Google AI Studio do not use my $1300 credits shown on Google Cloud

Gemini API
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1

Hi everyone,

I’m currently facing a billing discrepancy where my Gemini API usage via Google AI Studio is charging my credit card directly, despite having $1,300 in active credits on the linked Google Cloud Billing account.

My current credit balance:

  • $1,000.00 – Trial credit for GenAI App Builder (Valid until April 2027)

  • $300.00 – Google Cloud Free Trial (Valid until July 2026)

The Problem: I have linked my AI Studio “Paid Tier” to the Google Cloud Project that belongs to this billing account. However, instead of drawing from the $300 Free Trial or the $1,000 GenAI credit, I am being invoiced and charged on my primary payment method.

My Questions:

  1. Does the $300 Free Trial credit cover AI Studio usage? Some community posts suggest that AI Studio is now excluded from Free Trial credits and only Vertex AI usage qualifies. Can a moderator confirm if this is the case?

  2. Product Scope for GenAI Credit: Is the $1,000 “GenAI App Builder” credit restricted solely to Agent Builder/Search, or can it be applied to Gemini 1.5/3.1 model tokens via the API?

  3. Correct Routing: If these credits only work for Vertex AI, what is the best way to migrate my AI Studio project to Vertex AI to ensure I am using my credits rather than out-of-pocket cash?

I would appreciate any clarity on why these specific credits aren’t being “seen” by the AI Studio billing system.

Thank you!

2

AI Studio is related to “Gemini API”, and Free Trial credit couldn’t cover it.

If you want to use the $300 for GPT Chat, you have to:

And “GenAI App Builder” credit does not apply to this.

3

The company made a change recently whereby cloud credits (the $300 free trial) cannot be used for AI Studio anymore; they are making us use only Vertex AI.

An official ticket was filed to have that reenabled; the company assigned me a Product Manager to handle it just today. Please Star (:star:) the issue if you are affected: Google Issue Tracker

4

The Vertex AI API was not able to be created for personal account. Have you solved this issue?

5

To be honest, I’ve never encountered this issue…

Any other details?

6

Just a heads up for anyone finding this thread later: the GenAI App Builder $1,000 trial credit cannot be used for direct Gemini API calls (via AI Studio OR API keys)

It only applies to “AI Applications” in Vertex AI specifically the Grounded Generation API (docs: https://docs.cloud.google.com/generative-ai-app-builder/docs).

DO NOT burn through regular Gemini API requests expecting it to be covered by this credit or you’ll end up with a surprise charge to your credit card that Google won’t refund

7

Same here: project syyn-48510.., A$3,000+ in active Google-issued Cloud credits, every API call returns 429 “prepayment credits depleted”, AI Studio shows No credits. Support case #72129156.