Googles New 250 Dollar AI Ultra Plan Explained
Google is offering its most advanced AI features through a new premium plan, but it comes with a significant monthly cost. For more details on Google's recent announcements, you can explore everything unveiled at Google I/O.
Introduced at Google's annual I/O developers conference, AI Ultra is the new top-tier plan. It boasts the best versions of Google's Gemini AI tool, early access to innovative video generation models, increased usage limits for tools like NotebookLM, an AI agent management prototype, and a substantial 30 terabytes of cloud storage.
This comprehensive package comes at a price: Google AI Ultra is $250 per month, though Google offers a 50% discount for the initial three months. For those not looking to spend $3,000 annually on AI, Google is also refreshing its existing AI Premium plan, now called Google AI Pro. This plan, which includes new features, will be priced at $20 per month.
The primary distinctions between AI Ultra and AI Pro lie in usage limits for AI tools and access to the latest technology. AI Ultra provides significantly higher limits, making it suitable for users who generate large volumes of video or extensively use Gemini. Josh Woodward, Google's Vice President for Google Labs and Gemini, described the Ultra plan as being "for the trailblazers, the pioneers, those of you who want cutting-edge AI from Google."
Unpacking Google's New AI Subscription Tiers
Here's what's included in the new Google AI plans.
What's in the Google AI Ultra Plan
The core of Google AI Ultra is an enhanced version of the Gemini app. Subscribers get the highest usage limits for its Deep Research function, access to the Veo 2 video generation model, and early access to the upcoming Veo 3. The plan also features Google's latest reasoning model, Deep Think in Gemini 2.5 Pro, and immediate early access to Gemini in Chrome, enabling AI-powered contextual understanding of web pages.
AI Ultra subscribers gain access to Flow, Google's new AI filmmaking tool unveiled at I/O, which facilitates the creation of video content from text and image prompts with the highest usage limits. In comparison, the AI Pro plan offers Flow access with a 100 generations per month limit. Additionally, AI Ultra includes top-tier access to Whisk, an AI image generator for creating photo mashups and Whisk Animate for producing short, vivid videos.
Beyond AI-specific tools, AI Ultra bundles YouTube Premium (which includes ad-free YouTube Music) and a generous 30TB of cloud storage. Currently, the AI Ultra plan is available exclusively in the US.
Though the $250 monthly fee for AI Ultra seems steep, it's comparable to other high-end AI subscriptions. For instance, OpenAI's Pro plan for ChatGPT is $200 per month, while Anthropic's Max plan for Claude starts at $100 per month.
What's in Google AI Pro
Google's existing AI Premium plan is being rebranded as AI Pro, maintaining its $20 per month price. New additions to this tier include Flow filmmaking capabilities (with certain limits) and early access to Gemini in Chrome. These new features will initially roll out in the US.
Google also announced an expansion of free AI Pro access for university students in Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom. This benefit is already available to students in the US.
Who is Google AI Ultra For
If your AI usage involves casual chatbot interactions or occasional image generation, the $250 monthly expense for AI Ultra is likely unnecessary. Google's AI Pro plan offers a more cost-effective solution for such needs.
For users interested in the bundled features, particularly the extensive storage, it's worth evaluating the cost. YouTube Premium costs about $14 monthly. Combining this with Google AI Pro ($20/month) totals $34 monthly. Even adding a top-tier plan from OpenAI or Anthropic would likely keep the total under $250. The 30TB of cloud storage is a significant offering, though. For comparison, Apple's iCloud provides 12TB for $60 per month, and Dropbox offers 15TB starting at $24 per month.
The key differentiators for AI Ultra are its high usage limits and access to cutting-edge features. According to Google representatives, this plan is tailored for filmmakers, developers, and creative professionals who heavily utilize AI for content generation. Those producing substantial video content or long-form videos will benefit from the highest available usage limits, and the 30TB of storage will be valuable for managing large project files.
AI Ultra also appeals to users who prioritize immediate access to Google's newest AI advancements, even if their content generation volume isn't massive. Subscribers will receive early access to upcoming tools like Google's Project Mariner agentic research tool and the Deep Think feature in Gemini.
However, if the $250 monthly price for AI Ultra is a concern, the AI Pro plan still provides a robust set of features for a wider range of users.
