Can’t access higher usage tier in AI Studio despite spending over $250 and first payment over a month ago

Gemini API
1

Hi everyone,

We’ve been actively using the Google AI Studio (Gemini API) for over a month now. Our total spend on Google Cloud has already exceeded $250 USD, and our first payment was processed more than a month ago.

However, I still don’t see any option to upgrade our API key usage tier in the AI Studio dashboard. We need to move to Tier 2 or higher to support production workloads (we’re generating AI-based podcasts for thousands of students, and the current Tier 1 rate limits are blocking functionality).

Could someone from Google confirm how long it typically takes for the upgrade option to appear, or if there’s an additional step we need to complete (e.g. verification, billing setup, or form submission)?

Any help or clarification would be greatly appreciated — this is currently blocking a live production feature.

3

Hi @Filip_Till,

In order to qualify for Tier 2 upgrade, the Total spend: > $250 and at least 30 days since successful payment.

Please refer to this document for more information

5

Hi @Krish_Varnakavi1 ,

Thanks for the reply!

Yes — that’s exactly my situation. Our total spend is already over $250, and the first successful payment was made more than 30 days ago, but we still don’t see any upgrade option in the AI Studio “API Key” section.

Could you please check if there’s anything else we need to do or if this needs to be manually reviewed on Google’s side?

Thanks again for your help,

Filip

7

The upgrade is automatically triggered @Filip_Till.. Manual action is not required.. Just make sure to get qualified for the tier upgrade and wait for 30 days.