Gemini’s October 9 Model Changes: What Free and Paid Users Will Get

Google is reported to be narrowing model access in the Gemini app from October 9, 2026: free users will have Flash-Lite only, and AI Plus subscribers will lose Pro while keeping Flash. AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers are expected to retain Pro access. The change concerns the Gemini app; Antigravity has its own model-availability rules. 57

Gemini app access by plan

Plan	Flash-Lite	Flash	Pro	Deep Think
Free	Yes	No	No	Not listed
AI Plus	Yes	Yes	No	Not listed
AI Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Reported as being added; availability is not fully clear
AI Ultra	Yes	Yes	Yes	Available, with higher usage limits than AI Pro

The October 9 model restrictions are reported from an updated Gemini support document. The reported access table says free accounts will lose Flash and Pro, while AI Plus will lose Pro but retain Flash and Flash-Lite. 567

There is some uncertainty around Deep Think for AI Pro. A report says the plan is adding access, but Google’s subscription page in the available sources specifically promotes Deep Think as an Ultra feature. Treat AI Pro availability as reported rather than confirmed by that plan page. 722

What changes compared with earlier access

Before the reported change, free users had limited or variable access to Pro, and AI Plus users also had some Pro access. From October 9, the reported change removes that access from both tiers: free users are limited to Flash-Lite, and AI Plus retains Flash and Flash-Lite but not Pro. 72737

That distinction matters if a workflow depends on selecting Pro in the Gemini app. The report describes plan-level access changes, not the removal of Gemini models from every Google product. Google’s developer documentation describes separate plan-based model access in AI Studio, for example. 717

AI Pro pricing in the US and Germany

Google’s subscription page lists AI Pro at $19.99 per month in the US. 22 A third-party country-pricing tracker lists the German price as €21.99 per month, but that figure is not verified by a Google pricing source in the material available here. Check Google’s local checkout page for the current price before subscribing. 24

Separate rules for Claude models in Antigravity

The Gemini app changes should not be confused with Antigravity access. Google’s Antigravity model table lists Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Sonnet 5.5 as unavailable to free and AI Plus users, available to AI Ultra users, and available to AI Pro subscribers only on non-trial subscriptions. The same table marks both unavailable in its Enterprise column. 1

Timing and what is still uncertain

Google announced Gemini 4 Argon on September 30, 2026. Reports about the October 9 model changes followed shortly afterward and attributed the details to an updated support document, rather than a prominent standalone announcement. 719

The supplied reporting connects the restrictions to earlier compute-based usage limits, but Google’s specific reason for this model-access change is not confirmed in the sources available here. 7