Google: Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models)

The terms in full

Standing Gemini Developer API Free tier: standard input and output are marked free of charge for eligible models, subject to project-level RPM, TPM, RPD, and sometimes model-specific IPM or TPD limits. RPD resets at midnight Pacific time. Google no longer publishes one guaranteed numeric quota table: active limits vary by model, project tier, and account status and must be viewed in AI Studio; specified limits are not guaranteed. Google AI Studio usage is free of charge in available regions.

• When it runs out Not stated by the provider.
• Clock Google states no end date for the Free tier. Requests per day quotas reset at midnight Pacific time, and Google states that rate limits are subject to change.
• Region Available only in Google's listed supported regions. The Additional Terms state that API Clients made available to users in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom may use only Paid Services, although unpaid Gemini API quota and AI Studio access can otherwise be offered there under the stated special data terms.

Models

On 2026-10-07 the Gemini Developer API pricing page marks standard Free tier input and output as free of charge for Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, Gemini 3.5 Transcribe Live, Gemini 3.5 Transcribe, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS, Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview, Gemini 3 Flash Preview, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemini 2.5 Flash Native Audio, Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview TTS, Gemini Embedding 2, Gemini Robotics ER 2 Preview, Gemini Robotics ER 2 Streaming Preview, and Gemma 4. The pricing page does not list Gemini 2.0 Flash, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Gemini Embedding, Gemini Robotics ER 1.6 Preview, or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview; those names appear only in the Batch enqueued tokens table on the rate limits page, which covers paid tiers. Free access is specific to both the model and the serving mode: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview, Gemini Omni Flash, the Nano Banana image models, Veo 3.1, and the Lyria music models show Free tier 'Not available,' and the batch, flex, and priority tables are free of charge for some models and not available for others.

Signup, payment, data

• Signup required; a Google account, an active project, and a Gemini API key are required, and the Additional Terms require users to be 18 years of age or older
• Card / payment not required for the Free tier; linking an active billing account is the qualification for paid Tier 1
• Training Provider says it may use your prompts or outputs to train or improve models.
• Data terms For Unpaid Services, Google uses submitted content and generated responses to provide, improve, and develop Google products, services, and machine-learning technologies; human reviewers may read and annotate them. In the EEA, Switzerland, and UK, the Paid Services data-use terms apply even to free-of-charge access.

What the provider's page says

Every structured number above is backed by one of these quotes, checked verbatim against the page our crawler fetched. A field with no quote is shown as not stated.

• payment “Free Active project or free trial N/A” source

Evidence pages, re-read nightly

• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing
• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits
• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/billing
• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/available-regions
• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms
• https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/api-key

Change history

1. 2026-10-07 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail, clock)
   • models detail On 2026-10-07 the Gemini Developer API pricing page marks standard Free tier input and output as free of charge for Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, Ge
   • clock Google states no end date for the Free tier. Requests per day quotas reset at midnight Pacific time, and Google states that rate limits are subject to change.
2. 2026-10-01 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail On 2026-10-01 the models whose pricing tables mark Standard Free tier input and output as free of charge are Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, Gemini 3.
3. 2026-09-30 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail, signup)
   • models detail Models whose pricing tables mark standard Free tier input and output as free of charge, as listed on 2026-09-30, are Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash
   • signup required; a Google account, an active project, and a Gemini API key are required, and the Additional Terms require users to be 18 years of age or older
4. 2026-09-29 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail, clock)
   • models detail On 2026-09-29 the Gemini Developer API pricing tables mark standard Free tier input and output as free of charge for Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, G
   • clock No end date is stated for the Free tier. Requests per day quotas reset at midnight Pacific time, and other limits are enforced per minute or per day depending on the model.
5. 2026-09-25 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail On the Gemini API pricing page as of 2026-09-25, the models whose Standard tables mark Free tier input and output as free of charge are Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking
6. 2026-09-24 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail On 2026-09-24 the pricing page marks standard Free tier input and output as free of charge for Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3
7. 2026-09-23 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail On 2026-09-23 the models whose pricing tables mark standard Free tier input and output as free of charge are Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Pre
8. 2026-09-18 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail Models whose pricing tables mark standard Free tier input and output as free of charge, checked on 2026-09-18, are Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, Gem
9. 2026-09-17 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
   • models detail On 2026-09-17, the pricing tables that mark standard Free-tier input and output as free of charge covered Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Live, Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Previe
10. 2026-09-04 Terms changed: Google Gemini API free tier (Flash-class models) (models detail)
    • models detail Models whose current pricing tables mark standard Free-tier input/output as free of charge include Gemini 3.8 Flash (added to the pricing page on 2026-09-03), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Live Translate, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, Gemini 3.1 Fla