I Needed to Use Google's Gemini 2.5 Advanced to Figure Out How to Cancel Google's Gemini 2.5 Advanced
TLDR: How to cancel your free trial of Google's Gemini 2.5, go to:
SETTINGS -> CHANGE MEMBERSHIP PLAN -> VIEW MORE PLANS -> DOWNGRADE -> SUBSCRIBE
I have been loving all the AI tools and want to try them all. I signed up for Gemini's 2.5 model for the free trial and within an hour found I still like like the combo of Claude Code and Chat GPT better. It took another hour (plus one more to write this blog post) to figure out how to cancel my new "AI subscription" without also losing my other data kept with google. I thought there was some new rule about this but Google seems to be making it as difficult as possible to cancel.
Manual Labor
In trying to figure out how to cancel I poked around the Google One settings for a solid five minutes. Clicked on "Plans." Clicked on "Settings." Clicked on my profile picture hoping for divine intervention. Nothing said, "Let me stop paying you!" Google searches yielded lengthy forum posts filled with the digital ghosts of others lost in the same maze while Google offered to let me, "Post to the Community" for help. Thanks Google and fuck me I guess?
What's the most advanced tool I have? Oh, right. The AI I'm trying to cancel. The irony wasn't lost on me. "Hey Gemini," I typed, "How does one escape your clutches?" (Okay, I asked how to cancel Gemini Advanced).
Its answer? A novella. Three different methods, paragraphs upon paragraphs explaining the subtle nuances of *giving Google less money*. It was like asking for directions to the bathroom and getting a lecture on municipal plumbing codes. Helpful? Sort of. Reassuring? Not at all.
Digital M.C. Escher
Follow the yellow brick road... This, is where things get educational in that special way that makes you want to throw your computer out the window. We're entering the land of Dark Patterns: user interfaces designed not to help you, but to trick, nudge, or just exhaust you into doing what they want (like not cancelling).
Exhibit A: The "Modification" Ruse. The actual "Cancel" button ONLY cancels everything, so gets us nowhere. No "Cancel AI" button in plain sight. Instead, you hunt for "Settings" and then the entirely unhelpful "Change membership plan." Change? No, Google, I want to *leave*. It's like calling the eject button the "Altitude Adjustment Lever."
Exhibit B: The Microscopic Print. Once you click "Change plan," do you see cancellation options? Hell no, because fuck you. You need the eyes of a hawk (or maybe just zoom your browser to 300%) to find a tiny text link, labeled "More Options" or something equally dismissive.
Exhibit C: The "Buy To Cancel" Maneuver. If you successfully navigate the tiny link obstacle, prepare for peak absurdity. You often land on a screen where, to proceed towards cancellation, you might have to click a button related to the *plan you already have* - sometimes even labeled "BUY"! It's genius, in a truly evil way. "Want to cancel? First, pretend you want to buy!"
Exhibit D: The Warning Barrage & Linguistic Acrobatics. Of course, there are warnings. "Are you SURE?" "Think of all you'll lose!" And then, the final chef's kiss: confirmation screens that use words like "Subscribe" or "Confirm Purchase" when you are doing the literal opposite. It's designed to make you hesitate, second-guess, maybe just close the tab and resign yourself to paying forever. Welcome to the Hotel California of subscriptions.
Show, Don't Tell
Trying to explain this mess to Gemini was getting tricky. "I'm on a screen, it has buttons, one is grey..." wasn't cutting it. Then, a lightbulb moment, dim but functional: Screenshots! I could show the AI the madness I was witnessing.
Suddenly, the AI's advice got way more specific. It could see the screen! It knew the buttons! It was like it finally understood the specific brand of hell Google's UI team had cooked up. This was the turning point:
Okay, you're in the right place now! This screenshot shows the "Google One settings" page, and you've correctly found the "Change membership plan" section.
You are very close! Although you don't see an immediate "Cancel" button right next to your "AI Premium (2TB)" current plan in this view, the cancellation option is typically accessed from here:
Look closely within the "Change membership plan" section: Sometimes, below your current plan details or even below the upgrade options, there might be a smaller text link that says something like "Cancel membership", "Manage subscription", or similar... Scroll down within that specific box if possible.
Scroll down the entire "Settings" page: Look below the "Change membership plan" section... Is there another separate option further down...?
If no direct link is visible: Sometimes, you might need to click on an option that seems like you're changing the plan first... Clicking that might take you to a page where cancellation is an option...
Look carefully around the area showing your "AI Premium (2 TB)" plan... or scroll down the main Settings page...
So it Goes...
The whole ordeal left me wondering. Google builds this incredibly advanced AI that can write poetry, debug code, and probably diagnose my weird cough. Yet, they use interfaces that feel deliberately designed to trap you. The AI is smart; the user experience, sometimes, feels actively malicious.
Maybe this is the AI revolution we were promised: powerful tools helping us navigate the hostile digital world created by the very tools that build the mazes. A big, expensive, confusing circle.
-kyle