Google retired Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium, replacing them with three clear pricing tiers and giving free US users access to Gemini 2.5 Pro.
Google split its consumer AI lineup into three formal tiers this week, giving US free users access to its most capable reasoning model. The change also retired the "Gemini Advanced" branding that had been in place since 2024.
The restructuring was previewed at I/O 2025 but is now reflected in published feature tables. "Google One AI Premium" and "Gemini Advanced" are replaced by "Google AI Pro" at $19.99 per month in the US, with a new higher tier, Google AI Ultra, sitting above it. Free US accounts can now invoke "Thinking (3 Pro)," Google's complex reasoning and generative layout mode, subject to daily caps; Gemini 3 Flash takes over as the default "Auto" model. As 9to5Google details, free US users also gain access to Create Images Pro via the Nano Banana Pro model, a capability previously limited to paying subscribers.
What the tiers actually offer
The Plus tier ships with 90 Thinking prompts per day, 30 Pro prompts, a 128,000-token context window, and 12 Deep Research reports daily. On the media side, Nano Banana Pro allows up to 50 images per day, Veo 3.1 Fast outputs 2 videos per day, and music generation runs to 20 short tracks or 10 longer ones. NotebookLM integrates more tightly at this level, with 200 notebooks per user, 100 sources per notebook, and 200 chats per day.
Gmail gets substantive additions here as well. 9to5Google reports that AI Overviews now surface direct answers inside Gmail search, cutting the need to open individual threads. A Proofread feature activates during message composition. Agentic capabilities are listed as "limited," with screen automation capped at 12 requests per day and scheduled actions restricted to 10 running simultaneously.
The Pro tier, by Google's own framing, is primarily a rename. It drops the "Google One" framing and shortens the label to something "snappier"; the US price holds at $19.99. Added features at Pro include Gemini in Chrome auto browse, also described as "limited," and what 9to5Google documents as expanded agentic capacity and Nano Banana Pro output in Gmail. Full Ultra tier pricing and hard limits have not yet appeared in the published feature tables.
The competitive picture
The three-tier model is now table stakes in consumer AI. OpenAI and Anthropic have run similar structures since 2024, using free access for acquisition and paid tiers to gate compute-heavy tasks. Google's more meaningful departure is decoupling AI subscriptions from cloud storage: dropping "Google One" from the brand signals that AI access is being sold as a standalone product, not bundled with Drive gigabytes.
That shift lands against a sector-wide credibility problem. As The Guardian reported this week, OpenAI published a 13-page policy paper calling for a new "industrial policy" for the AI age, and Anthropic launched its own thinktank, the Anthropic Institute, both moves widely read as image repair as polls show US public approval of AI falling. Google's quiet rebranding sidesteps the messaging battle for now, but usage restrictions and pricing opacity invite exactly the kind of scrutiny the industry is working to contain.
Whether the Ultra tier can pull users past the $19.99 Pro ceiling, or whether most engagement concentrates at free and Plus, will determine if this restructuring is a genuine revenue play or an elaborate relabeling exercise. For Google's AI ambitions, that distinction matters more than the new brand names.
FAQ
What is Google AI Ultra?
Google AI Ultra is the new top tier in Google's subscription stack, positioned above Pro. Pricing and full usage limits for Ultra were not published in Google's feature tables as of April 12, 2026.
What did free Gemini users gain in April 2026?
US free users received access to Thinking (3 Pro) for complex reasoning, Create Images Pro via the Nano Banana Pro model, and Gemini 3 Flash as the default "Auto" model, all subject to daily usage caps.
Is Google AI Pro the same as Google One AI Premium?
Yes. Google AI Pro is a direct rebrand of Google One AI Premium with the "Google One" label removed. The US price remains $19.99 per month.
What are the daily usage caps on Google AI Plus?
Plus subscribers get 90 Thinking prompts, 30 Pro prompts, 12 Deep Research reports, 50 images, 2 videos, 20 short music tracks, and 200 chats per day, among other limits.