n8n Pricing Explained: Self-Hosted vs Cloud Costs (and Is It Really Free?)

"Is n8n free?" doesn't have a one-word answer, because n8n's pricing depends entirely on how you run it. Self-hosted, the software itself costs nothing — you're only paying for the server. On n8n Cloud, you're paying for the managed service, priced around usage rather than a flat seat fee. Understanding which model fits your situation before you commit avoids the two most common surprises: an unexpectedly large cloud bill, or underestimating the real cost of self-hosting.

For how n8n's pricing model compares structurally to Zapier and Make, see n8n vs Zapier vs Make.

Is n8n actually free?

Yes, in the specific sense that matters most: the n8n software is open-source (fair-code licensed) and free to self-host, with no cap on workflows, executions, or users baked into the software itself. What isn't free is the infrastructure to run it — a server, whether that's a few dollars a month on a small VPS or more for higher-availability, higher-throughput setups — and the time to set it up, secure it, and keep it updated.

n8n Cloud, the managed hosted option, is not free beyond an initial trial period. It removes the server-management burden entirely in exchange for a subscription.

Self-hosted n8n: what it actually costs

The direct cost is server hosting — for most small-to-mid automation workloads, a modest VPS is enough to run n8n comfortably, putting the direct infrastructure cost in the range of a low-tier cloud subscription elsewhere. The costs that don't show up on a hosting invoice are the real trade-off:

• Setup time — installing, configuring a database, setting up SSL and a domain if you want a stable webhook URL.
• Maintenance — applying updates, monitoring uptime, handling backups.
• Security — you're responsible for securing the instance yourself, since there's no managed layer doing it for you.

For a team with existing DevOps capacity, this overhead is marginal. For a solo operator or small team without that background, it's a real ongoing time cost worth weighing against a managed plan.

n8n Cloud: what you're paying for

n8n Cloud prices around usage — active workflows and executions — rather than Zapier's per-task or Make's per-operation model. In practice this means the cost scales with how much automation you're actually running, similar in spirit to the consumption-based pricing of its competitors, but structured differently enough that direct dollar comparisons depend heavily on your specific workflow volume and complexity. Check n8n's current pricing page directly before budgeting, since tier structures and limits change over time. See n8n vs Zapier vs Make for how this pricing model compares structurally against both alternatives.

Self-hosted vs Cloud: how to decide

Choose self-hosted if:

• You have (or are willing to build) basic server management comfort
• Data residency or compliance requires your automation data to stay on infrastructure you control
• You're running high execution volumes where a flat server cost beats usage-based pricing at scale

Choose n8n Cloud if:

• You want to start building workflows immediately without server setup
• You'd rather pay a predictable subscription than manage infrastructure
• Your team doesn't have DevOps capacity to spare on maintaining a self-hosted instance

Hidden costs to budget for either way

Regardless of hosting choice, most real n8n costs beyond the platform itself come from what your workflows connect to: API usage fees from AI models, enrichment services, or paid integrations your workflows call. A workflow enriching thousands of leads a month through a paid API will rack up costs there long before n8n's own pricing becomes the limiting factor — budget for the services in the chain, not just the automation platform running it.

Getting started without overcommitting

If you're still evaluating whether n8n fits your needs, self-hosting a small instance to build and test your first few workflows costs next to nothing and removes any pressure to commit to a paid tier before you know your actual usage pattern. From there, browse n8n workflow templates to see what a real workflow's execution footprint looks like before scaling up, or see our complete guide to n8n workflows for the bigger picture.