If the Google AI plan names and prices you're seeing don't match what you remember, that's not you misremembering — Google rebuilt the whole tier structure at I/O in May 2026. Here's exactly what moved.
At Google I/O on May 19, 2026, Google added a new entry-level AI Plus tier and split the top-end AI Ultra tier into two separate prices. AI Pro, the tier that specifically includes Veo 3.1 access, held steady at $19.99/month. The net effect: there are now more price points between "free" and "the most expensive tier," and the most expensive tier itself got both cheaper (a new $100/month option) and — confusingly — also stayed available at a higher price ($200/month, itself down from the pre-I/O $249.99).
| Tier | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Gemini app access; Google Flow with a limited daily credit allowance |
| AI Plus | ~$10/mo | New at I/O — expanded usage limits over free, more Flow credits |
| AI Pro | $19.99/mo | Veo 3.1 access, ~1,000 monthly Flow credits, 5TB storage, unchanged since before I/O |
| AI Ultra (lower) | $100/mo | New at I/O — 5x Pro's usage limit, 20TB storage, positioned for developers/prosumers |
| AI Ultra (higher) | $200/mo | Reduced from $249.99 pre-I/O — 20x Pro's usage limit, adds Project Genie access |
Sourced from Google's own I/O 2026 announcement and vendor pricing pages, cross-checked in August 2026. Google's plan names and prices have shifted more than once this year — verify on Google's current pricing page before buying.
Nothing forces you off the free tier just to try Veo — both the Gemini app and Google Flow still offer a no-card-required daily credit allowance. If you outgrow that, AI Pro at $19.99/month remains the tier built around Veo specifically, unchanged through this whole restructure. The new AI Plus tier ($10/month) sits below it if you want more than free but don't need full Veo 3.1 access. The Ultra split only matters if you're already at high-volume usage — most people making AI video clips will never need either Ultra tier.
The reporting frames it as market segmentation: Google apparently found that $249.99/month was too high a jump from Pro for a meaningful chunk of would-be Ultra subscribers, so it created a cheaper $100/month landing spot with a real usage bump (5x Pro) while keeping a higher tier ($200/month, itself discounted from the old $249.99) for the heaviest users. Whether that's a net price cut or just a more granular ladder depends entirely on which tier you'd have picked before — someone who was going to pay $250/month for Ultra now pays $200; someone who wanted more than Pro but balked at $250 now has a real $100 option that didn't exist before.
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Google also retired the original Veo 3 and Veo 2 entirely on June 30, 2026 — Veo 3.1 is the only generation currently available on any tier or via Vertex AI. If you see older content (including some of ours) referencing plain "Veo 3," it predates that retirement.
See the Veo Background Remover Guide
Related: More AI video news · Full pricing comparison · Current AI video model rankings
Google added a new, cheaper AI Plus tier below AI Pro, and split the top-end AI Ultra tier into two options: a $100/month tier (5x Pro's usage limit, 20TB storage, aimed at developers) and a $200/month tier (reduced from the prior $249.99, 20x Pro's usage limit, plus access to Project Genie). AI Pro stayed at $19.99/month and remains the tier that specifically includes Veo 3.1 access.
Yes. Both the Gemini app and Google Flow (Google's dedicated video-creation tool) offer a free tier with a limited daily/monthly credit allowance — no card required. It's enough to sample the tool, not for ongoing use.
Reporting frames the $100/month tier as aimed at developers and prosumers who want higher usage limits without paying for the full Ultra feature set, while the $200/month tier (down from $249.99) keeps the highest usage ceiling and adds Project Genie access. It's a segmentation move — capturing users who wanted more than Pro but weren't willing to pay the old $250 Ultra price.
Google's naming and pricing for these tiers has shifted more than once across 2026 even outside the I/O announcement — treat any specific number here as directional and check Google's current pricing page before buying. We revisit this page when we catch a real change.