Pricing Update

Google

• New pricing tier added: Contributor tier for several models:

  • Gemini 4 Argon
  • Gemini 3.8 Flash
  • Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
  • Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview

• Gemini 4 Argon — new Contributor tier pricing

  • Input: $1.00 through Nov 30, 2026; $2.00 starting Dec 1, 2026
  • Output: $5.00 through Nov 30, 2026; $10.00 starting Dec 1, 2026
  • Context caching: $0.05 through Nov 30, 2026; $0.10 starting Dec 1, 2026
  • Billing/data-use rule: paid Contributor usage is used to improve products (Yes), unlike existing paid tiers (No)

• Gemini 3.8 Flash — new Contributor tier pricing

  • Free tier:
    • Input: Free
    • Output: Free
    • Context caching: Free
  • Paid tier:
    • Input: $0.375 through Dec 31, 2026; $0.75 starting Jan 1, 2027
    • Output: $1.875 through Dec 31, 2026; $3.75 starting Jan 1, 2027
    • Context caching: $0.0375 through Dec 31, 2026; $0.075 starting Jan 1, 2027
    • Context caching storage: $0.50 / 1M tokens/hour through Dec 31, 2026; $1.00 starting Jan 1, 2027
  • Billing/data-use rule: paid Contributor usage is used to improve products (Yes)

• Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite — new Contributor tier pricing

  • Free tier:
    • Input: Free
    • Output: Free
  • Paid tier:
    • Input: $0.15
    • Output: $1.25
    • Context caching: $0.015
    • Context caching storage: $1.00 / 1M tokens/hour
  • Billing/data-use rule: paid Contributor usage is used to improve products (Yes)
  • Note: this Contributor context caching price ($0.015) is lower than Batch/Flex ($0.02)

• Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview — new Contributor tier pricing

  • Input: $1.00 for prompts <= 200k tokens; $2.00 for prompts > 200k
  • Output: $6.00 for prompts <= 200k tokens; $9.00 for prompts > 200k tokens
  • Context caching: $0.10 for prompts <= 200k tokens; $0.20 for prompts > 200k tokens
  • Context caching storage: $4.50 / 1M tokens/hour
  • Billing/data-use rule: paid Contributor usage is used to improve products (Yes)
  • Also changes free-tier “Used to improve our products” for this Contributor row to N/A

• Contributor tier billing rule introduced globally where present

  • It is described as private preview, invite-only
  • Speed and reliability are equivalent to Standard tier inference
  • Eligible users are invited by email and surfaced in AI Studio
  • The substantive billing implication is that Contributor tier paid usage may be cheaper while allowing content to be used to improve products.