r/GeminiAI • u/Username22458 • 16h ago

Other Gemini 4 usage limit is a joke

Asking a single, straightforward question eats 5% of your session allowance on the Pro plan. Meanwhile, over on Claude, running the exact same prompt on Opus uses less than 1%.

And before the usual replies roll in saying "you shouldn't use Gemini 4 for simple tasks, just switch to Flash": that is like buying a flagship phone and being told you have to manually go into settings and throttle your CPU down to 10% every time you send a text message, otherwise the phone dies in 20 minutes. Yes, a low power chip gets the job done for a text, but you are paying for a premium experience.

67 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

21

u/Relative_Rope4234 15h ago

I asked a simple question from Argon High and it ate 16% usage.

6

u/Aggravating_Band_353 14h ago

I got the exact same 16% used. I made one prompt. Used high as wanted to consolidate a chat I had with pro (comparing sealant products, for bath, sink etc.. - and all the tools required)

Its simple work, but needed research into the best products for my use cases and guidance on how to do the prep and work etc.. 

My weekly limit is now 4% also... Yikes. What's worse is that my perplexity pro on clause sonnet is basically the same level of detail - I imagine full Claude is even better... 

4

u/Luchador-Malrico 14h ago edited 14h ago

It’s sad because Argon could genuinely be a fantastic “day-to-day” model since it seems to be right in the sweet spot of not overthinking simple tasks like Astra, and more intuitive than Sol. But when a simple question ends up using more of my limit than a medium-sized task would on Astra 6 max, I just can’t see how this is a practical model for anyone, no matter what you use it for.

1

u/fiscal3498 13h ago

Did you give it a budget for the project?

1

u/Aggravating_Band_353 13h ago

No it was just in the gemini app on browser. I did set the thinking to high as I wanted the whole chat reconsidered and an answer/recommendations on all (2 different sinks, metal and porcelain, a bath, and also to seal my car bumper - so all different materials to bond to.Which I had worked with on about 6 prompts and answers with pro thinking) 

2

u/fiscal3498 12h ago

I don't have much experience with the other AIs but I've found with Gemini that little bugger will sniff out a crumb that you leave then scour every possible resource it can not caring about eating up the usage.

1

u/Aggravating_Band_353 11h ago

I take it all back. The usage limits are an issue which hopefully gets resolved, but I just used argon high thinking to sort out some code on py files I'm doing to do job searches. It's amazing. 1 time it understood a 40 page pdf of other gemini chat, 2x py codes, and the excel sheets they produce of jobs available - this mo fo sorted out all issues and created such enhanced code in just 1 prompt and output. I'm amazed. This was the result of dozens of Pro prompts previously.. I just made a new chat and uploaded all the files and typed what I wanted and boom, resolved.

I imagine in ai studio and antigravity argon will be even better. I just used a chrome tab. Wowee. I'm sold. It's a massive improvement on pro (which tbf has recently been lobotimised it seems).. It took about 3 to 5 minutes to answer. Very thorough. I didn't even prompt engineer. Made my day. Even if it's likely used another chunk of my usage allowance! 

2

u/fiscal3498 9h ago

Woah I didn't expect a pivot like that but I'm glad you figured it out.

1

u/Aggravating_Band_353 6h ago

Haha.. I didn't expect it either. Idk if it's because coding is it's strong point over writing, but it seemed to research a lot and find out information online by itself without me prompting.. Maybe it found the task 'fun' and committed more to it than my previous sealant type prompt? Maybe making a new chat helped as wasn't corrupted by previous flash and pro outputs, idk. But I was and am still solidly impressed. Even if the usage quota issue is still a problem 

9

u/Neat-Ad9196 15h ago

idk why Google limit request,this makes the quota look ridiculous.

3

u/Gaiden206 14h ago

Yeah, the usage rates within the Gemini app are sorta crazy right now. Hopefully they adjust that soon.

Just an FYI, but Argon is also available in Google Search AI Mode, which is where I use it for simple queries. Using it there also has no effect on the Gemini app usage quota.

1

u/gahata 14h ago

Huh, no such option there on ios, neither in app nor browser. The canvas option also doesn't appear for me.

1

u/Gaiden206 14h ago

Strange. Are you a Pro or Ultra subscriber? Both of those options should be available to you if so.

