n8n pricing and self-hosting: what to plan for before you commit

You can run n8n two ways. On n8n Cloud the vendor hosts it and bills by workflow executions. Self-hosting is free in the Community Edition, but your team takes on servers, upgrades, backups and security. As of October 2026, cloud plans start at 20 EUR a month billed annually. The software license has limits, so read it before building a business on it.

All prices and limits below come from n8n's own pages, which we fetched on 16 October 2026: its pricing page (opens in a new tab), its documentation (opens in a new tab) and its license file on GitHub (opens in a new tab). They change, so confirm before you buy. For how n8n compares with Zapier and Make, read our three-way comparison. This post stays with n8n's own costs.

#n8n Cloud plans and limits

n8n counts an execution as one run of an entire workflow, however many steps it has or how much data it moves. Per-task billing works differently: there, a 20-step workflow costs 20 times a 1-step one.

A few details to check:

• The pricing page shows annual-billing figures only. If you want to pay monthly, ask n8n or check the toggle yourself, because we couldn't see monthly prices in the page text.
• Concurrency limits differ by plan (the page lists 5 concurrent executions on Starter), and one table on the page was inconsistent about Pro, so check it if you run bursts.
• Business includes an overage rate of 4,000 EUR per extra bucket of 300,000 executions, according to the page.
• n8n lists a Startup Plan with 50% off Business for companies under 20 employees, and a cloud trial with 1,000 executions and no card required.
• Prices are in euros. Convert at your own rate and check how VAT applies to you.

To estimate your own execution count, multiply the number of times each workflow fires by the number of workflows. A webhook that fires per order counts once per order. A scheduled workflow that checks every five minutes counts 8,640 times in a 30-day month whether or not anything happened. Polling triggers are the classic way to burn through a plan.

#What the Community Edition includes

The Community Edition is the free, self-hosted version. n8n's documentation says it includes almost the full feature set, including logging and queue mode. Features it leaves out, which need a paid license key, include:

• custom variables
• environments
• external secrets and external storage for binary data
• log streaming
• multi-main mode
• projects
• SSO through SAML or LDAP
• sharing of workflows and credentials
• version control using Git

A free registration gives access to a small extra set: folders, debug in editor and custom execution data. If your team needs SSO, separate dev and production environments, or safe credential sharing between builders, the paid license is the practical route. n8n's pricing page also lists self-hosted Business and Enterprise options.

For a few test workflows, the Community Edition costs nothing in licensing. The cost shows up in hosting and time, which is the next section.

#The Sustainable Use License in plain terms

n8n describes itself as fair-code, distributed under the Sustainable Use License and an Enterprise License. The source is visible, but it isn't open source in the strict sense, and that matters for "n8n open source" searches.

The license text on GitHub grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free license, with three limits:

1. You may use or modify the software only for your own internal business purposes, or for non-commercial or personal use.
2. You may distribute it or provide it to others only free of charge and for non-commercial purposes.
3. You may not remove or obscure the license, copyright or other notices.

Running n8n to automate your own company's processes fits internal business use. The gray areas are the ones where n8n itself becomes part of what you sell: reselling hosted n8n, white-labeling it as your product, or embedding it in a paid offering for customers. If you're an agency, a software vendor or a consultancy, take that exact plan to a lawyer or to n8n. Don't assume. We're not lawyers, and this section isn't legal advice.

#What self-hosting actually costs, as drivers

We won't put euro figures on hosting, because they depend on cloud, volume and team. These are the lines that move the total.

The server. A virtual machine or container host in your cloud or data center. By default n8n uses SQLite, stored on the machine. Its documentation lists PostgreSQL as supported for larger setups, and queue mode doesn't work with SQLite.

Scaling. Queue mode runs a main instance that queues executions, workers that run them, Redis as the message broker and Postgres for storage. That's more moving parts to monitor and pay for. Most small teams never need it. Bursty or heavy workloads do.

Execution data. n8n stores execution history in its database. Pruning is on by default, and the docs give defaults of 336 hours (14 days) and 10,000 executions, whichever comes first. On busy workflows, save only failed executions, or the database keeps growing.

