Gemini API Free Tier Unavailable - Project Restricted

Gemini API
1

Hello Google AI Team,

I need assistance with Gemini API Free Tier access.

Project details:

  • Project Name: VSCode-Gemini-Free

  • Project ID: vscode-gemini-free-51281..

  • Status: Restricted

  • Billing Tier: Free tier unavailable

  • API Key: Created successfully

My Google account age has already been verified. I have also completed the account security verification steps.

I want to use Gemini API for personal development and AI coding in VS Code using the Free Tier, without enabling paid billing.

Could you please:

  1. Explain why my project is restricted?

  2. Review my project’s eligibility for the Free Tier?

  3. Help me enable Free Tier access if my project is eligible?

Thank you for your assistance.

2

Hello @hello_team ,

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:

  1. 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.

  2. Ensure you have completed age verification by navigating to Google Account Age Verification and verifying date of birth in Google Account Personal Info.

  3. Once age verification is configured, retry your request or create a new API key in Google AI Studio.

  4. 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.