For a year, many of us in India have used paid AI tools without paying. Jio users got Google AI Pro. Many of us claimed a free year of ChatGPT Go. This week, that year starts to end.
Here is my take, and it is the same thing I tell my mentees: the free year was never a gift. It was a trial of your habits. Before you pay around Rs 400 a month, keep only the tool that actually saved you hours.
What changed this week
Three things happened close together.
- Jio's Google AI Pro offer has closed to new users. According to MobileTelco, the offer ran from 30 October 2025 to 29 October 2026. If you claimed it in time, you keep your remaining access as long as you keep an eligible 5G plan active. New recharges now get a 12-month Canva subscription instead: Canva Pro Lite on the Rs 349 plan, Canva Pro on the Rs 399 plan.
- Jio-bundled Google AI Pro users lose third-party models in Antigravity from 2 November. On the Google AI Developers Forum, a moderator wrote that the Jio plan "is a promotional offer" and that "third-party model access on promotional plans will end on November 2, 2026." In another thread, a moderator said the plan keeps Gemini 3.8 Flash, while Gemini 4 Argon and Claude 5.5 need a directly billed plan. Users there called it a bait-and-switch.
- ChatGPT Go free years start renewing from 4 November. Each free year ends 12 months after you redeemed it, and OpenAI then charges the current Go fee, Rs 399 a month on the web, unless you cancel (BestAI.in, Swap Biswas). I wrote a full guide on that decision: Your Free ChatGPT Go Year Is Ending. Should You Renew or Cancel?
My take: you are now the product test
Free plans are not charity. They are how companies find out whether you will build a habit. The Jio change makes this very clear: the plan said "Pro", but Google treats it as promotional, so it gets less.
That is not a reason to be angry and pay for everything. It is a reason to be honest. A year of free use is the best data you will ever have about which tool you really need. Use it.
The 7-day AI subscription audit
This is the simple method I use with my mentees. It takes about ten minutes a day.
- List every AI tool you have. Free, bundled, paid. Write the renewal date and price next to each one.
- For 7 working days, log real tasks only. Each time you use an AI tool for actual work, write one line: the task, the tool, and roughly how many minutes it saved compared with doing it yourself.
- Mark the "would pay" tasks. If the free tier would have done the same job, it does not count towards paying.
- Add up the hours per tool. One tool usually wins by a wide margin. That is your answer.
- Do the money check. At about Rs 400 a month, ask: did this tool save me at least two hours a month that I value more than Rs 400? For most working professionals, the winning tool passes easily. The others rarely do.
- Cancel or downgrade the rest before renewal. Set a phone reminder two days before each renewal date. Cancel where you subscribed: on the website, in Google Play, or in the App Store.
- Review every quarter. Prices and plans change fast. What won in November may not win in March.
How to pick between tools that tie
If two tools score close, choose by the work you do most, not by which one is trending. Writing and research, coding, design, and document work each favour different tools. I break that down by job in Which AI Tool Should You Pay For?
If you are on the Jio plan and you only used it for chatting and summaries, Gemini Flash may still be enough. If you relied on Claude inside Antigravity for coding, your audit will tell you quickly whether a direct paid plan is worth it.
What I'd stop doing
- Paying for three tools "just in case".
- Renewing because the card is already saved.
- Choosing a tool because an influencer said it is the best this week.
Pay for the tool that earned it in your own work. Let the rest go.
If you want help building AI habits that actually save you hours, see our programs at The Arthi AI Collective: https://thearthiaicollective.com/programs
Sources
- MobileTelco, "Jio Gemini Offer Ends as Canva Pro Subscriptions Replace It on Recharge Plans", 1 Nov 2026: https://mobiletelco.in/telecom/jio-gemini-offer-canva-pro-recharge-plans/
- Google AI Developers Forum, "Why you guys are removing Third-Party models like Claude for Jio-Users?": https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/why-you-guys-are-removing-third-party-models-like-claude-for-jio-users/186617/5
- Google AI Developers Forum, "Jio-bundled Google AI Pro: Loss of Third-Party Model Access After Nov 2, 2026": https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/jio-bundled-google-ai-pro-loss-of-third-party-model-access-after-nov-2-2026/196373
- BestAI.in, "ChatGPT Go Free Offer Ending: Will You Be Charged Rs 399?": https://bestai.in/guides/chatgpt-go-free-year-ending
- Swap Biswas, "ChatGPT Go Free in India: What Happens After 12 Months": https://swapbiswas.com/blog/chatgpt-go-free-india/