Gemini's Free Edition Now Eliminates Key Restriction

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Google’s Imagen 3 is one of the leading text-to-image AI models, but until recently, its features were largely restricted within the Gemini apps. Generating images of people was a privilege reserved only for paying customers—until now.

Generate Images of People for Free with Gemini’s App

If you’ve been using the Gemini web, desktop, or mobile app, you might have explored its image generation features powered by Google’s Imagen 3. Google made this feature available to all users in August 2024, offering various styles from “lifelike landscapes” to “playful claymation scenes,” as noted in their announcement on Google’s blog, The Keyword.

However, generating images featuring people was a different matter. This specific functionality was initially limited to subscribers of paid plans like Gemini Advanced, Business, and Enterprise users. If you attempted to create an image that included people with a free account, you would receive the following message:

“Generating images of people is currently only available in early access for Gemini Advanced users. Subscribe to Advanced here for early access to new features.”

As of February 2025, however, most users with free Gemini accounts can now generate images including people. If you still encounter an error message, the new feature might not yet be available for your account as the rollout appears to be gradual, beginning with users in the U.S. who have selected English as their language option.

It’s important to note, however, that you still cannot create realistic images of identifiable people or children due to Gemini’s guidelines.

How Does Imagen 3 Perform on Gemini Flash 2.0?

In February 2025, Google also rolled out its fastest Gemini model to free users. This model, known as Gemini 2.0 Flash, is described by Google as a “highly efficient tool,” which is promising news for those interested in image generation. AI-generated images typically take more resources and time compared to standard text outputs, but a more robust model can lead to higher-quality results.

Quality is particularly crucial when it comes to creating images of people. We’ve all seen early attempts at AI-generated humans that resulted in bizarre features—like distorted hands or vacant, eerie eyes. So, I approached Google’s AI image generator with a degree of skepticism as a free user.

To my surprise, I found Gemini’s ability to generate images containing people to be impressive. Given that this service is free, I expected less, but the initial images I received were high-quality, realistic, and appropriately aligned with my prompts.

You can also ask Gemini to make adjustments to an image without needing to start over with a new request.

Accessing Imagen 3 via Gemini for free has been an exciting development, but the restriction on generating images of people was a notable drawback. With this recent update, Gemini’s free service has become a formidable competitor to paid options like Midjourney.

While paid services generally offer more advanced features, such as the ability to customize image sizes, Gemini’s approach is user-friendly and immediately accessible. With so much being offered for free, one has to wonder if the early access options are still enticing enough for users to opt for Gemini Advanced subscriptions.