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Gemini API error 429? Why a new API key won't reset your limit

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Source checked 10 Oct 2026 · Published 21 Oct 2026 · Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026 · By Ctrl+Z Therapy (how we test)

The short answer

Google's docs say rate limits are applied per project, not per API key, so a new key in the same project hits the same limit. Your usage is checked against requests per minute, tokens per minute and requests per day, and exceeding any of them triggers a rate limit error: 429 (RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED).

What to do

  1. Hit a per-minute limit? Wait and retry with exponential backoff, waiting a little longer before each retry.
  2. Hit the daily quota? Requests per day reset at midnight Pacific time, or you can request a quota increase.
  3. Check your exact limits in Google AI Studio. They depend on your usage tier, and Tier 1 starts when you link an active billing account.
  4. Ask your AI tool: "Find every place this app calls the Gemini API. On a 429 error, retry a few times with growing waits, then show a calm 'busy, try again soon' message instead of crashing."

Good to know

  • Don't retry 400, 402 or 403 errors: they point to problems like a bad key, depleted prepay credits or bad syntax.

Source

Checked on 10 Oct 2026. Prices, limits and settings change, so check the source before you rely on them.

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