Backups. The docs say to back up the .n8n folder (or the Postgres database), any external storage and custom nodes. The built-in export commands cover workflows and credentials only, not users, execution history or settings. Test a restore. A backup you've never restored is a hope.

The encryption key. n8n encrypts stored credentials with a key. Lose the key and a restored database can't decrypt them, so every connected app needs reauthorizing. Store the key somewhere separate from the backup, and make sure every instance in a queue-mode setup shares it.

Updates. n8n's docs recommend updating at least monthly so you never jump many versions at once, reading release notes for breaking changes and testing on a separate instance first. That's a recurring task with an owner.

Security and monitoring. Network access, TLS, who can reach the editor, secrets handling and patching all land on you, and single sign-on isn't in the Community Edition. Someone also has to notice when a workflow fails or the server fills up. If that person is "whoever has time", it will eventually be nobody.

People. For most teams, engineer time is the largest line, and it's the one most often left out of the comparison with a cloud plan.

#Cloud or self-hosted: how to decide

#When we wouldn't self-host

• Nobody on your side can own uptime, upgrades and backups.
• You need SSO, audit logging and separate environments, and would end up paying for a license anyway.
• Volume is modest. A cloud plan costs less than the engineer hours.
• The workflows touch payments or your ERP, and nobody will be accountable for testing changes.
• Your reason for self-hosting is a vague feeling that it's cheaper.

We would self-host for strict data residency, for high execution volume, or for a team that already runs infrastructure and wants full control in Code nodes. For workflows that read messy documents, write to an ERP and need approvals and an audit trail, a workflow tool is usually part of the answer rather than all of it. Our workflow automation page explains how we split the work, and our post on AI automation cost shows how build and run costs add up.

Key point: n8n's license fee is the small number. Hosting, upgrades, backups, key management and engineer time decide whether self-hosting is cheaper than a cloud plan, so price those at your own rates before you choose.

#n8n workflow examples worth building

Three patterns suit n8n well, and each has a human step:

1. Supplier invoice intake. A webhook or mailbox trigger receives a PDF, an AI step extracts vendor, number, dates and totals, code checks that line items sum to the total, and a draft bill is created in the accounting system. A person approves anything flagged.
2. Lead routing. A form submission arrives, the company is enriched, the lead is scored against your rules and a CRM owner is assigned, with a Slack message to the owner. Sales still decides how to follow up.
3. Support triage. A new ticket is classified by topic and urgency, a reply is drafted from your help center and the ticket is routed. An agent reviews every draft before it goes out.

n8n connects to many apps. Check your own systems against the integrations we work with and n8n's own list.

#Hiring an n8n automation agency

If you're looking for help, start with ownership. Who owns the instance and the credentials, you or the agency? Will the credentials sit in your accounts, with the agency using named access you can revoke? Then ask how workflows are exported, versioned and documented, and what happens when a node fails at 2 a.m. If the agency hosts n8n for you, ask how that squares with the license. We're tool-agnostic and will tell you honestly when n8n is enough for a job. If you'd like a second opinion on a plan, book a strategy call.

#Frequently asked questions

#How much does n8n cost?

As of October 2026, n8n Cloud lists Starter at 20 EUR a month and Pro at 50 EUR a month, both billed annually, with 2,500 and 10,000 executions a month. Business is 667 EUR a month billed annually and self-hosted only, and Enterprise is by quote. The Community Edition is free to self-host.

#Is n8n open source?

Not in the strict sense. n8n calls itself fair-code. The source code is public under the Sustainable Use License, which allows internal business use and limits commercial distribution. If you plan to resell or embed it, get legal advice first.

#Is n8n free to self-host?

The software is, through the Community Edition, for your own internal business use. Hosting isn't free: you pay for servers, a database, backups, monitoring and the engineer time to upgrade and secure it. Some features, such as SSO and Git version control, require a paid license key.

#What counts as an execution in n8n?

One execution is one run of an entire workflow, regardless of how many steps it has. A scheduled workflow that fires every five minutes counts every time, even when it finds nothing to do, so watch polling triggers.

#Can an agency run n8n for our company?

Yes, but agree who owns the instance and credentials, how workflows are documented and backed up, and how the agency's hosting arrangement fits the Sustainable Use License. Put those answers in writing before any build starts.