Google Trims Free Gemini: Only Flash-Lite Left From October 9

What Happened

Changes vary by subscription tier. Free users: from October 9, only Flash-Lite (listed as 3.5 Flash-Lite in the docs); 3.6 Flash and 3.1 Pro go away. AI Plus at $4.99/month keeps Flash-Lite and Flash but loses Pro — Google will email each affected Plus subscriber with the exact date Pro disappears from their account, so the cutoff is not the same day for everyone. AI Pro at $19.99/month and AI Ultra from $99.99/month are untouched, keeping all three models; AI Pro also gains Deep Think, the maximum-parallel-reasoning mode previously reserved for Ultra.

In the same round of changes, during October the Gemini app will add low, medium and high "effort" settings for each available model. Higher effort means more thorough answers and better completion on hard tasks, but uses up the allowance faster. In May, Google switched usage metering from a fixed message count to compute cost, so heavy models use up allowance faster.

Key Facts

1. Effective date: From October 9, unsubscribed users get Flash-Lite only; AI Plus subscribers lose Pro on individual dates communicated by email.
2. Tier by tier: Free: Flash-Lite only. AI Plus ($4.99/mo): Flash-Lite + Flash, no Pro. AI Pro ($19.99/mo): all three, plus Deep Think. AI Ultra: unchanged.
3. New setting: Low / medium / high "effort" levels arrive in October — higher effort, more thorough answers, more allowance burned.
4. The user base: The standalone Gemini app reportedly passed one billion monthly users this summer, the vast majority of them free (techdefused, 10/4/2026).

Context

Google has adjusted the free tier before: free users previously had Flash and Pro alongside Flash-Lite; and since Gemini 4 Argon launched on October 1, first access has gone only to AI Ultra subscribers and trusted cyber-defense partners. On the paid side, AI Pro gets Ultra's Deep Think at one-fifth the price.