This guide walks you through everything we covered in our first webinar for new Awesomate and n8n users. You’ll learn how to set up your first OpenRouter credential, configure AI models, and start chatting with different large language models to understand their costs and capabilities.

Watch the Full Webinar




What is OpenRouter?

OpenRouter is an aggregate large language model provider that gives you access to dozens of AI models from different companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more) through a single API. Unlike monthly subscriptions, OpenRouter only charges you for the credits you actually use, which can save you money while giving you access to more models than you’d get from subscribing to just one platform.

Step 1: Log Into Your n8n Account

When you first log into your account at yoursubdomain.awesomate.io, you might see an empty workspace with no credentials set up yet.


Step 2: Create Your First Credential

  1. Hover over the plus button in your workspace
  2. Scroll down and click Credential
  3. You’ll see a dialog open that says “Add new credential”


Step 3: Select OpenRouter as Your App

  1. In the “Select an app or service to connect to” field, type router
  2. Click on OpenRouter when it appears in the list
  3. Click Continue


Step 4: Get Your OpenRouter API Key

Before you can save your credential, you need an API key from OpenRouter.

  1. Go to OpenRouter.ai and create an account (if you haven’t already)
  2. Once logged in, click Get API Key
  3. Click Create and give your key a name (this is just for your own reference)
  4. Leave everything else blank and click Create
  5. Copy the API key that’s generated


Step 5: Add the API Key to n8n

  1. Paste the API key you just copied into the API Key field in n8n
  2. The key will be masked (hidden) for security
  3. Hover over the credential name where it says “OpenRouter Account”
  4. Double-click on “Account” to edit it
  5. Replace it with the same name you gave your key in OpenRouter (so they match and you can identify it later)
  6. Click Save

You should see a message that says “Connection tested successfully.”


Step 6: Configure Your Default AI Models

Now that you have an OpenRouter credential, you’ll configure which AI models you want quick access to.

  1. Click Settings at the bottom of the left sidebar
  2. Click Chat
  3. Scroll down to find OpenRouter in the list of providers
  4. Click the three dots next to OpenRouter and select Edit Provider


Step 7: Select Your Credential and Limit Models

  1. In the provider settings, select the OpenRouter credential you just created
  2. Click Limit Models

You’re now going to select which models you want access to. This removes models you don’t need and makes it easier to choose.


Step 8: Choose Your Models Based on Popularity

To decide which models to select, visit OpenRouter.ai/rankings. This page shows this week’s most popular models across all OpenRouter users, which gives you a good understanding of which ones are the best to use.

Based on the current rankings as of March 8th 2026 , select these models in n8n:

  • Minimax M 2.5
  • Gemini Flash Preview
  • Kimi K2.5
  • DeepSeek V3.2
  • Claude Opus 4.6
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6
  • Claude Haiku 4.5 (recommended even if not on the top list)
  • Step 3.5 Flash Free
  • Grok 4.1 Fast
  • Trinity Large Preview Free
  • Gemini Pro Preview
  • GPT 5 Nano
  • Gemini Pro Image Preview

Once you’ve selected your models, click Confirm.


Step 9: Start a New Chat to Test Your Models

  1. Click on Chat in the left sidebar (this is the gym where you chat with your agents)
  2. Click Start New Chat
  3. At the top left, you’ll see your OpenRouter account is automatically selected
  4. You can now see a dropdown list of all the models you just configured


Step 10: Test Different Models and Compare Costs

Try asking the same or related questions using different models to see how they perform and what they cost.

For example:

  • Ask Claude Haiku: “Tell me what the difference is between the different Claude Anthropic models: Sonnet, Haiku, and Opus”
  • Switch to Claude Opus and ask: “If I’m just doing some general chats and content creation, what of these three models is best?”
  • Switch to DeepSeek V3.2 and ask: “What’s the difference between using DeepSeek and Anthropic as a large language model?”
  • Switch to Gemini Flash Preview and ask: “If I want to use AI large language models for image generation, what’s the best model to use?”

Each model will respond differently and cost a different amount.

Step 11: Check Your Usage Costs

To see how much each request cost you:

  1. Go back to OpenRouter.ai

  2. Hover over your name in the top right

  3. Click Logs

  4. You’ll see a list of all your API calls with the cost of each one

You can filter by API key to see only the requests from the credential you just created. You’ll notice costs can range from fractions of a cent to a few cents depending on the model and the length of the response.


What You’ve Accomplished

You’ve now:

  • Created your first OpenRouter credential in n8n
  • Configured a curated list of the best AI models
  • Tested multiple models in the chat interface
  • Learned how to check your usage costs

Next Steps

This webinar gets you up to speed with the basics of using OpenRouter in your n8n account. In our next weekly webinar, we’ll cover using personal agents and workflow agents.

Join us for the next session to continue learning!