The results are in: More of you are using premium Gemini than we expected

Paying for AI appears to be the norm for our readers, even after the recent Google AI Plus feature cut. For reference, Google recently announced that it would cut out Gemini Pro from AI Plus subscriptions, and users, clearly, weren’t happy with the change. That’s when we asked you whether you pay for Gemini, and if so, which tier you’re on.

Unsurprisingly, a sizeable portion of our audience said that they don’t pay for Gemini. What actually caught us by surprise was how many of you do.

Our poll caught the attention of 1,315 respondents, and 71.3% said they’re subscribed to one of Gemini’s paid tiers. That’s essentially 940 out of 1,315 who pay for Google’s AI services. In comparison, only 291 respondents (22.2%) said they’ve stuck to the free tier, while 84 (6.39%) said they don’t use Gemini.

Among those who pay for AI, the more expensive Google AI Pro appears to be the favorite option. The $19.99/mo plan received 562 votes, which was 42.7% of the entire count. In comparison, the $4.99/mo Google AI Plus plan only pulled in 358 votes, which was 27.2% of the entire count. Note that some of the users might be on the free Google AI Pro trial, which could be contributing to the tier’s popularity.

As expected, not many regular users choose to pay for the organizational-tier $99.99/mo Google AI Ultra subscription. Just 20 respondents, or 1.5%, said they’re subscribed to the tier.

Google’s paid offerings have managed to find a sizeable audience among Android enthusiasts, even though some of those users aren’t necessarily happy with what they’re getting. Commenter John Dennehy is on the AI Pro tier, but is looking to switch:

AI pro isn’t worth it. I’m currently switching to Claude after getting frustrated with the Google Argon model, and the experience has been night and day. I’m significant more productive with Claude Code. It’s the difference between a toy and a tool. It’s really made me question my long loyalty to Google products (and I went all in on Stadia and the Pixelbook)

User sunni.freyer, in an older article about AI Plus losing access to Pro models, said:

I have multiple AI subscriptions. Out of all of them, the worst AI is Gemini. It’s truly terrible.

The criticism is interesting, especially considering how many respondents said they’re willing to pay for Gemini. That said, the appeal for Google’s paid plans goes far beyond Gemini itself.

The tech giant bundles AI with other benefits, including Google One cloud storage and app-related perks. That makes plans like Google AI Plus and AI Pro easier to justify. However, with alternatives like ChatGPT and Claude breathing down Google’s neck, the company can’t rely on its ecosystem alone — not for long, at least.