Dear Google Support Team,
I was looking for an AI API to use in my own software project and decided to use the Google Gemini API in my project due to its superior quality.
When I registered on your system and created an API key via Google AI Studio, I noticed that I was consistently given keys starting with the “AQ.” prefix instead of the previously standard “AIza…” format. From what I have read on forums, this is a new and more secure standard, but as a student, I have a critical question on my mind:
Currently, I do not have any regular income and I want to develop my project entirely within the limits of Gemini’s “Free Tier”. Will using this new “AQ.” formatted key cause me to face a surprise or high-amount bill in the future?
My expectation and request is that as soon as my free monthly/daily quota is exhausted, the system temporarily suspends API access (returning an error code) instead of automatically drawing money from my card. Can I get confirmation from you that no charges will be billed to my credit card or account without my knowledge?
I would be very grateful if you could enlighten me on this matter. Thank you in advance for your interest and support.
Best regards,