AI Studio / API Key Issue: Shows "No available credits" despite having $10 Developer Premium & $300 Free Credits

Google AI Studio
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1

Hi everyone,

I am experiencing an issue when trying to create a project and generate an API key in Google AI Studio.

In my Google Cloud Billing console, I can clearly see that I have two active credits (as I have subscribed the Google AI Pro plan):

  • $300.00 GCP Free Credit (100% remaining)

  • $10.00 Google Developer Program premium benefit - CREDIT_TYPE_MONTHLY (100% remaining)

However, when I try to set up my project for AI Studio, my Billing Tier status (Tier 1 - Prepay) shows “Action needed: No available credits.” Because of this, I am unable to use my credits for the Gemini API.

I have two questions:

  1. How can I resolve this “No available credits” error so I can use my existing $10 monthly credit for AI Studio? Does it have to do with the “Prepay” account type?

  2. What is the exact difference in usage between the $10 Developer Program credit and the $300 GCP Free Credit? Can both be used for the Gemini API?

I have attached screenshots of my billing credits and the error message for reference. Any guidance on how to properly link these credits to my AI Studio project would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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2

You first need to add credits to your account with your credit card.

This means you need to bind a billing account to your project and setup the pre-pay plan.

As per the google docs:

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.

3

Doesn’t work for me. Despite having $10 each month, Google AI Studio still deduct the usage from my card directly.

4

I encountered a similar issue and resolved it by using Gemini Cloud Assist. After verifying the details, it appears there is a specific ‘disconnect’ between how Google AI Studio and Google Cloud handle billing credits.

Here is the breakdown of why your credits might not be showing up:

1. Gemini API (AI Studio) uses a “Prepay” model
Even if you have a Google Cloud billing account linked, the Gemini API via AI Studio (ai.google.dev) now requires you to manually purchase prepayment credits (minimum $10) to access the paid tiers. Standard Google Cloud credits (like the $300 welcome bonus) cannot be used to buy these AI Studio prepayments.

2. The $10 Monthly Developer Credit
While the $10 credit from the Google Developer Program is a great benefit, it is typically applied to your Google Cloud Invoice at the end of the month. Because AI Studio expects you to ‘load’ money into a separate prepay bucket first, it often doesn’t ‘see’ those monthly GCP credits as available for immediate AI Studio usage.

3. The Solution: Use Vertex AI to consume Cloud Credits
If you want to use your $300 welcome credits or your $10 monthly premium benefits directly, you should use Vertex AI in the Google Cloud Console instead of standalone AI Studio.

  • Vertex AI is ‘Postpay’—it bills your Cloud account directly, which is where those $300 and $10 credits live.
  • Switching is easy: You will need to enable the Vertex AI API in your Google Cloud Console and use the Vertex AI SDK (the google-cloud-aiplatform library) instead of the google-generativeai library.

Summary Tip:
Check your AI Studio Settings > Plan. If it says ‘Tier 1 (Prepay)’ with a ₹0/$0 balance, you will get the ‘credits depleted’ error regardless of your Cloud Billing status. To use your existing credits, either manually ‘Add Credit’ in AI Studio or migrate your code to the Vertex AI endpoint."