Get a free Gemini API key and draft blog posts with AI
How to create a free API key in Google AI Studio, what the free tier limits mean, how to keep your key safe, and how to turn an AI draft into a good post.
Blog Booster’s AI writer uses Google’s Gemini models. Rather than us paying on your behalf, it calls Gemini with your own API key, so you connect a key once. Creating one is free and takes a few minutes.
1. Create a key in Google AI Studio
- Sign in to Google AI Studio’s API key page with your Google account.
- Accept the terms if it’s your first time. Some regions show extra prompts.
- Click Create API key and choose a new or existing Google Cloud project.
- Copy the key (it starts with
AIza).
2. Connect it to Blog Booster
- Open the AI Writer tab in the Blog Booster panel.
- Paste the key, choose a model and click Connect.
- Blog Booster checks the key with a lightweight request (no tokens used) and saves it.
Models are grouped into available on the free tier and paid tier only. Start with a free Flash model.
3. Understand the free tier limits
The Gemini API free tier limits requests per minute, tokens per minute and requests per day for each model. Numbers change, so check AI Studio’s rate limit page.
- Per-minute limit hit: wait a moment and try again.
- Daily limit hit: it resets at midnight Pacific Time. Other models have separate limits, so you can switch and keep going.
- A model with a limit of 0: your key’s plan can’t use it. Pick a free model or set up billing.
When this happens, Blog Booster shows the cause and a fix, and “Show details” reveals the original error.
4. Keep your key safe
- Treat the key like a password. Keep it out of posts, comments and screenshots.
- Blog Booster stores the key only in this browser’s extension storage and sends it only to Google when calling Gemini — never to our server.
- On a shared computer, remove the key with Disconnect in the AI Writer settings.
- If you think a key leaked, delete it in AI Studio and create a new one.
5. Write topics that get good results
The more specific the input, the more useful the draft.
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| Camping | Fall camping checklist for beginners, one-night car camping |
| Coffee shops | Comparing three coffee shops downtown, focus on pastries, weekday afternoon visit |
Use extra instructions for direction (“budget gear”, “write like a personal story”), and save a post format with your intro, number of subheadings, wrap-up, tone and length to get consistent drafts.
6. Turn the draft into your post
An AI draft is a starting point. Before publishing:
- Check facts: confirm prices, opening hours, numbers and dates with official sources. Blog Booster tells the model not to invent facts, but AI can still be wrong.
- Add your experience: your own photos, impressions and real pros and cons make the post genuinely useful.
- Fix the voice: rewrite anything that doesn’t sound like you.
- Review the title: is the key search term near the start, and does it match the content?