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Google’s Best Gemini AI Chatbot Is Now Free To Use — But There’s A Catch
In a surprise move, Google has made its highly-acclaimed Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental AI chatbot free to use for all users, but there’s a catch – or rather, several catches.
While the model itself remains unchanged, free users are restricted by rate limits on their usage. This means that you’re limited to just five requests per minute and 25 requests per day, whereas paying accounts get up to 20 requests per minute and 100 requests per day. Additionally, Google’s API pricing for Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental also restricts the speed of free users’ access.
What does this mean? Essentially, free users will be unable to process as much information in one go as paying users can. The size of the context window, which is a measure of how much data the AI model can process at once, remains unchanged for free users. This means that they won’t have access to the full capabilities of the Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental.
Another significant feature missing from the free version is the ability to use the chatbot with Canvas, Google’s shared digital space where you can create and edit documents and code interactively with Gemini. This is a major blow for those who rely on this tool for advanced AI-assisted tasks such as vibe coding.
The move comes just days after the initial release of the AI model to paying Google Gemini Advanced users, but now all users – including free users – have access to the new version. However, it’s clear that Google is holding back key features from its free users in order to entice them into upgrading to a paid subscription.
In fact, the only difference between the free and paid versions of Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental lies in the level of access to these tools. For those already invested in the AI chatbot’s capabilities through a paid subscription, this may be enough incentive to continue their subscription.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulmonckton/2025/03/31/googles-best-gemini-ai-chatbot-is-now-free-to-use—but-theres-a-catch/
