think. Deep Think is Gemini’s highest-tier parallel reasoning mode, previously limited to AI Ultra, and after this round of adjustments, Google AI Pro users can use it too.
As for why this sudden adjustment was made this time, Google did not offer any explanation. However, judging from the timing, it is speculated that this change came after Google released its new-generation flagship model Gemini 4 Argon on September 30, and the free version and Google AI Plus were cut back, possibly to ensure compute capacity.
In addition, at present Google Help page on usage quotas, or keep the old version; everyone may need to be prepared for the possibility that things could change after October 9 as well:
Source: KOCPC Chinese