Google limits Gemini Pro usage

Google changed how paid Gemini usage is counted on May 17, replacing looser prompt-style access with compute-based limits that depend on the task, model and chat length, according to the company’s help documentation. The change surfaced publicly after subscribers on Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra said they were hitting quotas after a handful of prompts or several video generations, then being locked out for hours. Google’s help page now says Gemini Apps limits “refresh every 5 hours” until a weekly limit is reached. Google has not published a detailed public breakdown of exact prompt counts for each paid tier. ### What exactly changed for paid Gemini users? Google’s Gemini help page says that, starting May 17, 2026, Gemini Apps moved to “compute-based usage limits.” The company says those limits take into account “the complexity of your prompt, the models and features you use, and the length of your chat,” rather than relying on a simple prompt count. The same page says limits may change and may be adjusted for testing, experimentation or availability. (support.google.com) Google One’s current plan page says Google AI Pro includes “4x higher usage limits” in Gemini than users without an AI plan, while Google AI Ultra offers “up to 20x more limits” than the Pro plan. But those plan pages do not spell out how many coding turns, document summaries or video generations a subscriber can expect before a cooldown. ### Why are subscribers saying the limits feel tighter now? (support.google.com) PiunikaWeb reported on May 20 that Pro and Ultra subscribers were saying “a handful of prompts” or a few video generations were enough to exhaust their quota under the new system. The outlet cited user complaints on Reddit, X and Google’s own forums describing five-hour lockouts and faster depletion in long coding sessions or multimedia-heavy workflows. (one.google.com) Google’s own help text points to the same mechanism. Because the quota now depends on prompt complexity, model choice and chat length, a long-running coding thread or a video request can consume more capacity than a short text prompt, according to the company’s description of the new system. That means two paid users on the same plan may hit limits at very different speeds depending on how they use Gemini. (piunikaweb.com) ### What do the five-hour lockouts actually mean? Google’s help page says usage “refreshes every 5 hours until you reach your weekly limit.” In practice, that means a user who burns through a five-hour bucket can be forced to wait for the next refresh window, and a user who repeatedly does so can still run into a broader weekly cap. PiunikaWeb and Android Headlines both reported that subscribers were describing those refresh windows as lockouts, especially when they arrived after only a few high-compute tasks. (support.google.com) Android Headlines said Google later reset weekly quotas and increased paid-tier usage limits by 3x after backlash, citing user reports and a dashboard notification. Reuters could not independently verify the full rollout of that reset message across all accounts from Google directly. ### Is this only about the Gemini app, or also video and creative tools? Google’s plan pages tie paid Gemini access to a broader bundle of AI products, including Gemini Omni and Google Flow. The company markets Pro as giving “higher access” to creative models and Ultra as providing the highest limits for more advanced use. User complaints cited by PiunikaWeb said video generation was one of the fastest ways to hit the new limits. (androidheadlines.com) That fits Google’s own framing that heavier features use more compute, though the company has not published a public per-video quota table on its main plan pages. ### What should users watch next? Google’s help documentation says Gemini Apps limits “may change,” and the company’s plan pages continue to present usage in relative terms such as 4x or 20x rather than fixed prompt counts. (one.google.com) Subscribers looking for changes will likely see them first in the Gemini help center, Google One plan pages or in-product quota notices inside Gemini Apps. (support.google.com) (piunikaweb.com)