The news
On 13 October 2026, Google made Gemini 4 Argon, its new model for complex multi-step work, generally available to developers and businesses. Through the Gemini API it launched at an introductory price of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Google says that offer ends on 30 November 2026. From 1 December, Argon costs $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens. It is not part of the API's free tier.
Google's pricing page also shows a rise for its faster Flash models. Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.6 Flash cost $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens until 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, they cost $1.50 and $7.50. The price of context caching doubles on the same dates for both families. The page shows no change for the Flash-Lite models, and the Batch and Flex tiers cost about half the standard rates.
Google also replaced two older models on 8 October. Requests to Gemini 3.7 Flash now go to Gemini 3.8 Flash, and requests to Gemini 3.5 Flash go to Gemini 3.6 Flash, so tools that used them already run on models whose price rises in January.
What it means for you
- If a chatbot, document reader or other tool of yours calls the Gemini API, its bill can double with no change on your side.
- Work running on Argon gets more expensive first, on 1 December. Work on Gemini 3.8 or 3.6 Flash follows on 1 January.
- A tool that was set up on Gemini 3.7 Flash or 3.5 Flash has already been moved to a model whose price also doubles.
What to do now
- Ask your developer or AI provider which Gemini models your tools use and what they cost last month.
- Work out next month's bill at the new prices, and set a budget alert on the Google Cloud billing account that pays for it.
- Test whether routine tasks keep the same quality on a Flash-Lite model, with shorter prompts or with caching.
How Didset can help
We build AI automations that can switch between models and show what each task costs, so a price change does not take you by surprise.
Talk to us about it
