# Get a Gemini key: FREE or paid

> AI Studio issues a Gemini key on the FREE tier with no billing account, and Direct Connection moves that key from a header into the request URL.

- Canonical: https://big-agi.com/docs/connect-gemini
- Minimum tier: open  [Open ⊂ Free ⊂ Pro - a tier only ever ADDS to the Open baseline]
- Kind: provider · Last content update generation: 2026-07-27 · Review by: 2026-10-27
- Answers: Where do I get a Gemini API key? · Do I need a Google Cloud project and billing, or is AI Studio enough? · Does Direct Connection work with Gemini?

AI Studio hands out a Gemini key without a billing account attached, which is the usual card-free way into this set. The trade is written on the provider's [pricing page](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing): free-tier content is used to improve its products, paid-tier content is not.

## Creating the key in AI Studio

1. Open [aistudio.google.com/apikey](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey). The older `/app/apikey` path still lands there.
2. Create the key and pick the project it belongs to.
3. Copy it before leaving the page.

## Which console you used decides the bill

A key made in AI Studio with no billing account sits on the free tier. A key created against a project that carries Cloud billing sits on the paid tier. Same vendor, two consoles, two keys - and the console you chose settles both whether you owe money and which content-use term applies to you.

## Adding it to Big-AGI

Open **Models** (`Ctrl + Shift + M`) and press **More Services** if the **Setup AI Models** wizard appears. Then **Add** -> **Gemini**, paste into **Gemini API Key**, and press **Models** - the list filling in below is your confirmation ([add and manage your keys](/docs/connect-models)).

## What there is to cap

A free-tier key has no bill, so its limit is a [rate limit](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits) instead. Once the key is bound to a paid project, put a [Cloud Billing budget](https://console.cloud.google.com/billing/budgets) on that project. Big-AGI's cost readout is an estimate and never a limit.

## Where the key travels

| Route | The key travels as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| server path | `x-goog-api-key` | a request header |
| Direct Connection | `?key=<key>` | appended to the request URL |

Direct Connection can be turned on once the key is in the browser; the query form is what Google accepts from a browser.

> **Direct Connection works only with your API key stored in the browser**, and with an AI service that permits direct browser calls (CORS). Where it cannot be used, requests route through the Big-AGI fast edge servers instead - everything still works, within the standard upload size and time limits.

## Related

- [Connect an AI service](/docs/connect-models)
- [What your provider does with your text](/docs/privacy-data-flow)
- [Direct Connection](/docs/feature-direct-connection)