1

u/gahata 14h ago

Pro subscription and I have argon in the gemini app

1

u/Gaiden206 14h ago

I'm not sure what's going on then. Argon was announced for AI Mode the same time as it was for the Gemini app. Only thing I can think of is that it just hasn't "rolled out" to you yet, but that doesn't explain the lack of a "Canvas" mode. 🤷

3

u/gahata 14h ago

Might be regional differences, same as Europe not getting Spark...

2

u/EvapeGT 15h ago

yeah its a joke . luckily chatgpt gave me free offer for their chatgpt plus ,im basically doing all i can to use my tokens and i still cant ran out also their gpt 6 on their web is practically infinite ,same with gpt 6.1 sol for codex coding .I didnt cancel my subscription on gemini cause i thought argon would be worth it so i extend ,but now yeah im gonna cancel this useless subscription

2

u/Greedy-Roll-922 14h ago

this. WTF is happening? I used to generate images for HOURS. Now I’m hitting a wall like in 35-40 minutes I plan to cancel if this is the new norm

1

u/likeastar20 15h ago

Yes it’s garbage

1

u/DopeZick 14h ago

it uses a lot when its on high, on medium its not that bad imo

1

u/writingpracticeman 14h ago

yeah, Argon is a total flop. barely any better than flash 3.8 for non-image gen stuff and what i can get out of my $20 claude plan has to at least literally 1000x what i get from gemini's $20 plan. lol. tripped and fell on their dick once again

1

u/DottorInkubo 12h ago

18% used just to rewrite an e-mail (I wanted to try it out for the first time). This is ridiculous

1

u/PineappleLemur 6h ago

Using the right tool for the job is a skill....

You want to use a jackhammer to peel a grape.. go head, but don't expect results that much better because you used a bigger "better" tool. It's naturally going to cost more.

Opus is a more efficient model from everything we see so far.

Also limited for Aragon specifically might simply be smaller. Why don't you use Fable for the same task?

What effort level did you use?

I don't understand why people sub here if they get better value elsewhere??? Is Google holding you at gunpoint? I have 3 subs for each the mainstream providers and use it differently depending on task.

0

u/Standard_Ad7704 15h ago

If you are not on the Ultra tier your flagship phone analogy is wrong.

3

u/Last_Fold_5871 15h ago

that's a fair point but even the pro tier is priced like a premium tool so people expect it to handle more than a couple prompts

2

u/Username22458 15h ago

For the same $20/month, the competition gives you way more headroom

3

u/PassiveGambler 15h ago

I think this is because other companies are offering only AI usage. Google tries to leverage more of their services to make the offer more appealing. I think most people here just care about the AI side of things for obvious reasons, but from a value proposition perspective, Google is offering cloud storage, AI integration in their email and office suite, and a few other goodies so it isn't a 1:1 comparison to something like Claude.

To be clear, I also wish they provided more usage, but I also want to be fair with comparisons.

2

u/Username22458 15h ago edited 14h ago

When you shop for a cell phone carrier, do you care about dropped calls, or do you stay on a bad network because they throw in free Netflix and Apple TV+?

1

u/hellyeahaeylleh 14h ago

Google isnt just the chat bot we know and hate. Their AI suite is amazing.

0

u/Dylan413 14h ago

.... Lol, I'd use WiFi calling and keep the Netflix and Apple TV. I have att and get almost zero signal in my house. It's never been an issue to me as there are ways to circumvent low signal when you have Wi-Fi.

0

u/Loltoor 11h ago

People complain all the time about limits on other $20 subscriptions.

1

u/LVMises 13h ago

  You bought a tool that has different setting depending on use and you don't want to have to learn how to use it cheaply. If you put premium in your car and drive it faster you will spend more than if you drive with regular and go slow

1

u/systemtoo 11h ago

Not necessarily. I just want the damn thing to handle learning of helping me discuss tall ship commands that will be given in German with anything resembling competence like not totally mispronouncing the other language and only in v4 does Gemini get there. Previously it was too awful to use, as was Grok (paid) and meta (free and worth exactly that). Chat GPT can do it but I need those tokens. Gemini is so awful that I always have plenty of usage available since I don't use it for anything I care about. And it's UI in Android is broken.

-4

u/zxzqzz 15h ago

It’s like buying a mid level pc and expecting to be able to run max settings.

1

u/adiahha 8m ago edited 4m ago

a very bad one, i am very close to cancle my subscription. also flash is beyond terrible and i never use it.