--- title: "Google Gemini" description: "Set up Google's Gemini as the brain behind your HolaClaw assistant. Get a free API key from Google AI Studio, connect it, pick a model, and keep costs low." updated: 2026-06-11 canonical: https://holaclaw.ai/docs/ai-providers/google-gemini --- Gemini is HolaClaw's budget-friendly pick. Made by Google, it's fast, costs very little, and handles images and documents well — plus it can hold a lot of conversation in mind at once. There's even a free tier that's generous enough for a personal assistant. If you want a capable everyday brain without much spend, start here. ```provider-card name: Gemini company: Google tagline: Fast, budget-friendly models with long context and strong multimodal skills. hue: 250 key-url: https://aistudio.google.com/apikey key-label: Google AI Studio auth: API key cost: $ recommended: Gemini 2.5 Flash ``` ## What you'll need - A regular Google account — the same one you use for Gmail works fine. - A few minutes in **Google AI Studio**, where you'll create your key. - HolaClaw installed on your Mac. You don't need to add a payment method to get started. Google's free tier lets your assistant chat right away, and you can upgrade later if you bump into its limits. ## Get your API key Gemini connects to HolaClaw with an **API key** — a long secret code that tells Google the requests are coming from your account. Think of it as a password your assistant uses on your behalf. Anyone who has it can run up usage on your account, so keep it private. 1. Go to [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey) and sign in with your Google account. 2. Click **Create API key**. 3. Copy the key and keep it somewhere safe. If you ever lose it, just come back and make a new one. > **Tip — the free tier is real, but it has limits.** Google's free tier is plenty for a personal assistant, but it caps how many messages you can send in a short window. If you chat heavily or run several assistants, you may hit those caps. Adding billing in Google AI Studio moves you to the paid tier and removes them — and even then, Gemini stays cheap. ## Connect it to your assistant You pick the provider while creating an assistant, in **Step 2 · Model provider** — the screen that says "Connect the brain behind your assistant." 1. In HolaClaw, start the **Create Assistant** flow and go to Step 2. 2. Choose **Gemini** in the provider sidebar. 3. Paste your key into the **Gemini API Key** field. It's masked like a password, which is normal. 4. Pick a model (more on that below) and continue with the rest of the setup. As the app notes right below the key field: "Your credentials stay on your Mac — we never send them anywhere." The key is stored inside the assistant's private virtual machine on your Mac. HolaClaw's servers never see it, and Google bills you directly — HolaClaw adds nothing on top. ## Choosing a model HolaClaw offers six Gemini models. The first three are stable; the last three are previews. | Model | Best for | Speed | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Gemini 2.5 Flash** (recommended) | Everyday chat, planning, images, documents | Fast | Very low | | **Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite** | Light, high-volume chat on a tight budget | Fastest | Cheapest | | **Gemini 2.5 Pro** | Harder reasoning and complex tasks | Slower | Higher | | **Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview** | Trying Google's newest top-tier model | Slower | Higher | | **Gemini 3 Flash Preview** | Trying the next-gen fast model | Fast | Low | | **Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite** | Trying the next-gen lightweight model | Fastest | Low | **Gemini 2.5 Flash** is the recommended default and the right pick for almost everyone — quick, inexpensive, and smart enough for a daily companion, a travel planner, or a study buddy. **Flash Lite** trims cost even further when you just want fast, frequent replies. Reach for **2.5 Pro** when your assistant tackles genuinely hard problems — deep reasoning, intricate analysis — and you don't mind waiting a beat longer. The three **previews** let you try Google's newest models early. They can be excellent, but Google may change or withdraw a preview at any time, so don't build your main assistant around one if you want stability. > **Tip — Flash vs Pro, in plain terms.** Think of Flash as a scooter: quick, cheap, perfect for getting around town all day. Pro is a car: more power for the long, demanding trips, but it costs more to run. Most days, the scooter is all you need. ## What it costs Google charges per **token** — roughly a short word or word-fragment of text. Every message you send and every reply your assistant writes uses some. On the free tier you pay nothing until you hit the rate limits; on the paid tier you pay only for what you use, with no monthly fee. Gemini is one of the cheapest options here, so a chatty daily assistant on Flash typically costs very little — often a few cents a day, if anything, depending on which tier you're on. Pro costs more per message but is still modest. For current per-token prices, check Google's pricing from [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com) — we don't quote numbers here because they change. ## Troubleshooting When something goes wrong with the connection to Google, HolaClaw shows a banner in the chat explaining what happened. Here's what each one means: - **"Gemini is out of credits"** — your account can't cover usage right now. Check your billing settings in Google AI Studio and your assistant resumes on the next message. - **"Gemini API key is invalid, expired, or out of credits"** — the key was deleted, mistyped, or the account can't pay. Create a fresh key in Google AI Studio and update it in the assistant's settings, or add billing. - **"Gemini rate limit or quota reached"** — you've sent more requests than your tier allows in that window. This is the most common hiccup on the **free tier**. Wait a little and try again, or add billing in Google AI Studio to move to the paid tier and lift the limits. - **"Gemini is currently unreachable"** — Google's servers are having a moment. Nothing to fix on your end; the next attempt goes through once their service recovers. Still stuck? The [HolaClaw Discord](https://discord.gg/FbxAbS5sGQ) is a friendly place to ask. ## Next steps Not sure Gemini is the right brain for this assistant? Compare all the options in [Choosing an AI provider](/docs/ai-providers/choosing-a-provider) — and remember the provider and model are set per-assistant at creation, so you can always spin up another assistant with a different one. If you'd like something warmer for long conversations, see [Anthropic Claude](/docs/ai-providers/anthropic-claude); if you already pay for ChatGPT, [OpenAI](/docs/ai-providers/openai) can reuse that. And if you'd rather try many models through a single key, the [OpenRouter](/docs/ai-providers/openrouter) guide covers that.