# Gemma 3 API Rate Limits, Pricing & Performance (July 2026)

- Tool: AI API Limits & Performance Matrix
- Last updated: July 2026

## TL;DR

Gemma 3 is a live open-weight model from Google with two access paths: self-host for free (Apache 2.0 / Gemma License, runs on consumer GPU for 4B) or use the Google AI hosted API at $0.040 input / $0.080 output per MTok (4B variant, verified July 10, 2026). Hosted rate limits are project-specific and not publicly published. A 50% batch discount is available. Gemma 4 (2026) is the newer generation — consider it for new projects.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Gemma 3 free to use?

Yes, in two ways. (1) Self-host: the open weights are free under Apache 2.0 / Gemma License — you only pay for hardware. (2) Hosted API: a free tier exists in Google AI Studio, though exact free-tier quotas for Gemma 3 are not published. Paid hosted API starts at $0.040/$0.080 per MTok for the 4B variant.

### What are Gemma 3's API rate limits?

For the hosted API, Google does not publish stable RPM or TPM numbers. Your active quota is project-specific and visible in the AI Studio dashboard. Self-hosted Gemma 3 has no API rate limits — throughput is limited only by your hardware.

### How much does Gemma 3 cost?

The 4B hosted variant on Google AI costs $0.040 per million input tokens and $0.080 per million output tokens (verified July 10, 2026). A 50% batch discount is available for async workloads. Pricing for 12B and 27B hosted variants is not published. Self-hosted has zero per-token cost.

### How do I increase Gemma 3 rate limits?

For the hosted API: go to Google Cloud Console → IAM & Admin → Quotas → Generative Language API and request a quota increase (1–5 business days). Alternatively, upgrade to Vertex AI for enterprise-grade quotas. For unlimited throughput, self-host Gemma 3 with vLLM or Ollama — there are no external rate limits.

### Gemma 3 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash — which should I use?

Gemma 3 4B hosted ($0.040/$0.080) is 7–30× cheaper than Gemini 2.5 Flash ($0.30/$2.50) per token, but Flash is a larger closed model with better general capability, 1M context (vs 131K), and native multimodal support for audio/video. Use Gemma 3 for cost-sensitive, high-volume tasks; Flash for quality-critical or long-context workloads.

### Does Gemma 3 support vision (image input)?

Yes. Gemma 3 is multimodal — it supports both text and image input. This is a key advantage over the text-only Gemma 2 predecessor.

### Should I use Gemma 3 or Gemma 4 for a new project?

Gemma 4 (released in 2026) is the newer generation. For new projects, benchmark Gemma 4 before committing to Gemma 3. Gemma 3 remains fully supported and is a strong choice, but Gemma 4 may offer better quality for your use case. RapidDev can help evaluate the right model for your architecture — see rapidevelopers.com/contact.

### What does 'RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED' mean for Gemma 3?

RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED is Google's error code for quota exceeded. It appears alongside the 429 HTTP status. To fix: (1) add exponential backoff with Retry-After header handling, (2) check your quota in AI Studio, (3) request a quota increase in Google Cloud Console, or (4) switch to self-hosted Gemma 3 to eliminate this constraint.

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Source: https://www.rapidevelopers.com/ai-api-limits-performance-matrix/gemma-3
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