Prepay for the Gemini API to get more control over your spend

Prepay for the Gemini API to get more control over your spend

Summary (EN)

Google announced on April 15, 2026 that it is introducing Prepay Billing for the Gemini API in Google AI Studio, adding a prepaid credit model aimed at developers who want tighter control over experimentation and production spend. The new option is initially available in the United States for new Google Cloud Billing accounts that enable the Gemini API, with broader international rollout planned in the coming weeks. Under the system, developers can top up credits when creating or linking a billing account, optionally enable automatic reloads when balances get low, and have Gemini API usage draw down from that balance instead of being charged purely through end-of-month postpaid billing. Google frames the release as part of a broader effort to make usage more predictable and easier to manage from the beginning of a project, especially for teams that want to avoid unexpected bills while still scaling prototypes quickly. The company also links the feature to earlier spend-control tools such as spend caps and revised usage tiers. Once users establish a consistent payment history and move into higher usage tiers, Google says they can switch future Gemini API usage back to standard postpaid billing and access higher rate limits without disrupting development. Prepay is not available for invoiced or offline billing accounts. While this is a billing rather than model announcement, it is strategically relevant because pricing controls can materially affect API adoption among small teams and startups, especially in a market where token usage volatility often becomes a barrier before model capability does.

Summary (ZH)

Google 于 2026 年 4 月 15 日宣布，在 Google AI Studio 中为 Gemini API 推出 Prepay Billing 预付费计费模式，目标是让开发者对试验和生产环境的 API 开销拥有更强可预测性和控制力。该功能首批面向美国地区新开通并启用 Gemini API 的 Google Cloud Billing 账户开放，未来几周将逐步推广到更多地区。按照新机制，开发者在创建或绑定计费账户时可以先购买额度，也可以设置余额过低时自动充值，之后 Gemini API 的调用费用将优先从这部分余额中扣减，而不是完全依赖月末后付费结算。Google 将其描述为一项面向开发起步阶段的重要改进，尤其适合不希望被意外账单打乱预算、但又想快速推进原型和扩容的团队。Google 还把这项发布与此前上线的 spend caps 和更新后的 usage tiers 结合起来，构成更完整的成本管理工具链。按照官方说明，当开发者建立了稳定付款记录并进入更高 usage tiers 后，还可以切换回标准后付费体系，以便整合云账单并获得更高调用额度，而不会中断开发流程。预付费目前不适用于 invoiced 或 offline 计费账户。虽然这不是模型能力层面的发布，但在 API 竞争中非常关键，因为不少小团队和创业公司首先遇到的不是模型不够强，而是成本波动难以管理；更细粒度的计费控制往往会直接影响采用率。

Source

https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/prepay-gemini-api/