How much does n8n cost? Self-hosted vs cloud pricing

n8n Pricing Overview

n8n offers two deployment models with very different pricing: a free self-hosted option and a paid cloud service. That range, from $0 to enterprise pricing, makes it one of the most cost-flexible automation tools.

Self-Hosted n8n (Free)

The self-hosted version is available under a fair-code license at no cost. You run it on your own infrastructure (a VPS, Docker container, or Kubernetes cluster) and get:

• Unlimited workflows — no caps on the number of automations
• Unlimited executions — no per-task or per-operation charges
• All integration nodes — the same node library as cloud
• Full code access — JavaScript and Python within workflow nodes
• Community support — active forum and Discord

The only costs are infrastructure (a $5-20/month VPS suits most use cases) and the time to maintain the installation.

Cloud-Hosted n8n Pricing (July 2026)

The Business tier ($800/month) is the 2026 addition, sitting between Pro and Enterprise for teams that need higher execution volume, concurrency, and a self-hosted option without a full Enterprise contract. Annual billing runs about 17% cheaper on Starter and Pro. Additional executions are available at pay-as-you-go rates.

Self-Hosted vs Cloud: When to Choose Each

Choose Self-Hosted When:

• The team has DevOps resources to manage infrastructure
• You need unlimited executions at zero marginal cost
• Data residency or air-gapped environments are required

Choose Cloud When:

• You prefer zero-maintenance managed hosting
• You need automatic updates and scaling
• The team lacks infrastructure-management skills

n8n vs Competitors on Price

n8n's self-hosted model makes it the most cost-effective option for teams running thousands of executions per month. On cloud, Make offers lower per-operation pricing, but n8n's unlimited workflow count and code flexibility suit complex use cases.

Editor's Note: Across ShadowGen n8n work in 2024-26, the honest version of self-hosted-versus-Cloud is a staffing question, not a pricing one. Self-hosting removes per-execution billing entirely: on a single 2 vCPU / 4 GB node we have run low-thousands of executions a day for the cost of the VPS, an order of magnitude under the equivalent Cloud plan. What that price hides is who patches it, backs it up, and prunes old execution data — roughly half a day a month of someone's time once monitoring is counted. Re-checked July 2026: the new Cloud Business tier ($800/mo, 40,000 executions, self-hosted option) is aimed exactly at teams that have outgrown Pro's 10,000 executions but do not want a full Enterprise contract. If no one will own maintenance, Cloud's metered billing is still cheaper than the engineering hours self-hosting costs. — Rafal Fila, ShadowGen