pages/billing.txt

route: /gemini-api/docs/billing
title: Billing
description: 

This guide provides an overview of different Gemini API billing options,
explains how to enable billing and monitor usage, and provides answers to
frequently asked questions (FAQs) about billing.
About billing and tiers
Billing for the Gemini API is based on your payment history.
Usage tier
Qualification
Billing tier cap
Free
Active project or free trial
N/A
Tier 1
Set up and link an active billing account
$250
Tier 2
Paid $100 + 3 days from first successful payment
$2,000
Tier 3
Paid $1,000 + 30 days from first successful payment
$20,000 - $100,000+
New accounts begin on the Free Tier, which allows access to
certain models in the Gemini API and AI Studio,
up to the models' free tier rate limits.
To deploy your applications directly from Build mode, you can use the
Google Cloud Starter Tier. This tier lets you publish up to 2 full stack
applications without setting up a Google Cloud project or billing account.
See Deploying from Google AI Studio for
details and refer to the Google Cloud Starter Tier documentation for more information.
To access higher rate limits, use advanced models, and ensure your prompts and
responses are not used to improve Google products*, you can
link a billing account and Prepay to move to the
Paid Tiers.
Then, you'll move through higher tiers based on cumulative spend and account
age. At Tier 3, you may have the option to switch to Postpay
billing.
Tiers, rate limits, and billing account caps are all determined at the billing
account level.
* Enterprise-grade data privacy: For more information on data use
for paid services, see the Terms of Service.
Set up billing to access the Paid Tier
You can create a project and set up billing, or import an existing project, to
upgrade to the Paid Tier in Google AI Studio.
Upgrading from the Free Tier to the Paid Tier means linking a billing account
and prepaying to add a minimum of $10 (or equivalent in other
currencies) of credits to your account.
Go to the AI Studio API keys page,
Projects page, or anywhere you see
Set up billing button in AI Studio.
New users will have a project and API key created for them by default.
If you need a new key, click Create API key
and follow the dialog to add a key-project pair to the table.
Find the Free Tier project you want to upgrade to the Paid Tier, and click
Set up billing under the Billing Tier column.
If you've never set up a Google billing account before:
You'll be asked to select your country to agree to the Terms of Service.
Then, fill in or confirm your contact information and payment method to continue.
If you have set up Google billing accounts in the past:
You'll be asked to choose from your existing billing accounts.
If you don't want to use any of your existing accounts, click Add new
billing account and fill in or confirm your contact information and
payment method to continue.
Next, you will either be:
Asked to prepay a minimum of $10 to complete billing
setup (meaning your account is auto-assigned to the Prepay billing
plan),
Given the choice between Prepay and Postpay
billing plans for your account.
Assigned to a Postpay billing plan for an intermediary period
until the new Prepay system propagates to all users (starting March 23, 2026).
After prepaying or selecting Postpay, your account setup is complete.
Upgrade to the next paid tier
If you're already on a paid tier and meet the criteria
for a plan change, you will be automatically upgraded to the next tier
(subject to processing times).
Verify billing status
After you have linked a billing account to your project, you
can monitor its status on the
AI Studio Billing page. Unlike the free
tier, paid tier status is dynamic; while your usage tier is determined by your
account history, the Gemini API will only serve requests if you have a
positive Prepay credit balance.
On the Projects page, you'll be able to
see your project's tier and billing plan under the Billing Tier column. Any
billing status actions you may need to take for a project display in the
Billing Tier or Status columns:
"Set up billing" if the project doesn't have a billing account attached.
"Set up Prepay" if the project does have a billing account attached, but
is required to use a Prepay billing plan that needs to be set up.
"No credits" if the billing account is required to purchase
credits but the Prepay payments account isn't set up or the available credit
balance is depleted.
Click any of the messages to proceed with the necessary actions.
Monitor usage
You can monitor your usage of the Gemini API in
Google AI Studio in Dashboard >
Usage.
Billing plans
Billing plans for the Gemini API and AI Studio fall into two categories that
determine when you pay for usage: Prepay and Postpay. You can check your
assigned billing plan and manage payment methods on the
AI Studio Billing page.
Important: Prepay and Postpay billing plans start taking effect March 23, 2026.
Accounts that predate the introduction of Prepay and Postpay billing plans will
be evaluated and assigned a plan or offered the choice between plans.
Accounts created after the effective date might not be immediately affected;
you may be assigned a Postpay account initially, and be switched to Prepay once
the new billing plan system is fully released.
If you have a prepay billing account, you must add funds to your account before you can use promotional Cloud Credits. After adding funds, your promotional credits will be consumed first before your prepaid funds.
Prepay
In the Prepay billing plan, you purchase credits towards your prepay balance in
advance of your Gemini API usage, and your API usage costs are deducted from
your Prepay credit balance in near real-time.
You can prepay by adding credits into your account, or setting
up auto-reload. After credits are purchased, unused credits
expire after 12 months and are non-refundable, except after
switching to a Postpay account.
When your Prepay credit balance on the billing account hits $0, all API keys in
all projects linked to that billing account will stop working simultaneously.
Prepay credits apply only to Gemini API usage costs; you can't use
them to pay for other Google Cloud services.
Note: Prepay billing is subject to overages during the approximately 10 minute
billing pipeline latency. Long-running tasks like
batch mode and agents may continue to consume
credits beyond your balance before the system can process and halt usage.
New users default to the Prepay billing plan. Projects that pre-date the
introduction of Prepay and Postpay billing plans may need to update their
project's billing details before continuing to use the Gemini
API.
Note that Prepay is not available for Invoiced (or Offline)
accounts.
Buy credits
You can manually purchase credits in advance of your Gemini API usage to load
them into your Prepay account credit balance.
To purchase credits, go to the AI Studio Billing page and select Buy credits.
The minimum purchase is $10. The maximum amount of credits you can prepay for is
$5,000.
Note: Prepay users must purchase Prepaid credits before they can
use any Google Cloud credits that are eligible for the Gemini API. Once you have
an active Prepay credit balance, eligible Google Cloud credits are consumed
before your Prepay credit balance. When your Prepay credit balance on the
billing account hits $0, Google Cloud credits will no longer be consumed.
Auto reload
Auto-reload is an optional feature that automatically tops up your Prepay credit
balance when it's running low. This is useful to prevent service interruptions.
You can set up auto reload and see your auto-reload status in the Available
credits card on the AI Studio Billing
page. Click Setup auto-reload or
Manage auto-reload to set your payment method, reload amount, and the
minimum balance that triggers a reload payment.
Monthly auto-charge limit
The monthly auto-charge limit is available to Prepay users
and helps prevent unexpected costs from frequent automat
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