n8n Cloud vs Self-Hosted: Costs and Trade-offs

n8n is one of the few automation tools you can run two ways: on n8n Cloud, where n8n hosts everything for you, or self-hosted on a server you control, where the software itself is free. Free is tempting, but it is not the whole cost. This guide compares the real monthly costs and the trade-offs so you can choose with confidence.

Prices below come from n8n's official pricing page, checked on October 17, 2026. This is a comparison, not a benchmark: we have not load-tested either setup. If you are new to n8n, start with n8n for Beginners.

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The short answer

• Choose n8n Cloud if you want to start today, nobody on your team wants to manage a server, and you run up to a few thousand workflows a month.

• Choose self-hosted if someone on your team is comfortable with Linux and Docker, you need full control over where data lives, or your volume would push you into expensive Cloud tiers.

n8n Cloud: what you pay

n8n Cloud prices by executions. One execution is one full run of a workflow, no matter how many steps it has. Every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows and every integration.

• Starter: €20/month billed annually, for 2,500 executions a month and 5 concurrent executions.

• Pro: €50/month billed annually, for 10,000 executions a month, plus admin roles, workflow history and more concurrency.

• Monthly billing costs more: n8n says paying annually saves 17%.

• Free trial: no credit card required, with up to 1,000 executions during the trial.

Prices are listed in euros, so check n8n's page for your currency and taxes. According to n8n, Cloud data is stored in the EU, on servers in Frankfurt.

To estimate your executions, count how often each workflow runs. A daily report is about 30 executions a month. A workflow that checks something every 15 minutes is about 2,900, which already passes the Starter limit. Webhook workflows, like the one in our guide to sending website leads to a CRM, run once per form submission.

Self-hosted n8n: what you really pay

The Community Edition is free and has no execution limit. You still pay for:

• A server. A small virtual server (VPS) is enough for light use. Budget providers list small servers at roughly €5 to €20 a month, but check current prices: several hosts, Hetzner among them, raised cloud prices more than once in 2026, and some of the cheapest plans have been hard to get.

• Your time. n8n's own documentation says self-hosting requires technical expertise: installing it (usually with Docker), setting up a domain and SSL, updating n8n, and fixing things when an update breaks something.

• Backups and monitoring. If the server goes down at 2 a.m., your automations stop until someone notices.

• Paid features, if you need them. SSO, Git version control and multiple environments need a paid Business license (€667/month billed annually), even when you host n8n yourself.

Side by side: the trade-offs

Cost

For a small business with a handful of workflows, Starter at €20/month and a small server land in the same ballpark before you count your time. Self-hosting only becomes clearly cheaper when your volume would need Pro or more on Cloud.

Maintenance

Cloud handles updates, uptime and backups for you. Self-hosted means you own all three. Updates matter here: automation tools connect to your email, CRM and finance apps, so security patches should not wait.

Data and control

Self-hosting lets you decide exactly where data is stored and keep everything inside your own infrastructure, which can matter for client contracts or regulated data. Cloud keeps your data in n8n's EU hosting.

Limits

Cloud plans cap monthly executions, concurrency and how long a single run can last (5 minutes on Starter, 40 on Pro). Self-hosted limits come from the size of your server.

A simple way to decide

1. Start on Cloud. Use the free trial to build your first two or three workflows, such as our invoice automation with Google Sheets.

2. Watch your execution count for a month in n8n's usage view.

3. Stay on Cloud if you are comfortably inside Starter or Pro and nobody wants to run a server.

4. Move to self-hosted only when volume, data rules or custom needs justify it, and when one person is clearly responsible for updates and backups. You can export workflows from Cloud and import them into your own instance, though credentials have to be set up again.

Still deciding between automation tools altogether? Read n8n vs Zapier vs Make: Which One to Choose?

The bottom line

Self-hosted n8n is free software, not a free service. For most small businesses, n8n Cloud Starter is the sensible default: a predictable cost, no servers, and you can be automating within the hour. Self-hosting pays off when you have the technical skills in-house and enough volume, or strict data requirements, to make the extra responsibility worth it.

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