By Luis Rijo
Publication Date: 2026-10-04 19:45:00
Google will restrict the models available to Gemini app users without a paid plan from October 9, 2026, leaving them with a single model, Flash-Lite, according to a Gemini Apps Help page that 9to5Google reported on October 3, 2026. Subscribers to the $4.99-a-month AI Plus plan keep two models and lose the third, while the $19.99-a-month AI Pro plan gains a reasoning option, Deep Think, that is currently confined to the two most expensive plans.
In Short
Google is changing which Gemini AI models people can use in the Gemini app, depending on what they pay. From October 9, 2026, people who pay nothing get only the entry-level model, people on the $4.99 AI Plus plan lose the strongest one, and the $19.99 AI Pro plan adds a deeper-thinking mode that used to sit on the most expensive plans only. In practice, the same question typed into the app can now be answered by a different model depending on the plan behind the account.
What Google’s help page says
The primary source is a…
