Google introduces AI Plus tier at $7.99/month

$8/month. Less than Netflix. Google's basically saying consumer AI is now a utility, and they're pricing it like one.

Honestly, the 90 Flash prompts is fine — Flash is fast and cheap. But 30 Pro prompts per day? That's the real number. You'll blow through those by noon if you're doing anything serious. It's structured to feel generous until it isn't.

Here's the thing though — for a non-technical user who wants smart search, NotebookLM, and Gemini on their phone? This is actually a solid deal. We're not the target. Our clients' clients are.

What this actually does is pressure OpenAI's $20 ChatGPT Plus tier hard. If Google can land at $8 with Gemini Pro access (even capped), the average person has no reason to pay 2.5x for GPT-4o. That math is brutal for OpenAI's consumer story.

For us as builders — doesn't change much directly. We're on API pricing anyway. But it tells you where the floor is heading.