Free AI Gets a Cap: Samsung, Google, Apple and Hue Start Charging

What this is about

For two years, AI features on phones, in apps and in the smart home simply came included, at no extra charge. That era is ending now, and at several companies almost at once. Samsung is testing a subscription for Galaxy AI. Google is dropping Pro models from its cheapest Gemini plan. Apple only unlocks the new AI assistant in Logic Pro 13 with a subscription. Philips Hue is tying its AI automations to a new, more expensive bridge.

We lined up the four cases side by side and worked out the prices in euros. Along the way, we test a theory: you get charged where cloud computing costs pile up, meaning video, large models and agents (AI programs that complete several steps on their own). What runs on the device itself stays free. And people who've already paid lose features anyway.

Samsung: "free forever," but with a quota

On November 8, the blog SammyGuru reported on a test program called Galaxy AI Premium that it found in a Samsung app. According to the report, the standard features stay free: Browsing Assist, Now Brief, Creative Studio, Smart Capture, Samsung Keyboard, Photo Assist and Personal Agent. But for the first time, they get usage limits. Hit them and you can buy a credit pack. Credits are a balance that each AI request draws down. The alternative is the Max tier, with four times the quota and three exclusive features. Gen Video is supposed to "create AI videos from your photos," Bixby Action is supposed to "automate tasks across your apps," and there's no description yet for Daily Briefing. The code lists $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year. SammyGuru points out that Samsung's servers and the Galaxy Store set the final prices. The screenshots show placeholders such as "40,000 credits" in the monthly Max plan and a pack of 3,000 credits. A lock in the code suggests the subscription will launch first on the Galaxy S27.

A SamMobile report, which Android Authority added on November 9, names three paid tiers instead: Starter, Plus and Pro. Bixby Action would only be in the top tier, and a feature called "Galaxy Claw" also shows up. So the plans aren't settled yet.

Samsung didn't deny any of this when asked by Tech Advisor:

"The core features of Galaxy AI will remain free. […] Certain advanced capabilities or new services may be offered as a paid option in the future."

Samsung doesn't say what "core" means. In 2025, the company promised Android Police that everything that's "on your phone by default" would stay free forever. Technically, the leaked plan doesn't break that promise, because the features stay free. They'll just have a cap. There's no launch date or euro pricing for Germany. t3n estimates roughly €4.50 a month or €43 a year.

Google: Pro models only in a plan that costs 4.4 times as much

Starting November 13, Google AI Plus customers will no longer be able to select Pro models in the Gemini app or in AI Mode in Search. The customer email quoted by 9to5Google says Pro will then be "available only to Google AI Pro subscribers and above." AI Plus keeps Flash and Flash-Lite, the smaller and faster models. Old Pro chats can be continued with a different model. According to ad-hoc-news, Google isn't offering any compensation.

That's a clear step backwards. When AI Plus was cut to €4.99 in Germany in June, it still included Gemini 3.1 Pro, Deep Research and the Omni video model, according to Hardwareluxx. According to Google's plans page, AI Pro with Gemini 4 Argon now costs €21.99, or 4.4 times as much. That's €204 more per year. AI Ultra costs €99.99 or €219.99. The page also says limits reset every five hours until you hit a weekly limit, and that you can top up with AI credits.

Apple: buying it no longer means getting all of it

Logic Pro 13 has been available since November 5. According to the release notes quoted by MacRumors, the new "intelligent assistant (beta)" requires an Apple Creator Studio subscription. The assistant creates tracks on command, adds compressors or changes drum patterns. The notes for the €229.99 one-time purchase version don't mention it at all. Apple didn't mention the subscription when it announced the update in October. Apple's German Logic page still says:

"Logic Pro and MainStage have the same features whether you use the subscription or the one-time purchase versions."

Creator Studio costs €12.99 a month or €129 a year. Even with the subscription, monthly usage limits apply. According to smartwatchlife.jp, citing Apple's support document, extra usage can be purchased in eight countries, including Germany. For now, the assistant only understands English. Reports conflict on which models power it: the Japanese site says Google Gemini, while MacStories says models from Apple and OpenAI. Pages, Keynote and Numbers have followed the same pattern since October 23. The apps remain free, but according to ifun.de, their AI assistant only works with the subscription.

Philips Hue: the AI only comes with the new bridge

Hue doesn't charge through a subscription but through hardware. Custom AI Behaviors have been available since late October with app version 6.4.0, starting on iOS. You describe what should happen in plain language, and the AI builds an automation from it. According to Hueblog, this only works with the Bridge Pro. The old white bridge only gets bug fixes. Signify, the company behind Hue, hasn't given a reason. According to the manufacturer, the Bridge Pro has a processor five times faster and 15 times more memory. We couldn't find anywhere whether the AI actually runs on the bridge or in the cloud. At launch in September 2025, the suggested retail price was €89.99. Today, Philips charges €149.99 in its own store, while retailers sell the bridge for around €89, according to Smarthomeassistent. In Hueblog's test, the AI turned on every lamp in the room instead of the two requested. When asked a follow-up, it gave up, and rules created by the AI can't be edited manually in the app.

What applies where: the overview for Germany

A quick calculation for Logic: if you add the subscription to the purchased version, after just under 21 months you'll have paid as much again as the purchase price itself.

Testing the theory: you pay where the cloud computes

The price lists fit the theory well. According to Google's API pricing, Gemini 4 Argon costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Tokens are the small chunks of text a model reads and writes. Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75 and $3.75. So output from the Pro model costs a good 2.7 times as much. On December 1, according to the list, Argon's price rises to $4 and $20. Video is even pricier: with Omni 1.2 Flash, one second at 720p costs about $0.07, so a 15-second clip runs about $1.05. A quick calculation using Google's prices: the $4.99 for a Samsung Max subscription would buy you just under five of those clips. That said, nobody knows which model Samsung uses for Gen Video. MacRumors also suspects cloud costs are behind the Logic assistant subscription. Apple itself hasn't confirmed that.

But the theory has holes. Apple Intelligence sends larger requests to Apple's servers via Private Cloud Compute and still requires no subscription. Google Vids generates three free 15-second videos a month on a regular account: real cloud video with no paywall, just a cap. Meta offers AI image editing in WhatsApp for free. In the US, GM vehicles from model year 2025 onward include the Gemini voice assistant for eight years in the OnStar Basics package. And Hue shows that a paywall can appear even when it isn't clear whether any cloud computing is involved at all.

These companies aren't alone in the "quota instead of ban" pattern, either. Starting in December, OpenAI is merging ChatGPT and Codex into a shared token quota without saying how big it is.

Our verdict

Our take: the theory is half right. Cloud costs do a good job of explaining which features end up behind the paywall: video, Pro models, agents. But they don't explain whether something stays free. That depends more on what the AI is for. At Apple Intelligence, Meta and GM, it's meant to make a device, a platform or a car more attractive, so it stays free. At Samsung Max, Google AI Pro and Creator Studio, the AI is itself the product being sold. The free tier isn't dying; it's getting a cap. That's exactly what makes old promises so stretchy. Samsung's "free forever" can technically still hold with a quota, even though users actually get less.

In every case, the people paying the price are customers who've already bought in: Logic buyers don't get the assistant, AI Plus customers pay the same for less, and owners of the old Hue bridge need new hardware. Plenty is still unclear. Samsung's plans are only a leak, with no euro prices or German launch. None of the companies gives concrete numbers for its quotas. As long as that's the case, you can hardly compare in advance what you're getting for your money.