Using AI Pro plan benefit - Google AI Studio API credits

Google AI Studio
1

I am trying to use the $10/month Google AI Studio credits. The credits are linked to the correct billing account; I can see the credits in GCP Console. Yet I am unable to consume them because my AI Studio projects are stuck in Tier 1 Prepay. I should not have to add money to consume a benefit I am already paying for.

The documentation is very unclear on what is required to transition from prepay to postpay. I opened tickets with the Google One Support team that get closed out because the support team indicates I should deal with AI Studio support team. I opened a billing ticket in GCP that has been sitting in queue without being worked. I feel as though I am stuck between the consumer and enterprise support teams.

How can I take advantage of this benefit?

2

Hi there,

As a fellow user who also relies on that $10/month Google One credit, I can totally feel your pain. It is incredibly infuriating to see the credits sitting right there in the GCP Console, yet completely blocked from being used just because AI Studio is stuck on “Tier 1 Prepay.” And don’t even get me started on being bounced around between consumer and enterprise support teams—that kind of bureaucratic runaround is enough to drive anyone crazy.

I’ve looked into this exact issue before because the official documentation is notoriously useless on this specific transition. From what I’ve gathered from other users who faced the same roadblock, the GCP billing system has a highly frustrating quirk: to move from prepay to postpay, you often have to make a one-time, manual minimum deposit (usually around $10–$20) out of pocket first. It makes absolutely no sense that you have to add more money just to trigger a benefit you’re already paying for, but that seems to be how their system validates the account to unlock the tier.

If you’re in a hurry and want to get around this headache right away, I’d highly recommend doing a small manual top-up just to force the system to transition your project to the postpay tier. Once that changes, your Google One credits should finally kick in.

I completely empathize with your frustration. I really hope your ticket gets answered soon, or that a quick top-up sorts this mess out for you!

3

Thanks for the response, @JD_gemi_gravity. I added $10 in credits. I guess I just wait to see what happens next.

4

Did the addition of the $10 credit work?

5

No, no change yet. How to trigger the switch to pre-pay is not clear to me. I am not sure putting in money is sufficient.

7

I finally received a reply from Google Support. I was taken aback that the suggestion is to use Vertex instead of AI Studio. I don’t know why this isn’t communicated more clearly.

Dear redacted,

Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in response. I hope you are doing well. I’m redacted, and I’m following up on this case while my colleague is out of office.

I am reaching out to follow up on your query regarding your Google AI Pro subscription credit of $10.00 and using it with the Gemini API in Google AI Studio.

I have reviewed your Cloud Billing Account (ID: redacted) and wanted to provide you with the details of your services, usage, and how your credits are being applied.

1. Active GCP Services & Credit Deduction
Your Google Developer Program premium benefit of a $10.00 monthly Google Cloud credit is successfully applied to your Cloud Billing Account and is fully active.

Currently, your usage of other standard Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services is being completely covered and deducted from this $10.00 credit balance on your postpaid Payments Account. Because of this, no prepayment or standard charges have been billed to your linked payment method, as your available promotional credit balance is fully offsetting your active GCP usage.

2. Why Google AI Studio Shows “Prepay” or “Prepay required”
You mentioned that you are unable to use the Gemini API paid tier because Google AI Studio shows your project is in “Prepay” mode and displays “no available credits.”

This is due to a recent update in how Google AI Studio billing operates:

Prepaid Credits Model (Arcade Billing): Google AI Studio has transitioned its paid tier to a prepaid charging model (known as Arcade Billing) to manage high-demand usage. Under this model, customers are required to purchase credits in advance to access the paid tier of the Gemini API.
Separate Payments Accounts: Prepaid transactions for the Gemini API are processed through a separate, dedicated “PrePay” Payments Account linked to your billing account. However, your standard Google Developer Program credits are applied to your regular postpaid Payments Account.
Credit Exclusion: Standard promotional, Google Cloud, or Google Developer Program credits cannot be transferred to the PrePay Payments Account or used to fund prepaid credits in Google AI Studio. As a result, your AI Studio interface does not reflect your $10.00 credit balance and asks you to add funds.

3. Recommended Alternative: Vertex AI Gemini API
If you wish to utilize your monthly $10.00 Google Developer Program credit for Gemini API usage, we highly recommend using the Vertex AI Gemini API instead of Google AI Studio.

Vertex AI is a standard, postpaid Google Cloud service.
All Vertex AI Gemini API charges are billed directly to your standard postpaid Payments Account.
Consequently, any charges incurred from using Vertex AI’s Gemini models are fully eligible to be automatically deducted from and covered by your monthly $10.00 Google Cloud credit balance.
If you would like to proceed with Vertex AI, you can easily enable the Vertex AI API in your Google Cloud Console project and configure your API requests to use the Vertex AI endpoint.

If you have any further questions or need assistance setting up Vertex AI to leverage your credits, please let me know by replying directly to this email, and I will be glad to assist you.

Regards,

Name Redacted
Google Cloud Support

8

how to deploy app in google cloud in free Google ai studio…Can you help me from this .