Should you downgrade to Google AI Plus?

Google AI Plus came to the US this week as the more affordable alternative to AI Pro, which previously served as the entry point to premium Gemini features. Whether it’s worth downgrading comes down to how you use Google AI.

AI Plus vs. AI Pro features

Gemini app 

Those looking to experience the absolute best that Google has to offer should use Gemini 3 Pro. For everyone else with prompts of a more informational nature, Thinking (Gemini 3 Flash) should absolutely suffice. The 90 Thinking prompts per day provided by AI Plus is likely enough to serve as your default model. You’d use the 30 Pro prompts as necessary, with that limit not high enough to set Pro as your default, while there’s “limited” access to Deep Research using Pro. 

Then there’s the context size:

• Free: 32,000 tokens or about 50 pages of text
• AI Plus: 128,000 tokens 
• AI Pro: 1 million tokens or 1,500 pages

AI Plus offers a meaningful upgrade over free, but you’re not getting the full Gemini experience without AI Pro.

Being able to use Nano Banana Pro for 50 images per day should be enough even for semi-professional contexts, while the 1,000 Nano Banana images is good.

To me, Scheduled actions are an example of Gemini’s proactive tentpole and including with AI Plus is somewhat of a nice surprise. There’s also “Priority access” to new features, with Personal Intelligence’s Connected apps and Past chats also available.

NotebookLM 

AI Mode

• “More” (AI Plus) versus “Higher” (AI Pro) access to Gemini 3 Pro and Nano Banana Pro. 
• Limited vs. Higher access to agentic capabilities for reservations and tickets

Google Photos 

• Limited vs. Higher usage limits for Remix generations and Photo-to-video generations 

What AI Plus lacks compared to AI Pro

As an AI Pro user, here’s what you will miss out on when downgrading to AI Plus:

• AI Mode: No Deep Search or Personal Intelligence
• Chrome: No auto browse
• Gmail: No AI Overviews in search, AI Inbox, or Proofread 
• Google Home Premium Standard: $9.99/month by itself 
• YouTube Premium: Small discount 

Should you downgrade?

Who is AI Pro for?

AI Ultra is for those who want to live on the bleeding edge as demonstrated by Project Genie this week, as well as Project Mariner and the Gemini Agent before that. 

AI Pro is still for early adopters, but specifically prosumers. Compared to Ultra, the $19.99 plan gives you Gemini features that have a greater likelihood of benefiting your life. AI Overviews in Gmail search are a great example of that, while AI Inbox might grow on you. Auto browse in Chrome might also fall into that category over time.

Who is AI Plus for?

AI Plus is for those who find Gemini — specifically the app — valuable in their life, but aren’t really early adopters of other AI. 

AI Pro lets you experience the future of Gemini integrations in Google apps, but the current list of what you lose by going to AI Plus — except for upgraded Gmail AI search — is not a must-have. The onus is on Google to prove that these new features add value, and I’m sure later updates and improvements will get them there.

As such, I’m surprised that Gemini app features like Personal Intelligence and Scheduled actions are available with AI Plus. These are key features that work to advance Gemini’s goal of being a personal, proactive, and powerful assistant. 

If you’re downgrading, go to the Google One 2 TB plan that is $9.99 per month versus $7.99 for AI Plus. This preserves AI Pro’s storage and other benefits like 10% at the Google Store.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.