Image: Google (Gemini logo)

Google is changing which Gemini models you get on each plan, and the free tier takes the biggest hit. According to a new Google help page, people without a paid plan will soon have only Flash-Lite in the Gemini app. They lose both Flash and Pro.

AI Plus subscribers lose Pro but keep Flash and Flash-Lite. AI Pro and AI Ultra keep all three. It applies to the Gemini app on personal accounts. Google says it starts for free users on October 9, and Plus subscribers will get an email telling them when it reaches them.

Here's the before and after, based on Google's current limits page, the new help page and its US plan prices:

What free users are actually losing

Right now, Google's limits page lists Flash-Lite, Flash and Pro for every plan, including no plan at all. Its pricing page promises free users 3.6 Flash and "varying access" to 3.1 Pro.

Flash-Lite is a step down. Google calls it "an efficient workhorse model designed for speed," best for everyday tasks like summaries and brainstorming. Flash is the one it pitches for problems "from simple to complex." Google doesn't say which version of Flash-Lite free users will get.

There's a small upside. Google says every model will offer low, medium and high effort settings, though higher effort uses more of your limit. And Deep Think, which the limits page still lists as Ultra-only, is coming to AI Pro too.

This is the second squeeze this year. In May, Gemini switched to compute-based limits that refresh every five hours up to a weekly cap, and Google adjusted them after complaints, 9to5Google reported. It also fits a pattern. Google's newest Flash model, 3.8 Flash, launched for consumers only on AI Pro and Ultra. Free users are still on 3.6 Flash, which arrived in July.

Plus subscribers get the worst deal

Our take: free users lose the most, but Plus subscribers have the most reason to be annoyed. They pay, yet after the switch the cheapest way to get Pro is AI Pro at $19.99 a month, four times Plus's US price. Plus still includes 400 GB of storage and twice the free usage. But an XDA writer said Pro was "a big reason" they kept it.

The $20 line isn't new. ChatGPT's pricing page keeps its GPT-6 models off the Free and Go plans. They start with Plus, which costs $20 a month. Anthropic keeps Claude Opus for paid plans, starting with Pro at $20 billed monthly. The difference is the free tier. Claude's free plan still includes Sonnet. Free Gemini users will be left with Google's lightest model.

Reaction on Reddit was split. In an r/GeminiAI thread, the original poster called it "such a slap to the face" for a heavy free user. One Reddit user said Plus "is already awful" without 3.8 Flash and is now losing Pro, despite their yearly subscription. Others shrugged. "Why should free users get access to the best models?" another asked.

If you pay for Plus mainly for Pro, watch for Google's email and decide whether storage and Flash alone are worth it. If you use free Gemini for quick questions, Flash-Lite may be fine. For homework help, coding or long documents, you'll probably notice the drop.