Google AI Studio API key setup

Get your key

1. Open the Google AI Studio API keys page: aistudio.google.com/apikey
2. Create an account and generate an API key.
3. Paste it into the Dracon BYOK provider keys, stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM), used browser-direct, works in every Dracon tool.

Get the key and test it

1. Open the Google AI Studio API keys page: aistudio.google.com/apikey Create a key and copy the secret straight away.
2. Point your client at this provider's base URL: https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai It speaks the OpenAI-compatible shape, so an OpenAI SDK client works against it with no adapter: only the base URL and the key change.
3. Prove the endpoint answers before you trust it. Send one call with no Authorization header: a live endpoint answers 401 Unauthorized, because it is waiting for a bearer key. The wording of that error differs by provider (some say invalid_api_key, others incorrect_api_key or Token is invalid), so read the 401 as the signal, not the error text.
4. Paste the key into the Dracon BYOK provider keys ; stored encrypted, used browser-direct, no relay.
5. Compare other provider plans when this subscription does not match your usage or budget.

Test the key

Both examples read the key from the GOOGLE_API_KEY environment variable, so the key stays out of the command line.

export GOOGLE_API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>"

curl https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model":"gemini-3.5-flash-lite","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]}'

import os
from openai import OpenAI

# export GOOGLE_API_KEY="<YOUR_API_KEY>" first
client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["GOOGLE_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gemini-3.5-flash-lite",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)

Free tier

Yes. Hosted free tier on select Gemini models for developers and small projects. New accounts begin on the Free Tier with no billing account required; the model list rotates (pricing and billing docs, checked 2026-10-27). no credit card required

Rate limits: Free Tier for new accounts; Paid Tier per-1M-token rates after (see pricing).

Connection details

Base URL

https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai

API shape

OpenAI-compatible

Env var

GOOGLE_API_KEY

Models

gemini-3.5-flash-lite, gemini-3.5-flash, gemini-2.5-pro, gemini-2.5-flash-lite

Model lineup

Gemini (Pro), Gemini (Flash), Gemini (Deep Think), Hosted open models

Gotchas

Browser-direct via native Gemini listing (v1beta/models?key=). The OpenAI compat route 404s on /models but the native endpoint is live (wired 2026-08-26b). Chat still falls back to curated Gemini seeds when listing is not_testable.

Our verdicts on this kind of provider

Independent comparisons we keep current as pricing and free tiers shift. A guide is setup; a verdict is whether it's worth setting up.

• 22 of the 45 AI providers have a free tier. Only 7 are actually useful.
• Free AI rate limits, compared: which free tiers can do real work
• The AI price war: who cut what in July 2026