Gemini Pricing 2026: Google AI Plus, Pro, Ultra and API Costs Explained
Google AI Plus is $4.99, Pro $19.99 and Ultra $99.99 or $199.99. Here is what each tier buys, what changed in 2026, and what a real Gemini answer costs on a credit meter.
Google sells Gemini in four consumer tiers. Free is $0. Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month. Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month. Google AI Ultra comes in two sizes: $99.99 a month for 5x access and $199.99 a month for 20x. The Gemini API is billed separately per million tokens: Gemini 3.8 Flash is $0.75 in and $3.75 out, and the 3.1 Pro tier is $1.35 in and $6.75 out, with both promo rates roughly doubling on 1 January 2027. A consumer subscription never includes API usage.
Key Takeaways
- Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month, a new low-price tier under Pro. Google AI Pro is $19.99. Google AI Ultra is $99.99 for 5x access or $199.99 for 20x.
- Third party coverage splits on Ultra: one price ($99.99), a quarterly figure, or a $200 top tier. On the live subscription page all of these resolve to two distinct Ultra tiers, 5x at $99.99 and 20x at $199.99.
- The Gemini API promo prices run until 31 December 2026 and roughly double on 1 January 2027. A model that costs $0.75 per million input tokens now costs $1.50 after.
- Thinking tokens are billed as output tokens on paid API tiers, so a reasoning-heavy request costs more than the visible answer suggests.
- A consumer subscription does not include API usage, and the free API tier trains on your prompts while the paid tier does not.
- Krater bills the same Gemini models per answer in credits. In our three-prompt run, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview cost 3.6 to 10.1 credits per answer and Gemini 3.8 Flash cost 0.69 to 0.76 credits, out of 1,500 credits on a $20 Pro plan.
Gemini plans at a glance
| Plan | Price | Model access | Image and video | Storage | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Base access to Gemini models | Limited image generation | Standard Google account storage | Web and mobile apps |
| Google AI Plus | $4.99 a month | More access than Free | Higher image and video limits than Free | Expanded storage | Entry tier launched in 2026 |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99 a month | More access to the 3.1 Pro model, Deep Research, 1M token context | Limited trial of Veo 3.1 Lite, Nano Banana image access, 1,000 Flow credits | 5 TB | $10 monthly Google Cloud credits, student free year offer |
| Google AI Ultra 5x | $99.99 a month | Higher access across the board | Veo 3.1 access, 10,000 Flow credits | Expanded | $40 monthly Google Cloud credits |
| Google AI Ultra 20x | $199.99 a month | Highest access, Agent Mode | Veo 3.1, 25,000 Flow credits | 20 TB and above | Priority access and top limits |
Source: gemini.google/subscriptions and one.google.com/about/google-ai-plans, read 27 September 2026.
What changed in 2026
The Gemini brand went through four moves this year, and most older pages still show the old names.
- Gemini Advanced was renamed to Google AI Pro, and the top tier became Google AI Ultra. Pages that still list "Gemini Advanced $19.99" are describing what is now Google AI Pro.
- Google AI Plus launched at $4.99 a month as an entry tier between Free and Pro. CloudZero's writeup quotes it at $7.99; the live subscription page shows $4.99, so trust the vendor page.
- Pro-tier models left the free tier, reported by CloudZero as taking effect 1 April 2026. Free accounts now run on the faster, cheaper models.
- Ultra was cut from $249.99 to $99.99 for the 5x tier at Google I/O 2026, per the same CloudZero timeline, and Google added a $199.99 20x tier above it.
What $19.99 buys in Google AI Pro
Pro is the plan most people mean when they search for Gemini pricing. Per the subscription page, $19.99 a month gets more access to Gemini 3.1 Pro, Deep Research, a 1 million token context window, 5 TB of storage, and a limited trial of Veo 3.1 Lite video plus Nano Banana image generation with 1,000 Flow credits. The one.google.com plans page values the bundle by adding storage, cloud credits and media perks to the model access. It is a storage-plus-AI subscription, not just a chatbot subscription. If you already pay for Google One storage, the upgrade cost is smaller than the sticker price.
Google AI Ultra explained
Ultra is where the conflicting numbers online come from. The live subscription page shows two Ultra tiers: $99.99 a month for 5x access and $199.99 a month for 20x access, with 10,000 and 25,000 Flow credits respectively and Veo 3.1 video included. Finout quotes $124.99 for three months of Ultra, which does not appear on the monthly page; aipricing.guru quotes only the $199.99 20x tier; CloudZero documents the $249.99 to $99.99 cut. All of them describe parts of the same structure. If you are budgeting for video work in Flow or agentic workloads, the Flow credit allotment is the number that actually differs between the two Ultra tiers.
Gemini API prices per million tokens
| Model | Input per 1M tokens | Output per 1M tokens | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $0.75 | $3.75 | Promo rate; rises to $1.50 / $7.50 on 1 January 2027 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro tier | $1.35 | $6.75 | Promo rate; rises to $2.70 / $13.50 on 1 January 2027 |
| Context caching | $0.075 | - | Per million cached input tokens |
| Grounding with Google Search | - | - | 5,000 free requests per month, then $14 per 1,000 requests |
| Batch API | 50% off standard rates | For jobs that can wait |
Source: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing, read 27 September 2026.
