Subject: ₹1,000 Prepay balance active, but project stuck on Free trial — Error during billing setup

Gemini API
1

My Gemini API billing appears to be stuck between Google Cloud Billing and Google AI Studio.

Project: Shopify-app
Project ID: gen-lang-client-00966044..
Prepay balance: ₹1,000
Payment date: September 2, 2026

Google Cloud Billing shows:

  • Prepay – AI Studio
  • Credit balance: ₹1,000
  • ₹1,000 added on September 2
  • Auto-reload: Off

However, in Google AI Studio → API Keys, the project still shows:

Billing Tier: Free trial

When I click Activate billing, I immediately receive:

Error during billing setup

The prepaid payment was successful and the credit balance is visible. I have not made another payment.

Could someone from the Gemini API billing team please investigate the billing/tier synchronization for this project and advise how to move the project to the Paid Tier?

2

Hello @AmitKayal,

Note: There is no manual billing sync process at our end.

This occurs because your payment was credited to your Google Cloud billing account (01DD1C-4ABDB9-CA...) rather than to the Google AI Studio prepaid wallet. And in GCP, a Free Trial billing account needs to be manually converted to a paid account, (steps here).

Additionally, balances on a GCP accounts do not automatically transfer to the separate Google AI Studio prepaid wallet, To be able to use GCP balance in AI Studio (post upgrading account to paid tier), you will need to add some prepayment amount directly in AIS wallet

Next steps:

  • Go to Google Cloud Console Billing Overview, select billing account 01DD1C-4ABDB9-CA..., and click the Activate button on the Free credit pane (or in the top toolbar banner) to upgrade to a standard Paid billing account.
  • Once your billing account is active in full paid standing, visit https://aistudio.google.com/billing to deposit prepayment into your AI Studio prepaid wallet.
  • Return to Google AI Studio to select your project gen-lang-client-00966... and verify your paid tier status.
  • If you still face issues, let us know.

PS: If you just intended to use AIS services and APIs rather than GCP, A much easier way would have been to just directly deposit money in AIS wallet

3

I have uploaded for Gemini API but still not able to consume.

4

Hello @AmitKayal ,

Can you share the screenshot and specific error message you are receiving?