n8n Pricing 2026 —
Cloud vs Self-Hosted
The honest breakdown of n8n's costs: when cloud makes sense, when self-hosting saves you money, and exactly what each plan includes.
Quick verdict
Self-host if you're comfortable with Linux — you get unlimited ops for ~$4–8/mo. Cloud Starter ($20/mo) if you want zero maintenance — but the 2,500 ops cap is tight for anything serious. For cloud at scale, Make is cheaper per op.
n8n Plans & Pricing
Self-Hosted
~$8/mo
Server cost only
- Unlimited ops
- Unlimited workflows
- Full data control
- Community edition free
- You manage updates
Cloud Starter
$20/mo
Most popular
- 2,500 ops/month
- 5 active workflows
- 7-day log history
- Managed hosting
- 14-day free trial
Cloud Pro
$50/mo
- 10,000 ops/month
- 15 active workflows
- 14-day log history
- Priority support
- Custom variables
Enterprise
Custom
- Unlimited ops
- Unlimited workflows
- SSO / SAML
- SLA + dedicated support
- Air-gap deployments
*Self-hosted server cost example: Hetzner CX22 ~$4/mo · DigitalOcean Basic ~$6/mo · Oracle Free Tier $0
Cloud vs Self-Hosted: Which is cheaper?
| Your scenario | Best option | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2,500 ops, no server skills | n8n Cloud Starter | $20/mo |
| Under 2,500 ops, comfortable with Linux | Self-hosted (Hetzner) | ~$4/mo |
| 2,500–10,000 ops | Self-hosted or Cloud Pro | $4–$50/mo |
| Over 10,000 ops | Self-hosted | ~$8/mo |
| Team, GDPR compliance required | Self-hosted (EU server) | ~$10/mo |
| No maintenance, just want it to work | n8n Cloud | $20–$50/mo |
n8n vs Competitors — Quick Comparison
| Tool | Entry price | Ops included | Self-host | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud | $20/mo | 2,500 | Yes (free) | No (14-day trial) |
| Make | $9/mo | 10,000 | No | 1,000 ops/mo |
| Zapier | $20/mo | 750 | No | 100 tasks/mo |
| Pipedream | $29/mo | 2,000 | No | 100 credits/mo |
| Activepieces | $10/mo | 5,000 | Yes (free) | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
n8n Cloud starts at $20/mo (Starter: 2,500 ops, 5 workflows) and $50/mo (Pro: 10,000 ops, 15 workflows). Self-hosted n8n is free — you only pay for the server, typically $4–$8/mo on a basic VPS.
Yes. n8n Community Edition is free and open-source (Sustainable Use License). You can run it on any VPS or your own hardware with no ops limits, no workflow caps, and no monthly fees beyond your server cost.
n8n Cloud does not charge per-op overages. If you exceed your plan's ops limit, workflows simply stop running until the next billing cycle. You can upgrade to the next plan to get more ops.
In n8n Cloud, each node execution counts as one operation. A workflow with 5 nodes that runs 100 times = 500 ops. The trigger node is also counted. Self-hosted n8n has no op limits regardless of usage.
No — Make is cheaper for cloud usage. Make Core at $9/mo includes 10,000 ops, while n8n Starter at $20/mo includes only 2,500 ops. However, n8n wins on self-hosted (free vs. Make which has no self-host option) and for very high volumes.