Google limits free Gemini Apps to Flash-Lite from 9 October

What did Google write, and when?

The source is a Gemini Apps Help article, not a blog post. It says model availability in Gemini Apps will change for personal accounts in October 2026, and that the change “will start to take effect for users without an AI subscription on October 9th.” AI Plus users “should receive an email” with their date. The page we opened on 7 October has no publication timestamp.

The Verge reported the same notice on 6 October at 13:19 UTC: free users who can now pick Flash-Lite, Flash, and Pro will be limited to Flash-Lite, and AI Plus will lose Pro. That matches the October table. It is reporting on a support document, not a test. A help page is still official, and it is easier for a second Google page to contradict it. See our note on reading AI company announcements.

How do the plans map after the change?

The October page grids three models against four plans. In the HTML we opened, a checkmark means access. Without a plan: Flash-Lite only. AI Plus: Flash-Lite and Flash. AI Pro and AI Ultra: all three. Google did not announce a new model.

A second help article, “Gemini Apps limits & upgrades,” still defines the names. Flash-Lite is Google’s “efficient workhorse” for speed. Flash “balances speed and reasoning.” Pro is “our most advanced model” for hard math and coding, with slower replies. Those are vendor labels. Each available model also has low, medium, and high effort; higher effort uses more of the usage limit.

Deep Think is separate. The October page gives it to Ultra “for maximum parallel reasoning.” The older limits page says Deep Think is “AI Ultra only,” “requires the Pro model,” and can take a few minutes. The Verge grouped Deep Think with AI Pro or Ultra. Google’s two pages we opened both put it on Ultra, not Pro.

Who is affected, and how do you get a higher model?

Both help pages we used are for a personal Google Account. Work and school users are sent to a different article. The October notice does not claim to change Search, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Workspace, or the Gemini API. The management page still requires age 13 in most countries, or 18 in the EEA, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, to use Gemini Apps with a Google AI plan.

Free personal accounts are told 9 October. Plus subscribers wait for email. Pro and Ultra keep all three picker models on the October table. Google One’s US page still lists Plus at 400 GB, Pro at 5 TB, and Ultra from 20 TB; the HTML we retrieved showed no dollar price. The Verge reported $4.99, $19.99, and $99.99 a month. If you are switching assistants because a free chat is about to get a smaller model, compare the work you need. Our assistant comparison worksheet is for that, not a ranking.

How does this sit next to the older limits page, Gemini 4 Argon, and the API?

The still-live limits page still marks Gemini 3 Flash-lite, Flash, and Pro as Yes on every plan, including free. That is the menu The Verge says free users have today. The October page is the menu after the change. Until Google edits the older table, or your picker moves, both documents are official and they disagree.

The older page still lists 32,000-token context without a plan, 128,000 on Plus, and one million on Pro and Ultra. The October notice does not say those windows change, and it does not repeat the feature grid (Deep Research on free; Daily Brief and Gemini Spark on paid). This is also not Gemini 4 Argon, the 30 September frontier model with phased defender access. If you are budgeting API calls rather than a Gemini chat, use the API cost worksheet.

What should readers not assume from the help page?

Flash-Lite-only is not “Gemini shut down.” Plus losing Pro is a smaller menu, not a new model. Google One’s marketing page still advertises “More access to Gemini 3.1 Pro” on Plus; that is not the Apps picker table. We did not open the Gemini app or submit a prompt, so we cannot say what any one login shows, or how fast 9 October finishes in every country. Compute-based limits from 17 May 2026 (24 July for under-18s) are older than this model-list notice.

What remains limited after we checked the pages?

Google did not date the October page, publish a country schedule, give Plus one switch-over day, or reconcile the older Yes/Yes/Yes table. The Verge’s US prices are reporting, not figures from Google’s HTML. Deep Think stays Ultra on Google’s own pages. Treat 9 October as the start of a documented free-tier cut, then read the model name on your own chat.