tawdry marsh
I got to the end where I needed to get a key, I gave Vertex permission I got the BYOK and Imput the key but i get this message
PROXY ERROR 402: {“error”:
{“message”:” insufficient credits. This account never purchased credits. Make sure your key is on the correct account or org, and if so purchase more at
https://openrouter.ai/settings/credits “,”code”:402}} (unk)
Do I need to Top up? Im just trying to use Gemini’s3 month free trial
terse jungleBOT
I'm an AI assistant - my answers may be incorrect and I cannot see screenshots. Please verify information with the OpenRouter docs.
To help clarify your issue:
This info will help determine if you should have access to free quota or if a top-up is needed. Some models and integrations (especially via OpenRouter) may not honor third-party free trials and require OpenRouter credits, even if Google offers a trial elsewhere. Please provide those details so I can help further.
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tawdry marsh
google/gemini-2.5-pro
I connected Google cloud as a provider then generated a key
And I signed up for a trial on google but not on Open router
terse jungleBOT
Thanks for clarifying. Here’s what’s happening:
The error message "insufficient credits. This account never purchased credits..." means that your OpenRouter account does not have any credits, and OpenRouter does not automatically honor Google Cloud or Vertex AI free trial credits.
Even though you signed up for a Google free trial, when you use OpenRouter as the API gateway for models like google/gemini-2.5-pro, you must have OpenRouter credits in your account. OpenRouter bills separately from Google and requires you to purchase credits directly through their platform, regardless of your Google Cloud trial status.
"Starting at $1.25/M input tokens ... OpenRouter routes requests to the best providers ... [see pricing and providers]" Gemini 2.5 Pro - API, Providers, Stats | OpenRouter
To use Gemini models through OpenRouter, you need to purchase credits on OpenRouter. Free trials on Google Cloud or Vertex AI do not apply to OpenRouter usage.
If you have further billing or account concerns, please email [email protected]. OpenRouter does not handle billing issues on Discord.
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restive girder
!mute
terse jungleBOT
🔇 Thread muted. The bot will no longer respond here.
restive girder
I got to the end where I needed to get a key, I gave Vertex permission I got the...
Are you using AI Studio or Vertex?
tawdry marsh
I was trying to set up Vertex
restive girder
I was trying to set up Vertex
Is it a subscription service that you signed up to?
Or did they gave you a whole buncha credits for free?
restive girder
And 300$ in credit
Ah, okay
Wait, what
@stark lake why isn't this free
He's using BYOK but OR wants him to deposit credits
tawdry marsh
Ah, okay
I think I may have did something wrong with Vertex on my end but I also just don’t know
Like it let me make a key and I set Vertex with perms on google console
tawdry marsh
Is that a no….?
tawdry marsh
<@&1384697330254610442>
restive girder
<@&1384697330254610442>
They're sleeping right now, try again tomorrow
tawdry marsh
😔
tawdry marsh
They're sleeping right now, try again tomorrow
I have no clue if your serious but gg
restive girder
I have no clue if your serious but gg
No, I'm serious that they're sleeping
vast echo
had the same issue, just putting a message here to follow the thread
tawdry marsh
<@&1384697330254610442>
restive girder
@dire berry I feel bad for bothering Toven so much, so I'm going to bother you instead 😅
It doesn't look like the "1 million free BYOK" requests thing is working
vast echo
as far as I'm aware, it's probably happening only to openrouter accounts that haven't topped up before.
doesn't look to be the case
dire berry
<@353228093420208131> I feel bad for bothering Toven so much, so I'm going to bo...
You can ping @jolly temple now too :p
restive girder
You can ping <@212409751391305729> now too :p
Oh cool! I have permission to annoy him too 🎉
dire berry
Did you use this feature? I.e always use the key
restive girder
@tawdry marsh did you enable "always use this key"?
tawdry marsh
Yeah
restive girder
Yeah
And it still had the same exact "top up" error? Or did it have a different error?
tawdry marsh
Yup
restive girder
@jolly temple the 1m free requests thing isn't working
jolly temple
hi sorry for the delay here. this seems like some kind of vertex-specific issue. are you certain that your vertex account has credits?
you should read this info on the free trial and make sure you completed all the required steps including adding a payment method to your account: https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/free-cloud-features#free-trial
however I do see that your error is coming from openrouter, not vertex, hmm, I'll keep looking into this
i think this may because your openrouter account has a negative balance. can you confirm whether this is true?
restive girder
It's not only Vertex
https://discord.com/channels/1091220969173028894/1425852198776078456
That's someone trying to use their DeepSeek key
Sorry, Chutes, not DeepSeek
jolly temple
got it, thanks. yeah I'm thinking its because of negative balance
restive girder
got it, thanks. yeah I'm thinking its because of negative balance
Free BYOK doesn't apply if you have negative credits?
jolly temple
this wasnt intentional on our end, sort of an edge case
if they come back and confirm they have a negative balance then its probably the explanation
restive girder
Ah, okay
jolly temple
also if you're trying to use plugins in your request, like web search, that would also cause this
since our web search plugin is extra cost
jolly temple
pushing a fix for this now!
the request should work now as long as it doesn't include paid plugins
vast echo
the request should work now as long as it doesn't include paid plugins
It works for me now, thank you 🙂
tawdry marsh
Okay yeah so I knew I had to have done something wrong
Because it still doesn’t for me
tawdry marsh
hi sorry for the delay here. this seems like some kind of vertex-specific issue....
It has like 240 dollars in credits
restive girder
Because it still doesn’t for me
Do you have negative credits on OpenRouter?
tawdry marsh
Do you have negative credits on OpenRouter?
How do you have negative credits? And no i’ve got zero
restive girder
How do you have negative credits? And no i’ve got zero
How do you have negative credits?
if you spend more money than you have
sometimes OpenRouter doesn't clear the cache fast enough and you get to spend a little bit more money than you actually have
tawdry marsh
> How do you have negative credits?
if you spend more money than you have
I still have the google credit too
jolly temple
I still get this message
can you double check again that:
you have the "always use this key" toggle enabled
your request is definitely getting routed to vertex and not another provider
tawdry marsh
can you double check again that:
1. you have the "always use this key" toggle e...
I don’t know how to check if it’s going to vertex specifically but I have always use this key enabled
jolly temple
what model are you using?
tawdry marsh
2-5 pro
jolly temple
try this to test:
go to your openrouter account settings (https://openrouter.ai/settings/preferences) and add "Google Vertex" under "Allowed Providers", and then enable "Always enforce"
and then try your request again (it might take a minute to apply)
youll want to undo these settings changes after finished testing
tawdry marsh
This was the solution thank you 🙏
