Gemini 4 Carbon Is GA on the Paid Gemini API: $2/$10 Until 30 November, Then $4/$20

Verdict: Gemini 4 Carbon is finally a model you can call, but budget for it at $4/$20 per 1M tokens, not the $2/$10 you see this month. Google opened the API to every paying developer on 10 November, and the introductory price ends on 30 November. Carbon stays conditional in our directory. Access was the old reason. The new reasons: every benchmark is Google's own, we have not tested it, there is no free tier, and the price doubles on 1 December. It now shares exactly the same rate card as Gemini 4 Argon.

What happened

• GA on 10 November. Google's Gemini API changelog entry for that day says gemini-4-carbon is released "at introductory pricing of $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens through November 30, 2026."
• Open to all paying developers. Google's announcement the same day puts Carbon on the paid API in Google AI Studio and Android Studio, and in Gemini for business and CodeMender for enterprises, at the same introductory price as Gemini 4 Argon.
• The price after 30 November. Google's footnote: "After the introductory period expires on November 30, 2026, the price of $4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens will apply." The pricing page confirms $4/$20 starting 1 December.
• Paid tier only. The pricing page lists no free tier for Carbon, the same as Argon.
• Cyber stays gated. Carbon for cyber work does not open up. Google tells security teams to "Apply to join the Fairwind Program to get access to Carbon for cyber on a rolling basis."
• Consumer and agent rollout. Carbon is rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers in Google Antigravity, the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search. Antigravity also gets a /swarm command that, in Google's words, turns "a single prompt into a coordinated team of agents you can track in real time."

Why it matters

When Carbon launched on 28 October, only Fairwind cyber defenders and trusted partners could use it, and there was no public API id. That barrier is gone for anyone with a paid Gemini API key.

The evidence for paying frontier rates is still thin. Google says Carbon ranks first on CursorBench 4.0, Perplexity's WANDR and Zapier's AutomationBench, with "more than 2X lower cost per task compared to the next best external model." All of those claims come from Google's own announcement. We have not run Carbon ourselves.

Price is the other catch. On 12 November Google shipped Gemini 4 Hydrogen at $1.50 input and $7.50 output per 1M tokens, with a free tier and no introductory period on the pricing page. From 1 December, Carbon costs about 2.7 times that on both input and output. Google positions Carbon as its most capable reasoning model and Hydrogen as the efficient everyday one.

What changes for you

• Trial now, while it is cheap. Run gemini-4-carbon on your own tasks before 30 November at $2/$10.
• Budget at $4/$20. Any production plan should assume the 1 December rate.
• Benchmark against Hydrogen. Run gemini-4-hydrogen on the same tasks. If it holds up, it costs far less and has a free tier.
• Already on Argon? Carbon costs the same, so the choice between them is purely about results on your workload.
• Security teams that need Carbon for cyber work still have to apply to the Fairwind Program.

FAQ

Is Gemini 4 Carbon on the free tier?

No. Google's pricing page lists Carbon on the paid tier only.

What does Gemini 4 Carbon cost after November?

$4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens, starting 1 December 2026.

Can anyone use Carbon for cyber now?

No. The cyber configuration still requires an application to Google's Fairwind Program.