Want Gemini to add events to your Google Calendar effortlessly? That’ll cost you.
This week brings exciting news for those who rely on the Google Workspace suite for daily tasks. A new feature powered by Gemini in Gmail allows users to quickly add events to their Google Calendar just by clicking a button. This is a major improvement over the current process, where users need to manually create events in another window. The new functionality makes scheduling a breeze, but there’s a catch: this feature isn’t free for everyone.
Although I don’t yet have access to this specific Gemini feature on my Google account, it began rolling out yesterday and is expected to be fully available by the middle of next month. It might take a few weeks before it reaches everyone, so don’t worry if you don’t see it just yet. Additionally, users will need a paid tier of either Google Workspace or Google One AI Premium to access this feature. Google One AI Premium starts at $20 per month, offering 2TB of storage and unlocking additional Gemini features, including access to Gemini 2.0 Pro and Deep Research.
One of the more practical Gemini abilities that is also behind a paywall is its ability to handle large PDFs—up to 1,500 pages at a time. This has been incredibly useful for research purposes, allowing me to sift through massive documents more efficiently than ever before. On top of that, since I’ve had access to Gemini, I’ve had some fun exploring its potential in more personal ways. For example, I’ve figured out how to input birth charts into Gemini and ask it questions about personality traits and characteristics. It has given me deeper insights into astrology, enabling me to connect various elements quickly and accurately.
Despite working with Gemini’s new features as part of my job, it wasn’t until recently that I realized I was using a paid feature. I had seen dozens of press releases about Gemini’s updates, but it didn’t click until I started checking in on my Google One account to see what new capabilities were available. This is when I noticed that many of Gemini’s most useful features are locked behind a paywall, and I began exploring those options more consciously.
I also went into my Gmail settings to turn on all the “smart” features, which rely on AI to perform their magic. These include features like the calendar event feature I’m discussing, though it hasn’t yet been fully rolled out to my account. It’s a bit of a waiting game for now, but the potential benefits of this AI-driven functionality are exciting. While waiting, I’ve become increasingly aware of how much access to the best features of Gemini depends on having a paid subscription.
During my research for this article, I stumbled upon an interesting detail: a dead link to a question that had been posted only nine hours earlier. The question, which popped up in search engines despite being broken, asked, “Why are some Gemini features locked behind a paywall?” This question seemed to resonate with a lot of users, and it left me wondering if Google would ever provide a direct answer.
It’s clear that the rollout of premium features for Google One and Google Workspace is part of Google’s strategy to monetize its advanced AI capabilities. Many of Gemini’s best and most practical features are restricted to those who are willing to pay for them. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily tools, it’s likely that many other advanced features will also be locked behind paywalls. This reflects a broader trend where premium functionality, often powered by cutting-edge technology, requires a subscription to access.
While the move to charge for these advanced features might frustrate some users, it’s not entirely unexpected. We’ve seen similar trends in other tech companies, where premium features, once considered novelties, eventually become exclusive to paying customers. For many users, these AI-driven tools offer immense value in terms of time saved and efficiency gained, which makes the subscription cost worth considering.
But it also raises questions about accessibility. As the best features of Gemini and other AI tools become increasingly gated by paywalls, will users who can’t afford these subscriptions miss out on the full potential of these tools? Will Google and other companies find ways to balance accessibility with their need to monetize their innovations? These are questions that will likely continue to surface as AI becomes more embedded in the products we use every day.
In the meantime, we can only wait to see how Google responds to user concerns about the paywall. It’s clear that Gemini’s most powerful capabilities are currently reserved for paying customers, but as more users ask why certain features are locked away, it will be interesting to see whether Google will adjust its approach or provide more transparency about their decision-making process. Until then, it’s a good reminder that many of AI’s best features come with a cost.
