Is Google Gemini API still free?
Yes, with limits Partly. Google Gemini API had a free tier with notable restrictions on the vendor's public page on 2026-10-05.
The Gemini API has a free tier where several Flash and Flash-Lite models are free of charge under rate limits, and free-tier content is used to improve Google's products.
Free tier limits and listed figures
| Item | Value on the vendor page |
|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 Flash (free tier) | free of charge |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (free tier) | free of charge |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro (free tier) | free of charge |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (free tier) | not available |
| Gemini Embedding 2 (free tier) | not available |
| Grounding with Google Search | 5,000 free search requests per month, shared across Gemini 3.x models |
| Requests per minute and per day | not stated by the vendor |
Card and commercial use
- Credit card required
- not stated by the vendor
- Commercial use allowed
- not stated by the vendor
Gotchas
- On the free tier, content is used to improve Google's products; on the paid tier it is not
- Several models, including image, video and embedding models, are not available on the free tier
- Rate limits are on a separate page and the pricing page says they are subject to change
Recent change
The pricing page lists current prices for several models as valid through December 31, 2026, with different prices starting January 1, 2027.
Alternatives to compare
- Is OpenRouter still free? Yes, with limits
- Is Cloudflare Workers AI still free? Yes
- Is Cohere API still free? Yes, with limits
More in this category: AI and LLM APIs.
Source
Vendor page read by software on 2026-10-05, written out as text so you can copy it into your browser:
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing