Google limits Gemini access: free users cut to Flash‑Lite; Pro moved behind paid tiers
Starting in October 2026 Google will restrict personal-account access to its Gemini models: unpaid users will only have the smallest model, Flash‑Lite; AI Plus ($4.99/month) subscribers will be limited to Flash‑Lite and Flash; access to Flash and Pro models will require AI Pro ($19.99/month) or AI Ultra ($99.99/$199.99/month). The change reduces the free-tier model availability compared with current access (which includes Gemini 3.6 Flash and varying 3.1 Pro access) and mirrors a freemium approach similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT.