$10 Monthly Developer Program credits visible in GCP Billing but AI Studio forces Prepay top-up (No available credits)

Google AI Studio
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1

Hi,

I have an active Google AI Pro subscription which gives me $10 monthly Gen AI & Cloud credits via the Google Developer Program.

Current situation:

  • The credits are correctly issued and visible in Google Cloud Billing > Credits (CREDIT_TYPE_MONTHLY, “Disponible”, ~10$ remaining)

Problem:
Every time I try to use AI Studio or generate an API key, I get redirected to the “Acheter des crédits” page with $0 Prepay balance. The system refuses to use my existing Developer Program credits.

I already:

  • Re-applied the benefit in My Benefits

  • Created new projects

  • Contacted Google Cloud Billing Support

The support agent confirmed it’s a known “handshake issue” between Developer credits and the new Prepay system, and said an initial top-up ($10–25) is required to unlock the Paid Tier.

Question:

  • Is there currently any workaround to use the Developer credits without doing the initial Prepay?

  • Or can the team help manually sync/apply these credits?

This seems to affect quite a few users recently. Any update or official solution would be appreciated.

Screenshots attached:

Thank you!

2

Did you fixed the issue? Im having the same issue

3

Did you fixed the issue? Im having the same issue

4

Looking into this ,

A quick follow up, @kevin_bandara @SaidTorres3 are you also on the pro/ultra plan ?

5

Hi,

I’m on Google AI Pro plan and i have the exact same issue

I requested the $10 credit, and while these credits are visible in the Google Cloud console, they are not appearing in Google AI Studio.

Yesterday, I was able to make several API requests via Google AI Studio, and I can clearly see the usage charges in Google Cloud, which are correctly deducting from my ‘Developer Program’ balance.

However, I am now receiving errors from the Google AI Studio APIs stating that I have no available balance: Error 429 (RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED): Your payment credits are depleted.

I have attached a few screenshots for clarity

MixCollage-05-Jun-2026-09-20-AM-8661
MixCollage-05-Jun-2026-09-20-AM-86611920×2800 327 KB

6

Yes, we are in pro plan, I contacted google support they told me this:

Hello Torres,

Greetings from Google Cloud Support! I hope you are doing well. My name is Praveen.

Thank you for reaching out regarding the recent charges on your billing account “01F4AD-######-######”. I understand you were expecting these costs to be covered by your Google Cloud Platform free trial credits, and

I am happy to clarify why these charges occurred and how to prevent them from moving forward.
After reviewing your account activity, I found that the charges stemmed from API keys generated through Google AI Studio.

While Google AI Studio is an excellent environment for rapid prototyping, it operates on a separate billing pipeline from standard GCP projects. Consequently, GCP Free Trial credits do not apply to usage within Google AI Studio.

To ensure your usage is billed against your GCP free trial credits, you will need to migrate your workflow to Vertex AI within the Google Cloud Console. Here is why this change is necessary: Integrated Billing: Vertex AI is a core GCP service. When you enable the Gemini API within Vertex AI, consumption is tracked as a cloud resource, allowing the system to automatically apply your trial credits.Enterprise Features: Vertex AI provides robust tools for scaling, including IAM for enhanced security and managed infrastructure for production-grade applications.

Additionally, to prevent further charges, I recommend that you disable the Gemini API currently in use and ensure that no active API keys remain enabled.Please note that once the API is disabled, it may take up to 32 hours for the changes to fully propagate. After this period, I will be able to review the final charges and proceed with requesting the maximum possible adjustment on your behalf.Kindly let me know once you have disabled the Gemini API so that I can continue with the next steps.

Adjustments usually are not an option, but I think your situation is a genuine mistake that could happen to anyone. As a one-time courtesy, I will check with our specialized team to see if an adjustment is possible and advocate on your behalf. Please reply to this email if you wish to proceed with an adjustment.

I would like to inform you that there is no guarantee of an adjustment, since the final decision rests with our specialized team. Furthermore, please be aware that if approved, the adjustment might be provided for a partial amount of relief, and the remaining balance would still need to be paid.

To prevent further out of pocket expenses while utilizing your trial credits, please follow these steps:

Log in to your Google Cloud Console
Navigate to Vertex AI - Model Garden
Enable the Vertex AI API
Generate your credentials (API keys or Service Accounts) directly through the Vertex AI dashboard

Awaiting your response. If you have any further questions or need additional help, please feel free to reply to this email, and I will be glad to help.

Regards,
Praveen
Google Cloud Billing Support

8

You might wanna check back on that on mate. If I am understanding what they are saying, it means that the Gen AI & Cloud credits are no longer usable with Google AI Studio. However if we look at the benefits page. It says this ‘Start building in AI Studio and Vertex AI or any Google Cloud product.’ Meaning it is 100% by advertisement usable with AI Studio. I dunno man, if its a bug its a bug, but if its no longer usable that has to breach something. I mean strait up false advertisement given it stated or something more.

If this is confirmed, it might be worth taking a screenshot of the benefits page regarding that. Remembering that the system worked perfectly fine with the credits not even 48 hours ago. Because it might, might be false advertising/Bait and switch if, If its not a bug.

And in regards to a potential, again I am not fully sure but maybe a potential breach of contract. We signed up with the plans that list specific features and benefits active from the moment of purchase. By removing the credit-linking mechanism without giving users explicit, advanced notification or a prorated refund option, Google unilaterally changed the material value of the contract you paid for.
Take everything I just said with a grain of over reactive salt though.