I am trying to use Gemini 3.8 Flash with Nanobrowser. Shortly after I create an API key and start using it, my tier is changed from “Free tier” to “Unavailable”. Why does this happen?
Hello @triffon ,
Getting a 403 API error response and / or seeing “Unavailable” next to your project in AI studio indicates a flag has been placed on your account. To proceed:
If you’re on the free tier with no billing attached, please try the below steps:
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Check Model Availability & Rate Limits:
- Ensure that the model you are requesting is available on your current plan. For example, not all models are available on the free tier. You can verify model availability, quotas, and limits on the AI Studio Rate Limit dashboard.
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Ensure you have completed age verification by navigating to Google Account Age Verification and verifying date of birth in Google Account Personal Info.
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Once age verification is configured, retry your request or create a new API key in Google AI Studio.
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If completing these steps still does not restore access (or if using a model requiring a paid tier), you might want to consider adding prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio and/ or attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console. Please note this will mean you lose your free tier quota.
Hello @Mahesh_Sutar , thank you for your response.
- When I go to the AI Studio Rate Limit dashboard I see no data and an error message “Project quota tier unavailable. Please contact your project administrator for assistance.”
- When I go to Google Account Age Verification I see “You’re all set. You don’t need to take any action because your Google Account doesn’t require age verification. You can close this window.” My account is with Google Workspace for Education.
I am trying to understand why Free Tier is unavailable for me.