How to Connect Your Google Gemini API Key to QKeyboard

Google Gemini is one of the more accessible options for BYOK, mainly because Google AI Studio offers a free tier of API usage. That makes it a good starting point if you want to try connecting your own key to QKeyboard before committing to a paid provider.

Step 1: Get a key from Google AI Studio

1. Go to Google AI Studio and sign in with your Google account.
2. Open the API key section.
3. Create a new API key, either in a new project or an existing one.
4. Copy the key once it is generated.

Unlike some other providers, Google AI Studio typically lets you generate a working key without adding a payment method first, since usage within the free tier does not require billing to be enabled.

Why the free tier matters for BYOK

A meaningful reason some users choose Gemini for BYOK is that light, everyday rewriting can often stay within Google's free usage allowance. That means you get the benefits of BYOK — your key, your account, requests going straight to your provider — without necessarily paying anything extra, as long as your usage stays under the free tier's limits. Heavier usage will eventually require enabling billing, so it is worth checking Google's current free tier terms if you write a lot.

Step 2: Connect the key in QKeyboard

1. Open QKeyboard's settings from the app or the keyboard menu.
2. Go to the AI Provider / BYOK section.
3. Select Google Gemini from the list of providers.
4. Paste the API key you copied from AI Studio.
5. Select a model.
6. Save.

As with any BYOK provider, the key is stored in the device Keychain, not on QKeyboard's servers, and is used only to send your rewrite requests directly to Google.

Daily limits with BYOK

QKeyboard's built-in AI caps rewrites at 20 a day on the Free plan. Connecting a Gemini key raises that to 100 rewrites a day on the Free plan. QKeyboard Pro removes the daily cap entirely, with or without BYOK.

Even on the free tier, usage is governed by Google's own limits and terms, separate from anything QKeyboard controls.

Common issues

• If requests fail, confirm the key was generated for the correct Google Cloud project and that the Gemini API is enabled for it.
• If you hit the free tier limit, you can either wait for it to reset or add billing to your Google account for continued usage.
• You can switch back to QKeyboard's built-in AI at any time from the same settings screen.