specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/RateLimits
provider: Google Gemini
providerId: google-gemini
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Generative AI
  - LLM
  - Google
  - Rate Limiting
description: Gemini API rate limits are scoped per usage tier (Free, Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3) and per model.
  Each tier defines RPM (requests per minute), TPM (tokens per minute), and RPD (requests per day) ceilings.
  Tier promotion is automatic based on cumulative spend and account age. Specific numerical limits are
  not statically published per model; they are visible in Google AI Studio per project. The Batch API
  has separate limits.
sources:
  - https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits
  - https://aistudio.google.com/rate-limit
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  resourceExhausted: 429
  quotaExceeded: 403
limits:
  - name: Free tier
    scope: project
    metric: varies
    limit: see AI Studio rate-limit page
    notes: Active project or free trial. Lowest RPM/TPM/RPD ceilings; varies by model.
  - name: Tier 1
    scope: project
    metric: monthly_spend_cap_USD
    limit: 250
    notes: Linked billing account. $250 monthly spend cap; higher RPM/TPM/RPD than Free.
  - name: Tier 2
    scope: project
    metric: monthly_spend_cap_USD
    limit: 2000
    notes: Reached after $100+ spent and 3 days on the account. $2,000 monthly spend cap.
  - name: Tier 3
    scope: project
    metric: monthly_spend_cap_USD
    limit: 100000
    notes: Reached after $1,000+ spent and 30 days. Spend cap ranges $20,000-$100,000+ subject to review.
  - name: Batch API concurrent batch requests
    scope: project
    metric: concurrent_requests
    limit: 100
  - name: Batch API input file size
    scope: batch_request
    metric: bytes
    limit: 2147483648
    notes: 2 GB.
  - name: Batch API enqueued tokens
    scope: project/model
    metric: tokens
    limit: see model-specific batch quota
    notes: Ranges from millions to billions depending on model and tier.
policies:
  - name: Tier promotion
    description: Tier upgrade is automatic when spend / account-age thresholds are met. Higher tiers grant
      higher RPM/TPM/RPD across all models in your project.
  - name: Live rate-limit visibility
    description: View your current per-model RPM/TPM/RPD in the Google AI Studio Rate Limits page; programmatic
      values are not statically documented because they change per tier and per model.
  - name: 429 backoff
    description: On 429 ResourceExhausted, retry with exponential backoff with jitter; respect any retry
      hint metadata returned by the API.
  - name: Batch API discount
    description: Batch API offers 50% lower per-token cost vs synchronous calls and uses separate quota
      buckets - a primary FinOps lever for non-latency-sensitive workloads.
  - name: Vertex AI alternative
    description: For higher throughput needs, use Gemini via Vertex AI with provisioned throughput; quotas
      are governed by Vertex AI quotas and are raisable through the Cloud Console.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com