I translated the downgrade into Artificial Intelligence Index numbers.
Being optimistic with reasoning.
What surprised me is that Gemini 3.1 Pro has a much lower index, so using Flash on Pro and Ultra plans seems like a better choice until Gemini 4 is truly released, I suppose…
I think there are other limits, like the context window on lower plans, that really hit long-running tasks, but Google’s docs are so confusing about that.
Either way, a real downgrade for the free tier.
Google is changing which models you can actually use starting Oct 9.
Free → only Flash-Lite
AI Plus → loses Pro
Only AI Pro & Ultra keep full access
Same app.
Completely different experience depending on your plan.