Brief
n8n adds Gateway credits so Cloud users can skip provider accounts and API keys
From n8n v2.36, select n8n Cloud plans can run supported AI models and tool services without a provider account or API key. The announcement is brief on operating detail.
Starting with n8n v2.36, n8n says users on select n8n Cloud plans can use supported AI models and tool services without creating a provider account or generating an API key. The alternative offered is Gateway credits, chosen instead of adding a credential.
The workflow step that changes is credential setup — the account creation and key generation that normally sit between a builder and a model or tool node. Six model providers and five tool services are said to work right out of the box, which puts this squarely in integration territory.
What the announcement does not settle: which Cloud plans count as select, how Gateway credits are consumed, and whether gateway access behaves identically to keyed access across all eleven services.
Our reading
Credential setup is a recurring friction point in automated workflows: every provider account and key is another integration to provision, rotate and break. If Gateway credits work as described, that step collapses into a billing choice rather than a provisioning task, which matters to anyone maintaining model or tool nodes at scale. Teams on n8n Cloud should care most, since the feature is scope…
What to do or watch
If you run n8n Cloud, establish first whether your plan offers Gateway credits, then trial the swap on a non-critical workflow before touching anything in production. The unresolved question is how credits are consumed and capped.
Source details and supporting facts
Each line is stated by the page named above it.
Stated by n8n
- Starting with n8n v2.36, supported AI models and tool services can be used on select n8n Cloud plans without creating a provider account or generating an API key.
- Gateway credits can be chosen instead of adding a credential.
- Six model providers and five tool services work right out of the box.
Sources
- n8nText stored 17 September 2026
How this story was checked. Written from the 1 page listed above, stored 17 September 2026; claims checked against that stored text on 17 September 2026.
What that means
- 3 of 3 reported statements were confirmed against the page that carries them; the rest were removed rather than published.
- Figures in the text were required to appear in the stored source text: yes. Identifiers: yes.
- The check reads stored text only: no claim rests on a fresh look that did not happen.
- Where the reporting was silent, the text says so instead of filling the gap.