AI economics
Google AI Plus Price Cut to €4.99 Starts an AI Price War
Google AI Plus falls from €7.99 to €4.99 a month and its storage doubles to 400 GB. As OpenAI and Meta prepare their answers, entry prices melt while the bill for usage keeps climbing quietly.
Anthony
Published · 7 min read
01Five key points
- Google AI Plus now costs €4.99 a month instead of €7.99, in France as in the United States. That is a 38% cut, announced on June 8.
- Included storage doubles from 200 GB to 400 GB, shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos. Current subscribers get the new price at their next billing cycle.
- The plan's content stays the same. You still get doubled usage limits, the Flash Thinking model, Gemini in Gmail, NotebookLM and the Flow video tool.
- Rivals are preparing a response. OpenAI is weighing price cuts according to Reuters, while Meta is testing its first paid AI plans according to CNBC.
- The underlying trend is clear. Entry prices are melting while usage-based billing spreads to heavy workloads.
0202What Google announced
The news came from a post on X by Vikas Kansal, a product lead at Google, on June 8. Google AI Plus, the entry-level plan built around Gemini, goes from €7.99 to €4.99 a month. Storage included in Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos doubles at the same time, from 200 GB to 400 GB. The French press quickly confirmed that the new price applies in France, at the same amount in euros.
For existing subscribers, the cut takes effect at the next billing cycle, with nothing to do on their side. New users get it right away, with the rollout spread over a few days. The plan's content stays the same, with usage limits twice as high as the free tier. It also includes the Flash Thinking model, Gemini in Gmail, NotebookLM for document research and the Flow video tool.
| Plan | Monthly price | Storage | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| No plan | €0 | 15 GB | Gemini with basic limits |
| Google AI Plus | €4.99 (was €7.99) | 400 GB (was 200) | 2x limits, Flash Thinking, Flow, NotebookLM |
| Google AI Pro | €21.99 | 5 TB | 4x limits, extended access to Gemini 3 Pro, video |
Above these tiers, Google AI Ultra remains the top plan in the lineup, with no change announced this week. The US press points out that its price was already lowered last month at the I/O conference. That suggests the price easing covers the whole lineup and goes well beyond the entry tier.
0303A price war that is speeding up
The timing is no accident. As Clubic noted, the announcement landed the day after the WWDC keynote, where Apple presented Siri rebuilt around Gemini. Google answers Apple's hardware lock-in with the opposite pitch. Its assistant runs in the cloud, on any device, for the price of a coffee.
Direct competitors are also preparing a response. According to Reuters, OpenAI is studying significant cuts to its entry prices. Meta has been testing its first paid AI plans since May, priced between $7.99 and $19.99 a month according to CNBC. The trend goes back a while. OpenAI started it in India in August 2025 with ChatGPT Go at about $4.60. Google followed with a plan under $5 in December.
He said there is no scenario in which prices don't change significantly.
Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, as reported by Business Insider.
Investor Chi-Hua Chien, quoted by TechCrunch, sees the sector entering a phase where AI infrastructure becomes a commodity. He compares it to what web hosting companies went through before. Margins on raw access are shrinking. Value is moving to what people build on top of the models.
0404Access gets cheaper while every action goes on the meter
Just as consumer plans are being sold off, usage-based billing is spreading wherever AI works at volume. Copilot's switch to credits on June 1 is the clearest example. Subscription prices stayed the same, but every action is now counted in tokens. Some developers saw their monthly quota vanish in a few days.
Both moves follow the same logic, because the price of AI is catching up with its real cost. Basic access is cheap to serve, so it becomes a loss leader sold at a thin margin to win volume. Heavy usage, on the other hand, is billed per action. So the number worth watching is the cost of each action you run, far more than the subscription price.
A word of caution. The €4.99 price is the one announced this week. The rollout is gradual. Google's official plans page is the reference for your country and your account, so check it before you change plans.
0505What it changes for your projects
For personal use, the cut is great news. At €4.99 a month, Google AI Plus becomes the cheapest plan among the major providers, with 400 GB of storage on top. If you want a pocket assistant to write emails, summarize documents and ask questions, the math is quick.
If you produce work with AI, look at the cost per action instead. Generating articles, image series or full audits uses volumes that consumer plans cap quickly. That is the whole logic behind the API key model. You pay the provider at cost, a few cents for an article, with no middle layer adding its margin to every generation.
The two approaches combine well, with a chat plan for daily use and API keys for production work. Allow about ten minutes to create keys with each provider. Set a spending cap from the start, because cheaper access protects nobody from a poorly scoped automated task.
0606Frequently asked questions
Does the Google AI Plus price cut apply in France?
Yes. The drop from €7.99 to €4.99 a month applies in France, as confirmed by the French press and by the worldwide rollout Google announced. Current subscribers will see the cut on their next billing cycle, with nothing to do on their side.
What does Google AI Plus include at €4.99 a month?
You get usage limits twice as high as the free tier, access to the Flash Thinking model and Gemini in Gmail. The plan also includes NotebookLM for document research and the Flow video tool. Storage now reaches 400 GB, shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos.
Why is Google cutting prices now?
Competition in consumer AI is getting tougher. Apple has just presented its revamped Siri, OpenAI is weighing its own cuts according to Reuters and Meta is testing its first paid plans. Google is playing for volume with the cheapest plan among the major providers.
Are all AI tools getting cheaper?
Entry prices are falling, but usage-based billing keeps growing for heavy workloads. GitHub Copilot's switch to AI Credits on June 1 showed exactly that. If you produce at volume, compare the cost per action rather than the subscription price.
0707References
- TechCrunch, "Google just fired a warning shot in the AI subscription price wars", June 9, 2026.
- Digital Trends, "Google AI Plus drops to $4.99 a month and doubles your storage", June 8, 2026.
- Clubic, "Gemini at 4.99 euros a month, Google answers Apple with a surprise price cut" (in French), June 9, 2026.
- KultureGeek, "Google cuts the price of its cheapest AI plan, AI Plus" (in French), June 10, 2026.
- PYMNTS, "The AI Price War Is Great News for Consumers", June 2026 (citing Reuters, CNBC and Business Insider).
- Next, "Google cuts the price of its entry-level AI Plus plan" (in French), June 2026.
- Google, official Google AI plans page, accessed June 12, 2026.
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