Gemini API returning constant “429” errors and free quota is not resetting (original) (raw)

December 5, 2025, 6:30am 1

Hello,

I have been using the Gemini API under the free tier, and recently I started receiving constant “429 – quota exceeded” errors. Since the first occurrence, the error has not cleared, and I can no longer make any successful requests.

I checked several things but still cannot identify the cause.

■ Current Situation

I assume I reached the free tier daily or monthly quota, but the quota is not resetting as expected

In Google Cloud Billing, I have no paid plan or active subscription

In the Usage tab, I do not see any unusual spikes in API requests

Even after many hours, the 429 error does not recover

■ What I want to resolve

Restore access under the free usage quota

Understand whether there is any other limit or restriction I might be hitting

Hear from anyone who has experienced similar behavior or knows how to fix it

■ Additional Information

API model: Gemini 2.5 series

Usage: Light personal development testing

Error code: 429 RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED

If anyone has encountered this issue or knows the proper recovery procedure, I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Hi @user3793 , Welcome to the AI Forum

Please follow the below instructions to troubleshoot:

Go to GCP console and click APIs & Services. Under Metric, search and select Generative Language API. Under Quotas & System Limits tab, check for Current Usage percentage.

If it reaches 100%, then you have reached your quota limits and hence the 429 Error.

If you think that there is any discrepancy, please share exact error message with a screenshot of Quota utilization page and Project ID to help us investigate further.

user3793 December 8, 2025, 11:56pm 5

Hello, @Sonali_Kumari1.

Thank you for letting me know how to check the “Current Usage” in the GCP console.

Of course I checked it. Usage is 0%.

I was using it with Google Apps Script, but after the error started, I left it alone (for about a week).

Still, there was no sign of recovery, so I tried deleting and creating the API key, but that didn’t fix the problem.

So I deleted and created the project.
However, the result was the same: the allocation tier still showed “Unavailable.”

I’m not using the API key for the remaining project with Google Apps Script. The allocation tier is still showing “Unavailable,” so it’s unusable anyway.

The error below is an error message I get when I try deleting and creating an API key and a project. I tried several times, but the result didn’t change.

Finally, I checked it again today, and the allocation tier is still showing “Unavailable.” Even though the “Current Usage” in the GCP console shows 0% usage.

Finally, thank you for your reply comment. I hope this helps.

Error Message:
Exception: Request failed for https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com returned code 429. Truncated server response: {
“error”: {
“code”: 429,
“message”: "You exceeded your current quota. Please check your plan and billing details. For more information… (use the muteHttpExceptions option to examine the full response)

Project Number: 220783474082
Project ID: geminiproject-2025

Carol1 December 12, 2025, 1:42pm 7

Did you get a reply to this? It reflects my experience precisely. I’ve looked through a few comments on this issue but the only replies I see is Google asking the poster to check their limits. Clearly, everyone has and there seems to be a bug or perhaps Google have changed their terms for the free tier??. If there is a fix, it would be helpful to know, or at least be informed if the terms have changed or if it’s a bug they are aware of it and will address it soon. If you’ve had an update could you share it.

I am having the same issue. Many have been facing it for couple of days. No fixes yet. Lets hope google fixes this soon

user3793 December 12, 2025, 11:40pm 9

Hello everyone.

I’m glad to know that someone else is having the same problem.
I haven’t received a personal response from Google yet.
This problem still hasn’t been resolved.

It may be a coincidence, but in my case, this problem started occurring around the same time as the release of Gemini3 (it has been occurring since November 19th-).

I also hope that Google will fix this problem soon.
Thank you for your comment, it’s encouraging.

joshua3 December 14, 2025, 6:58pm 10

I am having the same issue too.
tier 1

Same error here for several days. I can’t do any request.

Hello.
I haven’t heard anything from Google yet. This is very disappointing.

I discovered something new today.
I noticed that the number of Cloud Resource Manager API projects at the organization level has exceeded the limit (over 2,000).This is the number of projects for the entire organization, not just for individuals.

Is this a new limit metric? It seems that the counting started around October 20th, but I don’t have any data from before that. If so, that means I was over the limit for a month and it was overlooked.

The number of projects has exceeded the limit, but this number seems to include not only Gemini projects but also regular Google Apps Script projects. The default limit for Cloud Resource Manager API projects at the organization level was 50, which is far too low.
I requested a limit but only got 150.
This is simply not sustainable for my organization.
No matter how hard I try to reduce it, I can’t reach 150, and of course it continues to increase every day.

Fortunately, Google Apps Script other than the Gemini API is working fine.
Does this affect the free quota for the Gemini API?
Is there any connection?

If you’re using Google at the organization level, what’s the maximum number of projects set for each organization by the Cloud Resource Manager API Projects Count, when does it start counting, and whether you’re exceeding the limit.