n8n pricing comes down to one question: do you pay n8n to run it, or do you run it yourself? On n8n Cloud you pay per month based on how many workflow executions you use, and one execution is one full run of a workflow, not one step. The self-hosted Community Edition has no license fee, but you carry the server and the upkeep.
I build client automations in n8n, so this is the comparison I walk people through before we scope anything. Prices below are what n8n publishes, and I have not made up any tiers.
n8n cloud pricing, as of October 19, 2026
This is the one section that goes stale, so I keep every price and limit here. I read it off n8n.io/pricing on October 19, 2026. Prices were shown in euros.
| Plan | Price (billed annually) | Executions a month | Shared projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 20 euros a month | 2,500 | 1 |
| Pro | 50 euros a month | 10,000 | 3 |
| Business | 667 euros a month | 40,000 | 6 |
| Enterprise | Custom, through sales | Custom | Unlimited |
A few details from the same page. Users are unlimited on every plan. Active workflows are unlimited on Starter, Pro and Enterprise. Starter and Pro both have a free trial with no credit card, and Business has a 14-day trial that does ask for one. The page showed no monthly billing prices and was a little inconsistent in places (the Business row said the Cloud version was not yet available, which I would ask n8n about before relying on it), so treat the page as the source and this table as a snapshot.
How n8n counts executions
This is why n8n usually lands cheaper than per-task tools. n8n says each full workflow run is one execution, however many nodes it has. A workflow with 40 steps that fires once is one execution. A workflow on a schedule counts one execution per scheduled run.
That has a side effect worth doing the math on. A workflow that polls every minute fires 1,440 times a day whether or not anything happened, so a Starter plan at 2,500 executions a month is gone in under two days. When the source app supports it, I switch a polling trigger to a webhook so the workflow only runs when there is something to do. Not every app offers webhooks, and for those a slower schedule is the fallback.
On going over: n8n says reaching a limit does not stop your workflows. On Business and Enterprise, going over quota can bring overage charges that are invoiced after 45 days. Read the current overage terms before you pick a plan, because I only know what the page says.
Is n8n free? Self-hosting and the Community Edition
The Community Edition is the self-hosted version. According to the n8n docs it includes nearly all of n8n's features and runs without a license key. It leaves out custom variables, environments, external secrets, log streaming, multi-main mode, projects, SSO, workflow and credential sharing, and Git version control. Registering your email for a free license unlocks a few extras such as folders and debug in editor.
So self-hosting is free in license terms only. You pay for the server, and you are the one who updates n8n, backs up the database and notices when it falls over at 2am. I have not priced a specific host here because those numbers move and depend on your provider, so check your own before comparing. I also did not confirm the exact terms of n8n's Sustainable Use License today, and it matters if you plan to host n8n for other people, so read the license in n8n's GitHub repository first.
Where n8n costs more than you expect
Cloud pricing is cheap until your volume is high or your workflows are chatty. A few things push the bill up:
- Polling triggers that run on a short schedule, as above.
- Test runs and re-runs while you build. I would confirm on the pricing page whether manual test runs count toward your quota.
- Team features. Projects, sharing and SSO sit on higher plans, so a growing team can force a jump from Pro to Business.
- The AI features have their own credit limits that are separate from executions.
The pricing page also tells you stored execution history is capped by plan, with Starter at 2,500 saved executions and 7 days of log retention. If you need to look back further to debug a client issue, that limit will bite before the execution quota does.
What I'd pick
For a small business running a handful of workflows (a lead intake, a review request, a weekly report), I would start on Starter or Pro and move triggers to webhooks. Under 10,000 executions a month covers more than people expect. I would not self-host for these clients unless they already have someone who maintains servers, because the saved license fee is smaller than one bad weekend of downtime.
I would self-host when volume is high, when the data has to stay on infrastructure the client controls, or when the workflows are heavy enough that execution counts would push the plan up a tier. Even then I would price in maintenance time honestly. If you are weighing it, my n8n consulting and build work covers both setups, and I will tell you straight when n8n is the wrong tool for the job.
To see what a finished build looks like, the deposit-to-kickoff automation is a recorded run of one flow, step by step, and the automations hub has the rest.
What to check before you commit
- Your expected executions a month, counting schedules, retries and test runs.
- Whether any trigger can be a webhook instead of a poll.
- Which features you need that sit behind a paid license.
- Who will own updates and backups if you self-host.
If you want a second pair of eyes on a plan choice, talk it through on the n8n service page and I will go through your volumes with you.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does n8n cloud cost?
- As of October 19, 2026, n8n's pricing page lists Starter at 20 euros a month and Pro at 50 euros a month, both billed annually, with Business at 667 euros a month billed annually. Enterprise is custom. The page did not show monthly-billing prices when I checked, so confirm the current figures on n8n.io/pricing before you budget.
- Is n8n free?
- The self-hosted Community Edition has no license fee and runs without a license key, but you pay for the server and your own time to maintain it. n8n Cloud has a free trial rather than a free plan, and the trial limits are on the pricing page.
- What counts as an execution in n8n?
- Per n8n's pricing page, one full workflow run counts as one execution no matter how many steps it has, and a scheduled workflow counts one execution each time it fires. That is the main reason n8n tends to cost less than tools that bill per step or per task.
- What happens if I go over my n8n execution limit?
- n8n says reaching a limit does not stop your workflows from running. On Business and Enterprise, going over quota can incur overage charges that are invoiced later. Check the pricing page for the current terms on your plan.
- Is self-hosting n8n cheaper than n8n Cloud?
- Often yes on the invoice, not always once you count maintenance. A small server is cheap, but you handle updates, backups and uptime yourself, and some features such as projects, SSO and Git version control need a paid license on a self-hosted instance.