Free LLM APIs · checked 2026-10-22
Google AI Studio (Gemini API): what “free” actually gets you
Google's Gemini API, used through AI Studio, has a free tier for Gemini and Gemma models. It needs only a Google account. The terms for unpaid use differ from paid use in two ways that matter.
- Free allowance
- Per-model limits, shown in AI Studio
- Card needed
- No
- Trains on prompts
- Yes on the free tier (used to improve Google products)
- Main catch
- Not allowed in apps for users in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK
- Base URL
https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/
Limits
- Limits apply per project, not per API key, and differ by model. Google doesn't publish free-tier numbers in its docs: AI Studio shows the ones that apply to your project.
The fine print
- The terms say you may use only Paid Services when making API clients available to users in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The free tier can't power an app for people there.
- Setting up billing moves the project from the free tier to a paid tier, usually at once. Check the project's billing in AI Studio if you mean to stay free.
Your data
- On the free tier (Unpaid Services) Google uses what you send and receive to provide, improve and develop its products, and human reviewers may read it.
- Google's own advice for the free tier: don't submit sensitive, confidential or personal information.
- On paid services Google does not use prompts or responses to improve its products.
- These terms are for calling Google directly with your own key. OpenRouter's provider table lists Google AI Studio as not training on prompts sent through OpenRouter (kept up to 55 days), which is why Gemma models served that way show as "no training" in rankings.
Get started
- Sign in at aistudio.google.com and create an API key.
- Use base URL https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/ with an OpenAI-compatible client, or Google's own SDK.
- Check your project's limits and billing status in AI Studio.
Questions
- Is the Gemini API free?
- Yes, there is a free tier with per-model limits and no card. On it, Google may use your prompts to improve its products.
- Can I use the Gemini API free tier in an app for European users?
- No. Google's terms allow only paid services when making API clients available to users in the EEA, Switzerland or the UK.
- Does Google train on Gemini API free tier data?
- Google's terms say free-tier content is used to provide, improve and develop its products and may be read by human reviewers. Paid usage is not used that way.
Sources
Read on 2026-10-22. Providers change limits and terms often; the linked pages are what applies.
Which free models are worth using today, and who serves them: state of free LLM APIs and the open ranking on GitHub. One endpoint across free models, with your own Groq or OpenRouter key if you have one: ZeroLimitAI.