Billing setup complete but Quota Tier stuck on "Free tier" — multiple projects, multiple keys

Gemini API
1

I’ve set up billing correctly but AI Studio continues to show “Free tier” for every API key I create. I’ve now tried this across multiple projects and keys over two days with the same result.

What I’ve done:

  1. Created a Google Cloud billing account with a valid payment method (not free trial credits)

  2. Created a project (“Test Again” — gen-lang-client-0631488633) in AI Studio

  3. Linked the billing account to the project — confirmed in Cloud Console under Billing → Account Management → linked projects

  4. Completed the billing setup flow in AI Studio — received the confirmation message: “Your Google Cloud billing account and Gemini API project are now linked. You can now access higher rate limits, advanced models, and more exclusive features.”

  5. Created a new API key within the billed project

  6. Quota Tier column still shows “Free tier” with no clickable upgrade link

  7. Repeated the entire process with a brand new project and new API key — same result

What I’ve verified:

  • Billing account is NOT a free trial — it’s a full paid account with a real payment method

  • Project is confirmed linked to billing account in Cloud Console

  • AI Studio completed the billing flow and showed the success confirmation

  • Tried hard refresh, incognito browser, creating new keys — all still show Free tier

  • This has persisted for 24+ hours

Environment:

  • Google AI Studio (aistudio.google.com)

  • Date: March 8-9, 2026

  • Goal: Access Gemini 3.1 models at paid tier rate limits

Expected: Quota Tier should show “Tier 1” after billing setup Actual: Quota Tier shows “Free tier” despite billing being fully linked and confirmed

Is there a known sync issue currently? Can someone on the Google AI team verify my account/project status on the backend?

Thank you.

3 Likes
2

I’m having the same issue, so annoying. You’d think they’d want to make it easy for us to give them money

3

Same I have the same issue. I also use a different google account and different credit card, but it is still not working for me.

4

I’m getting the same problem. Tried every possible way to get off “Free Tier”. Still stuck on “Free Tier”

5

Hi

Can you DM me with your project numbers ?

1 Like
6

I’m facing the exact same issue with mine as well. Shows “Free Tier” instead of “Tier 1”.

Hope someone is working on a fix for this.

7

Is there any update on this? I’ve tried recreating API keys, payment methods, signing in and out of google accounts; tried everything at this point. I link up billing and it confirms a paid API key is linked, but I can’t do anything in any model. It keeps saying I’m on a free account and I’ve reached a quota when I haven’t been able to do anything. Trying to access Nano B Pro 2..

1 Like
8

Same problem here. I wanted to make use of 3.1 pro, and I’m getting 429 error…

1 Like
9

You might have to give them a month to update it

1 Like
10

No update, no progress.
No help.
Disappointing!!

1 Like
11

Same issue. Tried re-adding the project and re-creating the key - nothing works, still says Free Tier although there’s a payment method associated with the project.

1 Like
12

I’m having the same problem. No fix so far.

1 Like
13

Still having this issue…

14

Does a google AI employee look at this forum?

Looks like theres a few people that need help. will someone look at this soon?

15

I am also encountering this issue. Just upgraded the billing, but new api keys are stuck at free tier.

16

Same issue confirmed here too — billing linked, confirmation message received, but the quota tier still shows “Free tier” on all API keys.

A few things worth checking for anyone stuck on this:

  1. Make sure you’re using the correct project — go to console.cloud.google.com, confirm the project you linked billing to, then create the API key specifically within that project. Sometimes AI Studio defaults to a different project.
  2. Check the API key’s project — in AI Studio under “Get API key”, each key shows which project it belongs to. Verify it matches the billed project, not some auto-generated one.
  3. Wait up to 48 hours — some users report that the tier upgrades with a delay after billing is linked, even if the quota page looks stuck.
  4. Submit a support ticket via support.google.com/gemini-api if it’s been more than 48 hours — this seems to be a backend sync issue that requires manual intervention.
    Hopefully Google addresses this soon — it’s clearly affecting a lot of users.
17

I’m stuck on tier 1 prepay even though i have credit and i’m getting a “429”

 Attempt 1 failed with status 429. Retrying with backoff... _ApiError: {"error":{"code":429,"message":"Your prepayment credits are depleted. Please go to AI
      Studio at https://ai.studio/projects to manage your project and billing.","status":"RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED"}}
18

it should automatically update