New to this? Read it in simple words
- Google opened its new top model, Gemini 4 Argon, to many more people on October 13.
- Subscribers to Google AI Pro and Ultra can use it in the Gemini app and in Search.
- Developers pay $2 and $10 per million tokens until November 30, then twice as much.
- Free users don’t get Argon for now.
- Flagship model
- A company’s biggest and most capable AI model, usually also its most expensive one.
- Token
- A small piece of text, often part of a word, that an AI model reads or writes. Prices are counted in tokens.
- API
- A way for programs to use a service directly. Developers pay for the AI model through it.
Google announced Gemini 4 Argon on September 30, but gave it at first only to trusted cyber defenders and to its own teams. On October 13, it opened the model to paying subscribers and developers.
Who can use it now
Subscribers to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra can now choose Argon in the Gemini app and in AI Mode in Search. AI Pro was not on Google’s first list of who would get it next.
The rollout is gradual, and some Pro subscribers did not see Argon on the first day. Free users and AI Plus subscribers don’t get it for now. The Verge says it is not clear when, or if, they will.
Google calls Argon “globally available”, but it has not published a list of countries or languages.
Google’s own access rules and API prices of October 13; the rollout to subscribers is gradual.
What developers pay
In the paid tier of the Gemini API, Argon costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens until November 30. From December 1, the prices double to $4 and $20. Tokens are the small pieces of text that models read and write.
In Google AI Studio, people need the paid API tier or an Ultra subscription; the free tier and the AI Pro plan don’t include Argon. Antigravity, Google’s app for coding with AI agents, offers it only to Ultra subscribers.
By default, Argon writes up to 65,536 tokens in one answer. A “long decode” setting raises that to about 1 million, Google’s developer pages say.
Google’s promises, and the outside test
Google says Argon answers “more directly with less hedging”, follows style instructions better and reports its progress more often on long tasks. These are Google’s own claims.
Google also says it tested Argon with outside partners under its own safety rules before the wider release.
Artificial Analysis, which runs its own tests, gives Argon 53 points on its intelligence index. That ranks it eighth of the 216 models on the index, with Claude Opus 5.5 ahead. Running the tests cost $1.99 per task at Argon’s launch prices.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
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- 6Research · October 13, 2026Google Adds Gemini 4 Argon To AI Mode For Pro & Ultra Subscribers Search Engine Journal
- 7Research · October 13, 2026Google makes Gemini 4 Argon broadly available with limited-time low API pricing of $2/$10 per 1M token VentureBeat
- 8Research · Accessed October 13, 2026Gemini 4 Argon - Intelligence, Performance & Price Analysis Artificial Analysis
- 9Research · October 13, 2026Gemini 4 Argon is here, and Google says it’ll finally cut down on the AI fluff Android Police
Who can use Argon and what it costs come from Google’s own pages. The clearer answers and the safety testing are Google’s claims; the outside index is the only independent test so far.
Google’s newest flagship model reached paying subscribers and developers, though free users wait and the launch price doubles on December 1. How we rate the mood