Request for Manual Review: Account Restricted / Billing Unavailable (Free Tier)

[h_d_i]

Subject: Request for Manual Account Review – Gemini API Free Tier Access Restricted

Hello Gemini API Team,

I am requesting a manual review of my account restrictions in Google AI Studio.

Currently, all projects in my account show a status of Restricted, and the Billing Tier displays Set up billing — Unavailable. I intend to use the Gemini API strictly within the Free Tier for basic development.

Account Details:

• Primary Project ID: gen-lang-client-046504275.. (Default Gemini Project)

• Intended Usage: Non-commercial development and testing via the Free Tier.

Steps Taken on My Side:

1. Verified that 2-Step Verification (2FA) is active on my primary Google Account.

2. Removed unused secondary projects to clear project clutter.

3. Confirmed no public API key exposure or policy-violating automated traffic occurred.

It appears my account may have been caught in an automated anti-abuse flag during project setup. Could a member of the Google AI Studio team please manually inspect my account to restore Free Tier access?

Thank you for your assistance!

[Mahesh_Sutar]

Hi @h_d_i ,

You’re running into an “Unavailable” status and 403 errors on your free tier project. This typically indicates that an automated flag has been placed on your account.

Since you are on the free tier, could you please double-check the following steps to help clear the flag?

• Check Model Availability: Ensure that the model you are requesting is available on the free tier plan. You can verify model availability and your quotas on the AI Studio Rate Limit dashboard.
• Age Verification: Ensure you have completed age verification by navigating to Google Account Age Verification and verifying your date of birth in your Personal Info.
• Phone & 2-Step Verification: Complete Phone Verification and turn on 2-Step Verification (2SV) on the Google Account associated with your project.
• Retry: Once your age, phone, and 2SV are fully configured, please try creating a new API key in Google AI Studio and retrying your request.

If you have already completed all of these steps and are still blocked, the most immediate way to restore access is to add prepayment credits directly in Google AI Studio or by attaching a Google Cloud Billing account in the Google Cloud Console. Please note, however, that doing this will transition you off the free tier quota