Gemini 4 Argon API pricing doubles to $4/$20 per 1M tokens after Nov 30
Google prices Gemini 4 Argon at $2 input and $10 output per 1M tokens through Nov 30, then $4 and $20. Budgets built on the launch rates fall short by half from December 1, on figures a dev.to guide takes from Google's pricing page.
The Engineer · Build desk
Before-and-after figure: the guide's example call, a 2,000-token prompt and a 1,000-token answer, costs $0.014 at the rates through November 30 and $0.028 at the rates after November 30.
| Measure | Value | As of | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example call, through Nov 30 | $0.014 | 7 | |
| Same call, after Nov 30 | $0.028 | 14 |
What happened
- Google made Gemini 4 Argon generally available on October 13, 2026.
- Google's Gemini API pricing page says Argon is not available on the Free tier or on the Google AI Pro plan, as dev.to quotes it.
- Calling the model requires a paid tier, starting at Tier 1, which needs linked billing.
- On October 13 Cursor listed Argon at the same price Google charges today: $2 for every 1M input tokens and $10 for every 1M output tokens.
Why it matters
- cost The increase per 1M tokens is five times larger on output than on input, and thinking tokens bill as output, so reasoning-heavy workloads absorb most of it.
- constraint Free-tier development has to happen on a different Gemini model, and an AI Pro subscription does not buy API access, so every Argon test call is billed.
- decision The model ID is stable, so production code can pin it today. The budget for that code needs the $4/$20 rate before the first deploy.
Both rates double, so the multiplier does not depend on the workload. According to a dev.to pricing guide, input moves from $2 to $4 and output from $10 to $20 per 1M tokens after November 30 [5]. Any mix of the two costs exactly twice as much from then on [13].
The guide prices one call. A 2,000-token prompt with a 1,000-token answer costs 0.002 x $2 + 0.001 x $10 = $0.014 at the current rates [7]. The same call costs $0.028 at the new ones [14]. The guide also says Argon's thinking tokens are billed as output [8]. The 1,000 tokens in that example are only the text the user sees. Any reasoning tokens go on top at $10 per 1M now and $20 per 1M later [6][8].
Caching softens input cost for repeat prompts only. It is implicit, and prompts of 4,096 tokens or more get a 95% discount on cache hits [17]. If that discount is a percentage of the input rate, a cache hit costs $0.20 per 1M tokens after November 30 against $0.10 now [18].
Resellers blur the baseline. OpenCode's promotion is "$60 usage for $10 til Nov 30" [9]. Taken at face value, that is $6 of usage per dollar paid [16]. It ends on the day the API rate changes.
All of this rests on one secondary source. Its rates are dated October 15, 2026 [11], and it includes a pitch for Apidog, a tool for developing against a free model first and switching to Argon by changing one variable [19]. It leaves out why Google scheduled the change, whether $2/$10 was ever labeled introductory, whether Google applies the cache discount as a percentage of the input rate, and what Cursor or OpenCode charge after November 30.
We'd budget $4/$20 for anything that will still be running in December, and treat $2/$10 as the price of the pilot.
What to watch
- Whether Cursor's Argon listing moves to $4 and $20 on December 1 or holds at $2 and $10.
- Whether Google confirms the 95% cache-hit discount still applies on top of the $4 input rate.
- Whether OpenCode extends the $60-for-$10 promotion past November 30.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap
- Insufficient
- Incentives30
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Gemini 4 Argon became generally available on October 13, 2026.
- [2]
Argon appears on the Gemini API models page as gemini-4-argon, a stable model without a -preview suffix.
- [3]
Google's Gemini API pricing page states: "Gemini 4 Argon is not available on the Free tier or on the Google AI Pro plan."
- [4]
A project must use a paid tier to call Argon, starting with Tier 1, which requires linked billing.
- [5]
The paid Gemini API tier is priced at $2/$10 per 1M tokens through November 30 and $4/$20 afterward.
- [6]
Cursor added Argon on October 13 and lists it at $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens, matching Google's current rate.
- [7]
With the rates available through November 30, a 2,000-token prompt and a 1,000-token answer cost 0.002M x $2 + 0.001M x $10 = $0.014.
- [8]
Argon's thinking tokens are billed as output, so the actual cost of a response can be higher than its visible text suggests.
- [9]
OpenCode added Argon to OpenCode Go on October 14 with the promotion "$60 usage for $10 til Nov 30."
- [10]
Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions are consumer plans, not API keys; the API pricing page specifically excludes the Google AI Pro plan from Argon API access.
- [11]
The Standard rates in the guide are those listed on Google's pricing page as of October 15, 2026.
- [12]
The Gemini API free tier still serves other models, but Argon is not one of them; an API key from a project without linked billing will not provide Argon access.
- [13]
Input ($2 to $4) and output ($10 to $20) both rise by a factor of 2, so any input/output mix costs 2x after November 30.
- [14]
The guide's example call costs $0.028 at the post-November 30 rates.
- [15]
The absolute increase per 1M tokens is five times larger on output ($10) than on input ($2).
- [16]
OpenCode's promotion offers $6 of usage per dollar paid, taken at face value.
- [17]
Argon caching is implicit only; prompts of 4,096 tokens or more receive a 95% discount on cache hits, and explicit caching is not supported.
- [18]
If the 95% cache-hit discount is a percentage of the input rate, a cache hit costs $0.10 per 1M tokens now and $0.20 per 1M tokens after November 30.
- [19]
The guide states that Apidog lets you develop against a free model first and switch to Argon by changing one variable.
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Sources
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- dev.toIs Gemini 4 Argon Free?
1 article · October 15, 2026
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