Google has announced the release of Gemini 2.5 Flash specifically for developers, allowing them to tailor various elements of the model to better meet their needs. This launch highlights that OpenAI is not the only company debuting new AI models; Meta has also introduced its Llama 4 models.

With the arrival of Gemini 2.5, we can expect to see a range of robust AI tools originating from Google. Previously, customers had access to Gemini 2.5 Flash for a while, especially students through a free Gemini Advance plan.

Now, the focus shifts to developers who are eager to explore the features of this updated model. For free users, there are several options available, including Gemini 2.0 Flash, along with experimental versions of both 2.5 Flash and 2.5 Pro.

However, to gain access to the most stable iteration of Gemini 2.5 Flash, users must subscribe to the Gemini Advance plan, which represents the most advanced model Google makes publicly available. While general users of Gemini 2.5 Flash are limited by Google’s default settings, developers are granted the freedom to modify aspects of the model, thus customizing their experience.

This flexibility is significant, as Gemini 2.5 Flash operates as a powerful reasoning model requiring computational “thought” to generate responses. Developers can choose to disable this reasoning ability if desired or implement “thinking budgets,” controlling the number of thinking tokens the model utilizes.

This option allows for cost optimization while using the model. The pricing for Gemini 2.5 Flash is set at $0.15 per million tokens for input, $0.60 per million tokens for output, and $3.50 for reasoning, marking a 50% increase compared to its predecessor, Gemini 2.0 Flash.