Google Gemini Gets New Model Limits: Free And AI Plus Users Face Key Changes Google is changing how people use its Gemini artificial intelligence models. The new system will link model availability more closely to the Google AI subscription a user has. The changes will begin rolling out from October 9, 2026, for people using Gemini with a personal Google account without an AI subscription. Google AI Plus subscribers will also see changes, although the company says they will receive an email explaining when the new rules will apply to their accounts. Under the revised system, users who access Gemini without a paid AI plan will have access to Google's smaller Flash-Lite models. This means free users will no longer have the same level of access to the more capable models available through Google's higher-tier AI subscriptions. Google AI Plus subscribers will continue to get access to Flash-Lite as well as the more capable Flash models. However, the plan will no longer include access to Gemini Pro models. This is an important change for AI Plus subscribers who currently use Google's more advanced models for complex tasks. In India, the Google AI Plus plan costs Rs 399 per month. Users who specifically want access to Google's larger Pro models will have to move to one of the company's higher-priced plans. Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra will continue to offer access to all three model categories: Flash-Lite, Flash and Pro. The Google AI Pro subscription costs Rs 1,950 per month in India, while Google AI Ultra costs Rs 6,500 per month. This makes the difference between Google's AI subscription tiers more significant, particularly for users who regularly rely on the company's most capable Gemini models. Google is also preparing another change for the Gemini app. Users will soon be able to select different effort levels when using available models. The options are expected to include low, medium and high effort. A higher effort setting is designed to make Gemini spend more resources on a task, potentially producing more detailed and capable responses. However, Google says using higher effort levels will consume more of a user's usage limit. The feature could give users more control over how Gemini handles different requests. Simple questions could be handled with a lower effort setting, while complicated tasks could use a higher setting. For everyday Gemini users, the biggest change will be the clearer separation between free, AI Plus, AI Pro and AI Ultra access. From October 9, free users will have more limited model choices, while access to Google's most powerful Pro models will increasingly become a feature of its higher-priced AI plans. Govind Choudhary is the Chief Copy Editor for Tech at Times Now with over five years of experience in the media industry. He covers consumer technolog... View More