Your Google Subscription Just Lost Most Of Its Value

Thrive Studios ID/ShutterstockWe've seen Google push a lot of its AI features behind paid subscriptions over the past couple of years, and there are already a few Google features trapped behind a paywall on Android phones that you can only use if you're paying for one of its Google AI plans. However, Google is now pulling back on some of what those subscriptions include, and the people paying for its cheapest plan, Google AI Plus, are the ones who are losing the most. The company has changed which Gemini models each plan can use, and if you're paying for Plus, you'll soon lose access to Gemini's Pro model.

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Some users that purchased an entire year of AI Plus were particularly annoyed, even going so far as to call the one-year plans a scam. While others have pointed out that Flash is usually enough for most things, it doesn't lessen the blow for everyone. We're still talking about people who have put their money on the line to get access to a subscription that has now effectively become nerfed to not even be able to access Pro. Meanwhile, Free will continue to be able to access Pro–but only when Gemini thinks it is needed.

Determining whether or not AI Plus is still worth it is another question altogether. AI Plus does still offer some value, especially if you're mostly using it for storage. However, it is worth keeping in mind that Google cut the price of AI Plus from $7.99 to $4.99 back in June, while also doubling the included storage to 400GB. AI Plus also includes twice the usage limits of the free tier, so it might still be useful if you use Gemini a lot for basic everyday tasks.