Did Google's Free Student Plan Get Downgraded? 2025 AI Pro + 2TB vs 2026 AI Plus + 400GB

In our guide to claiming Google AI Plus free for a year we left one item marked unverified: Chinese-language media ran the headline “the free student AI plan has been downgraded”, but we had no concrete numbers on how much was cut, so we quoted the terms and refused to estimate.

The primary sources are now in hand. Here is the 2025 round and the 2026 round, side by side.

Last checked: 2026-08-24

Short answer

Yes, it was downgraded, and not by a little. In 2025, eligible Taiwan university students received Google AI Pro with 2 TB. In the 2026 round they receive Google AI Plus with 400 GB. Meanwhile, eligible US university students still receive Google AI Pro this year.

Line-by-line comparison

Storage dropping from 2 TB to 400 GB is a cut to one fifth. That one is not open to interpretation — both years’ official copy states it plainly.

What the gap is worth at today’s list prices

From our verification of Google’s Traditional-Chinese site (read directly from a Taiwan connection on 2026-08-09 — actual local list prices, not currency conversions):

• Google AI Plus: NT$165/month
• Google AI Pro: NT$650/month

Twelve months valued at today’s prices:

A gap of about NT$5,820 — this round is worth roughly a quarter of the previous one.

⚠️ This is back-calculated from today’s prices (checked 2026-08-09), not from 2025 list prices. Google permanently cut AI Plus from US$7.99 to US$4.99 on 9 June 2026 (and raised its storage from 200 GB to 400 GB), so the plan structure changed during the year. Treat this as an order-of-magnitude figure, not an exact “here is what you lost”.

US students get Pro this year; Taiwan does not

This is the sharpest point of the whole story: in the 2026 round, eligible US university students still receive one year of Google AI Pro free, while Taiwan students receive AI Plus.

Taiwan students who want Pro-level access (Nano Banana Pro, Gemini Notebook, Google Antigravity, 5 TB storage) have to pay a discounted upgrade price:

• NT$160/month (bundled with YouTube Premium Lite)
• NT$250/month (bundled with YouTube Premium)

For reference, AI Pro’s standard Taiwan list price is NT$650/month. The student discount is genuinely deep — but it is a discount, not free.

What the 2026 round actually includes

Google’s official Traditional-Chinese blog lists exactly three benefits for Taiwan students:

1. Gemini Omni model access
2. 2x higher usage limits (relative to the standard free tier)
3. 400 GB cloud storage

These sit alongside this year’s new Student Hub (gemini.google.com/students), which gathers course management and the Study Notebook features in one place.

⚠️ The “2x” baseline is a moving target. Our verification notes on Gemini’s free tier quote the official footnote: usage is measured in compute, which depends on prompt complexity, the features used and conversation length; it resets every 5 hours, with a separate weekly cap — and Google has never published the free tier’s actual compute figures. So “2x” means twice an undisclosed baseline. We mark this unverified and will not estimate how many messages it equals.

Three things not to forget

1. The redemption deadline is 31 December 2026. Miss it and the offer is gone.
2. A payment method is required, and it auto-renews. Google’s official blog states that once the free period ends, “the system will automatically charge NT$165 per month for the Google AI Plus subscription.” Cancel before expiry if you do not want that.
3. You must re-verify your student status every year to keep using it.

So is it still worth claiming?

Yes — with the right expectations.

• Treat it as a free-tier booster pack. 2x usage plus 400 GB is genuinely useful for coursework and research reading, and it costs nothing.
• Do not expect Pro. Nano Banana Pro, Google Antigravity and 5 TB belong to Pro. AI Plus does not include them; that costs NT$160–250/month at the student rate.
• Set two calendar reminders: one for the 31 December redemption deadline, and one for month 11 after activation — that is your last clean window to decide about the NT$165 auto-charge.

If you have not claimed it yet, our full Google AI Plus student walkthrough covers the step-by-step signup and cancellation flow. For a wider view of what a year of free AI subscriptions is actually worth, see free AI subscriptions, one year later.

Sources

• Google’s official Traditional-Chinese blog, “Unlocking AI learning superpowers for Taiwan students”: blog.google/intl/zh-tw/…back-to-school-2026 (2026 plan contents, NT$165 auto-renew)
• TechNews, 2026-08-20: Google expands Gemini study tools; the free student AI plan shrinks (US/Taiwan difference, upgrade pricing, Student Hub)
• TechNews, 2025-10-08: Students get a free year of Google AI Pro (the 2025 round: AI Pro, 2 TB, 9 Dec deadline)
• Our own price verification of Google’s Traditional-Chinese site (2026-08-09, Taiwan connection): see the Gemini tool page

All figures verified 2026-08-24. Plans and prices change without notice — check the terms shown on Google’s official student offer page before you sign up.