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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Google has introduced a cheaper AI Ultra plan at $100 a month.
- The full Ultra Plan is now $50 cheaper at $200 a month.
- Certain AI Pro subscribers also get YouTube Premium Lite for free.
Looking to subscribe to one of Google’s Gemini AI plans? That decision just got trickier thanks to the latest changes. Yes, Google has rejiggered its various AI plans with lower prices and more features.
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At its I/O conference on Tuesday, Google kicked off another variant of its most expensive AI Ultra plan, but with a lower price tag. Aimed at developers, tech workers, and creative pros, the lower-cost version will run $100 a month. At that price, the subscription offers the following benefits.
- A usage limit five times higher than the AI Pro plan in both the Gemini app and the AI-powered Google Antigravity agentic development tool
- Priority access to Google Antigravity
- Integration with the new Gemini 3.5 Flash for quicker testing and debugging of your computer code
- 20TB of cloud storage to house those hefty databases and media content
- A YouTube Premium individual plan with ad-free access to YouTube videos
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For developers and other pros who want the full AI Ultra plan, Google has cut the monthly price from $250 to $200. At that cost, you get a usage limit 20 times higher in the Gemini app and Google Antigravity, along with an array of other perks.
More new features for every plan
Whether you opt for the full AI Ultra plan or the new and cheaper variant, a couple of other features are heading your way.
Gemini Spark. Available only in the US, Gemini Spark is a new AI agent that aims to follow your commands to perform specific assignments on its own, under your direction. Spark can navigate across Google’s different products and services to handle complex tasks more quickly than you could manually. Rolling out to testers this week, Spark will launch as a beta in the US next week for all Google Ultra AI subscribers.
Also: Google’s new AI Search box is here – along with agents and 5 more upgrades
Project Genie. Currently available as a Google Labs experiment, Project Genie is a research prototype that lets you conjure up your own interactive virtual worlds. By supplying text descriptions and images, you’re able to create mini games and other environments populated by your own characters. Genie is now popping out of its experimental bottle and heading around the globe to all Google AI Ultra users on the $200 plan. Plus, you’ll be able to tap into Google’s Street View to add a dose of reality to your fictional lands.
If you’re a developer or other pro eyeing one of the two Ultra plans, the less expensive variant may be your best bet. If you find yourself hitting its limits, you can always switch to the more expensive subscription. Otherwise, that $100-a-month price tag makes the cheaper one quite tempting.
Ah, but Google isn’t forgetting about people on its other AI plans, including Plus and Pro.
Gemini Omni. Rolling out globally to all four AI plans (Plus, Pro, and the two Ultras) is the new Gemini Omni model, designed to generate videos. Omni takes a multimodal approach, which means you can add your own text, images, and videos to create your short video productions. You can fashion the characters, scenes, visuals, sounds, and effects, and then edit your video to fine-tune it. Omni will take the stage in the Google Flow video generator to help achieve greater consistency in character and voice from one scene to another.
Gemini 3.5 Flash. Now rolling out globally across all four Google AI plans, the new Gemini 3.5 Flash frontier model promises faster speeds and greater understanding than its predecessor, especially for agentic and coding tasks.
Also: I tested ChatGPT Plus vs. Gemini Pro to see which is better – and if it’s worth switching
AI inbox in Gmail. Already available to AI Ultra plans and now rolling out to AI Plus and AI Pro plans in the US, Gmail’s AI inbox aims to help you better manage your inbox. Analyzing the torrent of emails you likely receive, Gemini will suggest items for your to-do list, mark those items as done, draft replies, and find links to related files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Daily brief. Accessible to all Google AI subscribers, the daily brief is another feature moving from experimental status to full availability. Here, an AI agent scours your emails, calendar appointments, and Gemini chats to see what’s new, urgent, or overdue. The daily email you receive compiles all those items into a digestible, readable list and suggests next steps. The goal is to review your priorities and take action on the most pressing ones.
YouTube Premium Lite plan at no extra charge
And there’s one more thing.
YouTube Premium Lite. Free access to YouTube Premium is already included in a Google AI Ultra plan. But now it’s expanding. Over the next few days, AI Pro subscribers in certain countries will get a free YouTube Premium Lite plan at no extra charge. In contrast to a full Premium plan, the Lite flavor quashes ads for gaming, fashion, beauty, news, and other topics but still displays them for music and many other videos.
Also: YouTube Premium vs. Premium Lite: Is the cheaper tier still your best deal?
Google measures how much you use Gemini to make sure you stay within the limits of your plan. But the way your use is calculated has now changed. Instead of treating each prompt as equal against your limits, Google is using a compute-based model. This approach factors in the complexity of your prompt, the features you use, and the length of your chat. Your limit will refresh every five hours until you reach your weekly quota.
If you hit your limit, you’ll be shifted from the larger AI models to the smaller ones. AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers can also purchase AI credits on the go if they need to continue using the more advanced models for Google Antigravity, Google Flow, and the Gemini app.
Unless you’re a developer who needs an Ultra plan, the decision comes down to the AI Plus plan at $8 a month and the AI Pro plan at $20 a month. The Plus subscription limits how much you can use Gemini and other AI features by imposing stricter quotas. If you’re currently looking for a Gemini plan but don’t anticipate heavy usage, you may want to opt for the AI Plus subscription and save yourself $12 a month or $144 a year.
Also: Google’s AI Overviews will show you advice from other people now
Another option, though, is to look for a discount. For example, Verizon offers a perk: you pay $10 a month for an AI Pro subscription. This is the main reason I stick with the Pro plan; otherwise, I would seriously consider the Plus plan.
Whichever plan you choose, remember that Google charges for them on a monthly basis. That means you can always switch to a different subscription from one month to another to see which one works best.
