Inc.
Google is making its budget AI plan cheaper, sharper and harder to ignore.
Google’s New AI Price Cuts Should Make OpenAI and Anthropic Nervous
Author: Chloe Aiello
It’s not often that things get more affordable these days. But Google is bucking the inflationary trend, slashing prices for its budget subscription tier of Gemini AI access.
Google AI Plus was already the most affordable paid AI subscription on the market when it launched in January. The subscription, which is geared toward individuals and students, was priced at $7.99 monthly for access to features like generative video model Omni Flash, creative studio Google Flow, and research assistant NotebookLM. It also includes higher message limits and faster processing times than free use.
Earlier this week, Google AI subscription product lead Vikas Kansal announced prices would drop to $4.99 per month—even while available storage on the plan doubles to 400 gigabytes.
“Now you can unlock tools to boost your productivity and creativity—and get more space to store your photos, videos, and projects—for less,” he wrote in a Monday post on social media platform X. He also noted that storage updates would roll out within the next few days, and that the pricing change would take effect at plan renewal.
Chi-Hua Chien, co-founder and managing partner at Goodwater Capital, told TechCrunch the price cut represents a step toward the type of commoditization that could eventually define value in AI infrastructure, which includes everything from OpenAI and Anthropic to chipmakers and energy providers.
“There will be a period of time when these companies are valuable,” he told TechCrunch. “But over time, you will see them get increasingly commoditized.”
It also issues a challenge to competitors. OpenAI’s cheapest paid tier, called ChatGPT Go, is priced at $8 per month, although it is difficult to directly compare the package with Google’s given the different products and models on offer. ChatGPT Go offers higher usage caps on GPT-5 and GPT-5.5 Mini, as well as unlimited access to lower-tier mini models. It also increases limits on uploads and messaging. Anthropic, meanwhile, has not released a budget subscription tier. Its lowest-cost option is still $20 per month.
Credits: TCA, LLC.