Explained: Why Google moved Gemini to token-based limits

Google has tightened how Gemini’s free and paid tiers work. Since May 17, 2026, Gemini Apps have run with compute-based usage limits based on prompt complexity, the model chosen, and the length of the chat, refreshing every five hours up to a weekly cap. The change is the consumer-facing edge of a compute shortage that has squeezed Google’s biggest enterprise customers for months, and it is reshaping how much free AI ordinary users get.