Google removes paywall on Gmail's Help Me Write and AI summaries, making them free for everyone

Google drops the paywall on Gmail's most useful new tools

Features such as Help Me Write, Suggested Replies, and AI Overviews are now rolling out to everyone for free. If you thought the best Gmail tricks were only for paying subscribers, you're not alone. For quite some time, Gmail's most helpful new AI features have only been available to premium users. That's changing now. Google is removing the paywall and giving three of its most useful tools to every Gmail user for free. Before this change, getting all the AI features in Gmail meant subscribing to high-tier plans like Google AI Plus, Google AI Ultra, Google AI Pro, or other Premium tiers. Now, that barrier is gone. Regular Gmail users will soon get a big upgrade in how they manage daily emails without spending a dime. So, what do you get? First is Help Me Write, the most interactive tool. You type a prompt, like "write a polite follow-up about a delayed invoice," and Gmail creates a draft for you. You can edit, improve, or send it right away. If you don't like starting from scratch, this feature can save you time. Next is the update to Smart Replies, now called Suggested Replies with personalization. Instead of basic one-liners, Gmail now understands your conversation and suggests responses that match your tone and writing style. If you prefer short replies, it keeps them brief. If you write in a more conversational way, the replies do too. You can still edit the message before sending, but most of the work is already done for you. The replies also sound much more natural than before. Finally, for anyone overwhelmed by endless "Reply all" chains, there are AI Overviews. These are summaries that appear at the top of long or complex email threads. If you've ever opened an email with 20 replies and felt lost, you'll notice this feature right away. It's perfect for those times when you've been away and come back to a full inbox.

Gmail making Help Me Write, AI summaries, & Suggested Replies free for all

Besides previewing the future of Gmail today, Google is making a number of AI features that previously required a subscription free for personal accounts. "Help Me Write" lets you enter a prompt to draft entire emails. You can Refine the message with options like Formalize, Elaborate, and Shorten. Those tools, along with Polish, can also be used on an email you've already written. This is available on the web, Android, and iOS by tapping the pen icon badged with an AI spark. Looking ahead, Gmail will update Help Me Write with "better personalization" that leverages context from your other Google apps. Meanwhile, personalized Suggested Replies are an update to Smart Replies that go beyond generic responses by incorporating your context and tone. Gmail looks at the context of the conversation to match how you write. Say you're coordinating a family gathering and your aunt replies asking if she should bring cake instead of pie. Suggested Replies can instantly draft an initial response in your tone and style, leaving you free to refine it before giving it your approval. When opening a long email thread, an AI Overview card might appear at the top with a bulleted summary of key points. These three features previously required a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription. Starting today, they are rolling out to all personal users in the US, with global availability following.

Gmail Users Can Now Access These Three AI Features Without Paying

Google today made three Gmail AI features free for all personal account holders in the United States, removing the subscription requirement that previously locked them behind its Google AI Pro or Ultra tiers. "Help Me Write" allows users to enter prompts to draft entire emails from scratch. Like Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools, Help Me Write includes refinement options like Formalize, Elaborate, and Shorten, and users can also apply Polish to messages they've already written. The feature is available on the web, Android, and iOS, and can be accessed by tapping the pen icon with an AI spark badge. Gmail is also rolling out personalized Suggested Replies, an evolution of Smart Replies that goes beyond generic responses. The feature analyzes conversation context and matches a user's writing tone and style. For example, if a colleague asks about rescheduling a meeting for another day, Suggested Replies can draft an initial response that reflects how the user typically communicates, after which it can be reviewed before sending. The third newly free feature is AI summaries for long email threads. When opening a lengthy conversation, an AI Overview card may appear at the top with a bulleted summary of points discussed. The changes come amid Google's preview of a new "AI Inbox" feature arriving in the next few months. The redesigned view will appear as a new option alongside the traditional inbox, offering a personalized briefing that surfaces important information without requiring users to open individual messages. Google's AI Inbox also includes a "Suggested to-dos" section highlighting bills, reminders, and short-term tasks, along with "Topics to catch up on" that provides context for messages that are important but not immediately actionable. The feature is currently available to Trusted Testers and will roll out more broadly later this year, according to Google.