How much does n8n cost? Cloud vs. self-hosted

n8n costs from in the cloud version €20 per month (Starter tariff, with annual payment, as of October 2026). Self-hosted, the Community Edition is royalty-free for internal business purposes. However, what a company actually spends is rarely decided by the license, but by the server, setup, maintenance, and the time it takes to build the workflows.

Many managing directors come across n8n because Zapier or Make become expensive as usage grows. The question "How much does n8n cost?" can therefore only be answered by comparing the operating models. This article shows the official tariffs, the hidden cost blocks and a rule of thumb as to when which model fits.

The three operating models of n8n

n8n is a workflow automation platform that connects applications, databases, and AI models through a visual editor. It can be operated in three ways:

n8n Cloud: n8n operates the software, you pay a monthly rate with a fixed quota of workflow executions.
Community Edition, self-hosted: You run n8n on your own server or with a hoster in Germany. No license fee for internal use, but operation under your own responsibility.
Business or Enterprise, self-hosted: Paid license with additional features such as single sign-on, multiple environments, and version control.

The official cloud tariffs (as of October 2026)

According to n8n's pricing page, the following monthly prices apply when paid annually:

Tariff	Price per month	Workflow Executions	Special features
Starter	20 €	2.500	1 shared project, community forum as support
Pros	50 €	10.000	Admin roles, longer workflow history
Business	667 €	40.000	self-hosted only; SSO/LDAP, environments, Git
Enterprise	on request	individual	SLA support, log streaming, external secret stores

An execution is a complete run of a workflow, no matter how many steps it contains. A workflow that checks every incoming email consumes around 3,000 executions per month with 100 emails a day and thus no longer fits into the Starter plan.

What the Self-Hosted Community Edition Really Costs

The software is free for internal purposes, the operation is not. These cost blocks are incurred, regardless of whether you operate yourself or hire a service provider:

Server: For small to medium loads, a virtual server at a German hoster is sufficient. If AI models run locally, the demand increases significantly.
Setup: Installation, security (HTTPS, access protection), database, backups.
Maintenance: n8n releases new versions frequently. Updates, checking the workflows afterwards and monitoring regularly cost time.
Workflow construction: Record the process, build the workflow, test with real data, document. This is usually the largest item.

An important difference to cloud plans: There is no execution limit when self-hosted. Whether a workflow runs 100 or 100,000 times a month only changes the server load, not the invoice.

Rule of thumb: Which model is right for you?

Situation	Suitable model
First attempts, few workflows, no sensitive data	n8n Cloud Starter or Pro
Personal data, many versions, hosting in Germany desired	Community Edition, self-hosted
Multiple teams, single sign-on, separate test and production environment	Business (self-hosted)
Group requirements, SLA, audit logs	Enterprise

For most small and medium-sized businesses, the self-hosted Community Edition is the most economical way to do it once more than a handful of workflows are running regularly. Costs are then predictable and don't increase with every automated email.

Hidden costs that are often forgotten

AI calls: If a workflow uses a language model, it incurs its own costs – per token for an API provider or for hardware for local models.
Fee-based interfaces: Some specialist applications charge extra for API access.
Downtime: Without monitoring, no one will notice when a workflow has been failing for days.
Knowledge islands: If only one person builds all workflows without documentation, every change will be expensive.

How to reduce costs

The biggest lever is the selection of processes: A workflow is worthwhile if a process is frequent, rule-based and error-prone. The article Which processes should be automated?. We use n8n self-hosted in Germany and take care of setup, workflow construction and operation – details on the n8n for companies page.

Counselling and accompanied implementation is eligible for funding: Through INQA coaching, the federal government covers 80% of the consulting costs of up to €1,200 per day for up to 12 days, i.e. up to €11,520 subsidy. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the other new federal states, BAFA consulting funding is also eligible at 80% until 31.12.2026 (50% in the old federal states). Funding is provided for consulting, not software. The funding check shows which program fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is n8n free?

The self-hosted Community Edition is royalty-free for internal business purposes. Costs are incurred for servers, setup and operation. The cloud version costs from €20 per month (starter, annual payment, as of October 2026).

What is a version at n8n?

An execution is a complete run of a workflow, regardless of the number of steps. The cloud plans limit the number of executions per month, self-hosted does not have this limit.

Is n8n cheaper than Zapier or Make?

For many executions, usually yes, because there is no fee per execution for self-hosted. For very few, simple processes, a cloud service can be cheaper because no server has to be operated.

Do I need the Business license?

Only if you need features like single sign-on, LDAP, separate environments, or Git version control. For most SMBs, the Community Edition will do.

Would you like to know what n8n costs in your case? Describe the processes you would like to automate to us via the contact page – we will honestly estimate the effort and operating costs.