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

n8n Pricing Overview

n8n offers two distinct deployment models with very different pricing: a free self-hosted option and a paid cloud-hosted service. This makes n8n one of the most flexible automation tools in terms of cost, ranging from $0 to enterprise-tier pricing depending on specific needs.

Self-Hosted n8n (Free)

The self-hosted version of n8n 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 400+ integration nodes — same node library as cloud
• Full code access — JavaScript and Python within workflow nodes
• Community support — active forum and Discord community

The only costs are the infrastructure (a $5-20/month VPS is sufficient for most use cases) and the time to maintain the installation (updates, backups, SSL certificates).

Cloud-Hosted n8n Pricing (2026)

Additional executions are available at pay-as-you-go rates.

Self-Hosted vs Cloud: When to Choose Each

Choose Self-Hosted When:

• Organizations have DevOps resources to manage infrastructure
• Organizations need unlimited executions at zero marginal cost
• Data residency or air-gapped environments are required
• Organizations want to run n8n on internal networks without internet access

Choose Cloud When:

• You prefer zero-maintenance managed hosting
• Organizations need automatic updates and scaling
• The team lacks infrastructure management skills
• Organizations want built-in execution history and debugging tools

n8n vs Competitors on Price

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

Verdict

n8n is the best-value automation tool on the market if users can self-host. At $0 for unlimited workflows and executions, it undercuts every competitor. The cloud version is competitively priced at $24-60/month and is worth it for teams that prioritize convenience over cost savings.

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, which in our experience runs to roughly half a day a month of someone's time once monitoring is counted. If no one will own that, Cloud's metered billing is genuinely cheaper than the engineering hours self-hosting costs. — Rafal Fila, ShadowGen