Gemini 4 Argon in Australia: Which Plan Gets It, and the 1 December API Price Doubling

TL;DR: Google's new flagship model is live in Australia, but only on AI Pro (A$32.99/month) and AI Ultra. Every API user pays double from 1 December, whenever they started.

What changed

Google released Gemini 4 Argon on 13 October 2026. The Gemini app post says AI Pro and Ultra subscribers "can now access Gemini 4 Argon". Google Cloud lists it as generally available from the same date. Google's Australian plans page now shows Argon on AI Pro (A$32.99/month) and AI Ultra (A$149.99 or A$329.99). AI Plus (A$7.99) and the free plan do not include it.

On the API, Google's pricing page lists US$2 input and US$10 output per million tokens through 30 November. From 1 December that becomes US$4 and US$20. That is about A$2.85 and A$14.26 now, rising to about A$5.70 and A$28.52 (ex-GST, at 1.43 to the US dollar, ECB, 22 October 2026). Starting early locks in nothing. A business pushing 2 million tokens in and 500,000 out each month pays about A$12.83 now and A$25.67 from December. GST-registered businesses quoting an ABN are not charged GST; other buyers add about 10%. There is no free API tier for Argon.

Why it matters for Australians

Consumer prices have not moved, and they are still billed in native AUD. The catch is the gap. A$7.99 buys Plus, but Argon starts at A$32.99, so the cheap plan now trails the flagship.

Businesses with residency rules should read the fine print. The Gemini Developer API priced above offers no region choice at all. On Google Cloud, Argon has no Sydney or Melbourne region. Singapore (asia-southeast1) is listed for processing and reserved capacity only. Pay-as-you-go runs in global, US or EU locations. If your data must stay onshore, Argon is not your model yet.

Does this change our recommendation?

No, with one caveat. Our review's top Australian Fit score rests partly on Sydney and Melbourne data centres. That still holds for Workspace and Google's existing models, but not for Argon, and the next edition of the review will reflect it. Google pitches Argon at coding, agent work and heavy research. Drafting emails, summarising documents and Gmail help do not need it, so AI Plus stays the right plan for most readers. Pro gets Argon in the Gemini app. Argon in AI Studio and Antigravity needs Ultra or the paid API. Read our current Google Gemini review.

Sources

1. Google, "Gemini 4 Argon is now available in the Gemini app", 13 Oct 2026: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-4-argon-availability/ (accessed 23 Oct 2026; Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20261022191120/https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-4-argon-availability/)
2. Google for Developers, Gemini API pricing (updated 22 Oct 2026): https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing (accessed 23 Oct 2026; Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20261022191115/https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing)
3. Google, "Gemini 4 Argon is now available for developers", 13 Oct 2026: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/build-with-gemini-4-argon/ (accessed 23 Oct 2026)
4. Google Cloud, Gemini 4 Argon model page (GA, regions): https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/models/gemini/4-argon (accessed 23 Oct 2026; Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20261022192242/https://docs.cloud.google.com/gemini-enterprise-agent-platform/models/gemini/4-argon)
5. Google, Gemini subscriptions, Australia (browser on an Australian connection): https://gemini.google/au/subscriptions/?hl=en-AU (accessed 23 Oct 2026; Wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20261022192207/https://gemini.google/au/subscriptions/?hl=en-AU)
6. European Central Bank reference rates, 22 Oct 2026 (USD 1.1205, AUD 1.5980 per euro): https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml (accessed 23 Oct 2026)

Read the full Google Gemini review →