Google Widens Access to Gemini 4 Argon as Pricing and Availability Details Diverge
· TexaHub · LLMs & Foundation Models, Product & Platform Reviews, Artificial Intelligence
Google began rolling Gemini 4 Argon out to Gemini app subscribers on 13 October, with introductory API pricing of $2 and $10 per million tokens. Reports differ on who can use it through the API.
Rollout
Google began rolling out Gemini 4 Argon on 13 October to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search [2]. Developers can reach it through Google's API routes including AI Studio, while the Antigravity agentic development environment is limited to AI Ultra subscribers [2].
Google positions Argon for complex, multi-step work, with better reasoning and coding [2]. A daily roundup reports that Google says it ranks first on the Vals Index for coding, finance and legal work [3].
Pricing
Introductory API pricing is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, with cached input at $0.10 [1]. After the promotion, prices are $4 and $20 per million tokens, with cached input at $0.20 [1].
Artificial Analysis describes the discount as lasting at least one month, and Google had not given an end date in the material reviewed [1]. Batch, Flex, Priority and free-tier pricing have not been published, and there is no stated long-context surcharge [1].
Benchmarks and Caveats
On Artificial Analysis, Argon scores 53 on the Intelligence Index at high effort, level with GPT-6 Astra and about one point above GPT-6.1 Sol [1]. It trails Claude Opus 5.5 on Terminal-Bench by 9 points in Google's own table, and posts a 15% hallucination rate on AA-Omniscience against 51% for GPT-6 Astra [1].
Availability accounts conflict. A pricing analysis says Google announced Argon on 30 September and that an API call to the model returned a 404 on 1 October, with rollout first going to trusted cyber defenders through Google's Fairwind Program [1]. The later Gemini-app rollout broadens access beyond that limited release [2]. Developers should confirm current API access on Google's own documentation.
Sources
[1] Gemini 4 Argon Pricing: the $2/$10 Promo, the $4/$20 Bill, and What a Task Really Costs — eesel AI, Oct 2026
[2] Google Opens Gemini 4 Argon to Gemini App Subscribers — Let's Data Science, 13 Oct 2026
[3] AI News for October 15, 2026 - Daily Edition — AI Weekly, 15 Oct 2026