What you need to know
- Google AI Pro now uses a new credit-based quota system instead of fixed Gemini message limits.
- Gemini’s complex prompts and AI tools can now consume a large portion of your available usage quota.
- The new limits apply to all Gemini features within apps like Google Photos and other Google services.
Gemini was front and center at Google I/O 2026and the company introduced a number of new AI-powered features and tools. However, along with all those announcements, Google also quietly made a change to its $20 a month Google AI Pro plan, and not everyone is happy about it.
At I/O 2026, Google introduced a new $100/month Google AI Ultra plan while also reducing the price of its high-end plan from $250 to $200 per month. But quietly on top of that, the company also changed the way usage limits work on the standard Google AI Pro plan.
Previously, Google used a simpler sticky message counting system for Gemini usage limits. Now, the company is moving towards a credit-based system where the use of tokens depends on things like the complexity of the message, the features being used, and even the length of the conversations.
Google says paid users will now see a continuous five-hour usage window along with weekly installments based on the intensity of their prompts. However, many users feel that the limits are much lower than before.
Some Reddit users are already calling the new system a scamwith reports that a single message consumes around 13% of its quota. Others say certain Gemini AI Plus features may burn out almost 30% at once.
The system is very similar to the usage-based installment approach used by Claude, where more demanding tasks consume more credits. The five-hour quota updates automatically, but there is also a stricter weekly limit that users can reach.
Android Central’s opinion
I understand why Google is doing this: AI inference isn’t cheap. But changing the limits so aggressively right after showing off all these flashy Gemini features in I/O seems like pretty poor timing. Personally, I haven’t seen Gemini consume credits as aggressively as some users report, but I completely understand why people are frustrated.
More importantly, these limits apply across Google’s Gemini ecosystem, not just the Gemini app itself. So if you’re using Gemini features within apps like Google Photos or other AI-powered Google services, all of that contributes to the same share.
You can check these limits directly within the Gemini app under Settings > Usage Limits.
To be fair, Google has added some value elsewhere. The company recently increasing cloud storage for subscribers from 2TB to 5TBwhich does soften the blow a bit. But for more regular Gemini users, this definitely seems more restrictive than before, and may push many power users toward the new $100/month Ultra plan.
