Insights AI
Free Gemini drops to its lightest AI model on 9 October: what to do
The short version
From Friday 9 October, anyone using Gemini without a paid Google AI plan will be limited to Flash-Lite, its weakest model. The cheapest paid plan also loses the strongest model, called Pro.
What happened
Google says free users will lose the Flash and Pro models. Flash-Lite is the lightest of the three. It is quick and suits repetitive tasks, but it is weaker at deeper knowledge and reasoning.
The AI Plus plan, at about $5 a month, keeps Flash and Flash-Lite but loses Pro. Pro is the model best at harder maths, logic and coding. The AI Pro plan, at about $20 a month, keeps all three models and adds a reasoning mode called Deep Think, which was previously only on the dearer Ultra plans.
Use is also capped by a limit that refreshes every five hours, up to a weekly total. Complex requests, long chats, and images or video use it up faster.
Why it matters to you
For everyday drafting, summaries and simple questions, Flash-Lite will probably be enough, and many people may not notice a change. Work that needs careful reasoning may come out weaker.
If you rely on free Gemini for work, check its answers more carefully after the change. Getting better results will now cost money.
What to do
Try your usual tasks on the free version after 9 October and see whether the results are still good enough. If they are not, compare the paid plans before choosing one.
Google's AI plans are billed monthly, so you can pay for a month, then go back to free if it was not worth it.
Sources
- Gemini app limiting what models free & AI Plus users can access, AI Pro adding Deep Think 9to5Google (opens in a new tab)
- Use Gemini for free? You'll soon be limited to its weakest AI model ZDNET (opens in a new tab)
- Google's new Gemini tiers cut free users to its weakest model and lock $5/month subscribers out of Pro The Decoder (opens in a new tab)
Researched and written by our automated news system.
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