API
Google has scheduled the Gemini 2.5 models — 2.5 Pro, 2.5 Flash, 2.5 Flash-Lite and 2.5 Flash Image — for retirement from the Gemini API, directing developers to Gemini 3.x replacements
departs 16 Oct 2026
What this means for you
Google's official Gemini API deprecations page schedules the whole Gemini 2.5 generation for retirement. Gemini 2.5 Pro, 2.5 Flash and 2.5 Flash-Lite are listed with a shutdown date of 16 October 2026; the image model, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, goes two weeks earlier, on 2 October 2026. After a model's date, calls naming that model identifier stop being answered. Every 2.5 model has a named 3.x successor, so this is a version migration rather than a capability leaving the platform: text and multimodal generation continue, but on new model strings. The exposure is anything that hard-codes a 2.5 identifier — gemini-2.5-pro, gemini-2.5-flash, gemini-2.5-flash-lite or gemini-2.5-flash-image — in a request. One caution matters more than the date: Google states the listed dates are the "earliest possible dates" a model might be retired, not a guarantee it stays available until then. Read that as a floor, not a promise; move ahead of the date rather than up to it.
Where to go
Repoint each 2.5 call to the successor Google names on the deprecations page: gemini-2.5-pro to gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gemini-2.5-flash to gemini-3.6-flash, gemini-2.5-flash-lite to gemini-3.1-flash-lite, and gemini-2.5-flash-image to gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview. Because replacements exist on the same API, the mechanical work is a model-string change — but do not assume drop-in parity: model generations differ in output style, token limits, tool-use behaviour, latency and pricing, and note that two of the named successors carry a "preview" label, which is a moving target of its own. Validate quality and cost against your current prompts before the cutover. Because Google calls the shutdown dates the earliest possible, treat the migration as due now rather than in October.
- gemini-3.1-pro-preview (Google's named replacement for Gemini 2.5 Pro)
- gemini-3.6-flash (named replacement for Gemini 2.5 Flash)
- gemini-3.1-flash-lite (named replacement for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite)
- gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview (named replacement for Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
Google has put its entire Gemini 2.5 model generation on the retirement schedule. The company’s official Gemini API deprecations page lists Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite with a shutdown date of 16 October 2026, and the image model Gemini 2.5 Flash Image two weeks earlier, on 2 October 2026. After each date, requests naming that model identifier stop being served.
This is a version migration, not a capability being withdrawn. Every 2.5 model on the list has a named Gemini 3.x successor: gemini-2.5-pro points to gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gemini-2.5-flash to gemini-3.6-flash, gemini-2.5-flash-lite to gemini-3.1-flash-lite, and gemini-2.5-flash-image to gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview. Text and multimodal generation stay on the Gemini API — what changes is the model string in the request. For most integrations the mechanical work is small: update the identifier and retest.
The retest is the part that matters. Model generations are not drop-in equivalents — output style, context limits, tool-use behaviour, latency and pricing all move between versions, and two of the four named successors still carry a preview label, so their own behaviour can shift before they stabilise. Anything that depends on a specific 2.5 model’s characteristics should be validated against the replacement, not swapped on faith.
One line on the deprecations page is worth reading closely: Google describes the listed shutdown dates as the earliest possible dates a model might be retired, not a commitment that it remains available until then. That is the opposite of the usual reassurance a deprecation date gives. The safe reading is that October is a floor, not a deadline you can lean against — the migration is best treated as due now. Deprecated models keep answering until they are actually turned off, so nothing breaks the moment you read this, but the runway on the Gemini 2.5 line is finite and, by Google’s own framing, not guaranteed to run its full length.
Entry changelog
- — last reviewed.
- — Entry created from Google's official Gemini API deprecations page (ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations). Recorded shutdown dates: Gemini 2.5 Pro / 2.5 Flash / 2.5 Flash-Lite on 16 October 2026, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image on 2 October 2026, each with a named 3.x successor. Dates recorded exactly as stated; the page frames them as "earliest possible" retirement dates, noted in the entry rather than treated as guaranteed availability.
Spot an error or a changed date? Tell us and it’s corrected the same night.