Gemini API - Free tier limit is 0, cannot use API despite valid key

Gemini API
1

Note: I am not a native English speaker. This post was written with the help of machine translation. I apologize for any awkward expressions.

I am trying to use the Gemini API, but I receive the following error when making a request:

429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED
limit: 0, model: gemini-2.0-flash

The error message shows limit: 0, meaning the free tier quota is set to zero.

What I’ve tried:

  • Created API key from Google AI Studio (aistudio.google.com)

  • Chatting directly in Google AI Studio works fine

  • However, API requests using the key fail with the above error

  • Tested with multiple models (gemini-2.5-pro, gemini-2.0-flash) - same issue

  • Created a new personal Gmail account and tried again - same issue

Account Information:

  • My primary Google account is linked to a school/educational institution

  • I enrolled in a “Gemini Pro free for students” program around June 2025, and I am still actively using it

  • I also tried with a completely new personal Gmail account, but got the same error

Questions:

  1. Why is my free tier limit set to 0?

  2. Is API access not included in the student program?

  3. How can I enable API access for my account?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

3

Hi @user4261,

Welcome to the Forum,

Google has recently made major updates to the Gemini API quotas, eliminating free tier access for several models. If you encounter a “Limit is 0” error, it signifies that these specific models no longer offer a free daily quota through the Gemini API.

To resolve this, please consider the following options:

  • Switch to a paid account (enable billing) to unlock the required quota.
  • Try using the Gemini 2.5 Flash model, which may still provide a limited free tier.

You can find more details in this community thread.

Thank you!