Prices roughly double on 1 January 2027
The pricing page states that current paid-tier rates are promotional until 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, Gemini 3.8 Flash moves from $0.75/$3.75 to $1.50/$7.50 and the Pro tier from $1.35/$6.75 to $2.70/$13.50. If you are costing a product feature on the API, budget on the 2027 rates, not the promo ones.
Thinking tokens are billed as output
On models with extended thinking, the internal reasoning tokens count as output tokens on the bill. CloudZero flagged this as the main reason real invoices overshoot estimates: a 100-word answer can carry thousands of invisible thinking tokens at output price. Pro models think more, so the gap between estimated and billed cost is largest exactly on the expensive models.
Free tier trains on your data, paid does not
The API pricing page splits free and paid lanes plainly: the free tier gives you tokens at no cost but Google may use the content to improve its products; the paid tier does not train on your prompts. There is also a Prepay and Postpay billing split introduced in March 2026, reported by CloudZero, which changes when the charge lands rather than what it costs.
Gemini vs ChatGPT on price
Headline prices sit at the same rung on both sides: Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month and ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month. The differences are in the bundle, not the sticker. Pro folds in 5 TB of storage, cloud credits and media tools; Plus buys into OpenAI's model lineup and app ecosystem. Google AI Plus at $4.99 has no direct OpenAI equivalent below Plus. We keep a fuller breakdown in ChatGPT Plus vs Pro and Claude vs ChatGPT.
The same Gemini models on Krater, per answer
Krater runs Gemini models on a shared credit meter with the other model families, so the cost question becomes per answer, not per subscription. We sent the same three short prompts to Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and Gemini 3.8 Flash on 27 September 2026 and read the billed amounts from the account's credit ledger.
| Model | Prompt | Credits | Seconds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Explain what an API rate limit is in one short paragraph. | 10.08 | 13 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | Write a two-sentence product description for a reusable water bottle. | 3.63 | 14 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | List three differences between a hostel and a hotel. | 3.79 | 16 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | Explain what an API rate limit is in one short paragraph. | 0.74 | 12 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | Write a two-sentence product description for a reusable water bottle. | 0.69 | 12 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | List three differences between a hostel and a hotel. | 0.76 | 16 |
At Pro plan value, a Flash short answer costs roughly $0.01 and a Pro short answer roughly $0.05 to $0.13. Google's image models are on the same meter: Nano Banana is 10 credits per image and Nano Banana 2 is 20 credits per image. A Krater Pro plan is $20 for 1,500 credits; a Google AI Pro plan is $19.99. The choice is between one vendor with storage bundled and a flat monthly cap, versus many vendors metered per answer with no storage. If you want Gemini 3.1 Pro next to Claude, GPT and the image models on one $20 plan, Krater Pro is the shape to price; if you mostly want Google's storage and apps bundled, Google AI Pro is.
Which to pick
Stay on Free if you only need occasional answers. Pick Google AI Plus at $4.99 if you hit free limits but do not need the Pro model. Pick Google AI Pro at $19.99 if you want the flagship model, Deep Research and the storage bundle. Ultra only makes sense if you actually burn Flow credits or live in Agent Mode; the 20x tier is for production workloads. If you use the API, budget on January 2027 rates and watch thinking-token inflation on Pro models. If your usage spans several model families and you want a single bill, a per-answer plan like Krater's is the other shape worth pricing.
FAQ
Is Gemini cheaper than ChatGPT?
At the headline tier, no: Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month and ChatGPT Plus is $20. Google AI Plus at $4.99 undercuts anything ChatGPT offers for light use, and the bundles differ, so the answer depends on which tier and which extras you count.
Is Gemini worth paying for?
It is worth it if you use Deep Research, the 1M context window, or the 5 TB storage and media credits bundled into Pro. If you only ask short questions a few times a day, Free or the $4.99 Plus tier covers it.
What is the difference between Gemini free and paid?
Free gives base model access with lower limits. Paid tiers raise usage limits and unlock the Pro model, larger context, media generation and storage. On the API, the free tier also trains on your content while the paid tier does not.
Is Gemini Pro free?
As a model, Pro-tier access moved off the free tier on 1 April 2026 per CloudZero's timeline. Students can get a free year of Google AI Pro through the offer on the subscription page; otherwise Pro costs $19.99 a month.
Which Gemini subscription is the cheapest?
Google AI Plus at $4.99 a month is the cheapest paid tier.
Does a Gemini subscription include the API?
No. Consumer plans and the API are billed separately. API pricing is per million tokens on ai.google.dev, with promo rates that rise on 1 January 2027.
Is Gemini Advanced still a thing?
No. The Advanced name was retired in the 2026 rebrand. What was Gemini Advanced is now Google AI Pro at $19.99, and the top tier is Google AI Ultra.
Related reads
- Perplexity Pricing 2026
- ChatGPT Business Pricing 2026
- Midjourney Pricing 2026
- Claude Pricing 2026
- ChatGPT Plus vs Pro
- Claude vs ChatGPT, tested
- ChatGPT alternatives
Bottom line
Gemini's 2026 pricing is a four-rung ladder: $4.99 entry, $19.99 mainstream, $99.99 heavy, $199.99 maximum. The real traps are not the sticker prices but the January 2027 API repricing and thinking tokens billed at output rates. Pick by which bundle extras you would pay for anyway.