Gemini API Project Restricted — Request for Free-Tier Access Review (No Paid Billing)

Gemini API
1

Hello Google AI Developers Team,

I am developing an Android application called IronMind and integrating the Gemini API through Firebase AI Logic using the Google AI backend.

My Google AI Studio project has the following details:

  • Project name: IronMind

  • Project ID: ironmind-3896..

  • Error: Your project has been denied access. Please contact support.

  • Firebase AI Logic monitoring status: PERMISSION_DENIED

  • Google AI Studio project status: Restricted

  • Billing tier: Unavailable

I have configured Firebase AI Logic in my Android application and registered the app with Firebase App Check. I have also registered a debug token for local testing, but Gemini requests are still failing with PERMISSION_DENIED.

I would like to use the Gemini API Free Tier only. I do not want to activate paid billing or incur API charges. I understand that free-tier access may have usage limits and that unlimited requests are not guaranteed.

Could you please review my project and clarify:

  1. Why is my project marked as Restricted?

  2. Is my project eligible for Gemini API Free Tier access?

  3. Can this restriction be reviewed or resolved without enabling paid billing?

  4. Is there any additional verification or configuration required to use the eligible free tier?

I would appreciate guidance on resolving this issue while remaining on the free tier.

Thank you.

image
image1920×1020 172 KB

2

Hello @Sanket1 ,

Getting a 403 API error response and / or seeing “Unavailable” next to your project in AI audio 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.