The choice between n8n Cloud and self-hosting n8n comes down to one trade: money against time. Cloud costs a monthly fee and asks almost nothing of you. Self-hosting costs almost nothing in software and asks you to look after a server. Every number below comes from n8n's own docs and pricing page, checked on October 19, 2026.
The short version
| n8n Cloud | n8n self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | None, sign up and build | Install with Docker, npm or a cloud provider |
| Software cost | From $20 a month (Starter, billed annually) | Free (Community edition) |
| Who runs the server | n8n | You |
| Updates and maintenance | n8n | You |
| Executions | Monthly quota set by your plan | Business plan quota only if you buy that license |
| Paid features | Plan-based | Business or Enterprise license key |
n8n's own comparison page puts it the same way: Cloud is fully managed and needs no technical expertise, while self-hosting needs setup, your own infrastructure and maintenance that is your responsibility.
What n8n Cloud costs
The n8n pricing page says every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows and every integration, and that pricing is based on monthly workflow executions. An execution is one run of a whole workflow, however many steps it has.
On annual billing:
- Starter: $20 a month, 2,500 executions, 5 concurrent executions
- Pro: $50 a month, 10,000 executions, up to 50 concurrent executions
- Business: $800 a month, 40,000 executions, currently self-hosted only
- Enterprise: custom, hosted by n8n or self-hosted
The Cloud free trial gives you Pro features with a limit of 1,000 executions and 5 concurrent executions, and needs no credit card.
To estimate what you need, n8n's own example helps: a workflow on a daily schedule uses 30 or 31 executions a month, and one that runs every 5 minutes uses about 8,600 to 8,900.
What self-hosted n8n costs
The hosting docs say that without a license key, n8n runs as the free Community edition. The editions page adds that it includes almost the complete feature set, and you can stay on it indefinitely.
What it leaves out are the team and governance features. Sharing workflows and credentials is one example: on the Community edition, only the instance owner and the person who created a workflow or credential can access it. SSO, environments, external secrets and log streaming need a Business or Enterprise license. Registering your Community edition with your email, also free, unlocks folders, debug in editor and custom execution data.
"Free" covers the software only. You still pay for the server, and you spend your own time on it.
Self-hosted requirements
n8n documents three common ways in:
- One-line setup. The hosting page offers
curl -fsSL https://get.n8n.io | sh, which needs Docker on Linux or macOS, or WSL on Windows. - Docker Compose, which n8n lists as best for production. The Compose guide asks for Docker Engine, Docker Compose v2, and at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs, because the bundled sandbox that runs AI-generated code for n8n Assistant needs extra headroom.
- npm, for local development or testing. The npm guide says n8n needs a Node.js version between 20.19 and 24.x.
One detail to plan for: the Compose guide notes that n8n falls back to a built-in SQLite database. For a production instance with more than a handful of users, or workflows running around the clock, n8n recommends Postgres instead.
Which one should you pick?
Pick n8n Cloud if you want to start today, you have no one to look after a server, and your monthly execution count fits a plan. It is also the right way to learn n8n before you commit to running it.
Pick self-hosting if your execution count would push you into a higher Cloud plan, you want your workflow data on infrastructure you control, or you want a customized setup, which n8n's comparison page recommends self-hosting for. You need to be comfortable with, or have help with, a server: updates, backups, a domain with SSL and basic security.
A middle path works well too. Learn on the Cloud trial, then move to your own server once your workflows earn their keep. My free n8n course covers building workflows on either.
Making self-hosting less painful
The hard part of self-hosting is the first evening: the server, Docker, the domain, SSL and locking it down. That is why I built the n8n Self-Host Autopilot. It is a Claude Code skill that walks you through each command, explains what it does and waits for your confirmation before it moves on. There is a free tier, and the full walkthrough is in How to Self-Host n8n for Free.
Frequently asked questions
Is self-hosted n8n really free?
The software is. Without a license key, n8n runs as the free Community edition, which has almost the complete feature set. You still pay for the server it runs on, and your own time for setup, updates and security.
What does the n8n Community edition leave out?
Paid features such as workflow and credential sharing, SSO, multiple environments, external secrets and log streaming. Those come with the self-hosted Business and Enterprise plans. Registering the Community edition with your email adds folders, debug in editor and custom execution data for free.
What are the requirements to self-host n8n?
n8n's Docker Compose guide asks for Docker Engine, Docker Compose v2, and at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs. The npm install, meant for local testing, needs Node.js between 20.19 and 24.x.
How much does n8n Cloud cost?
On annual billing, Starter is $20 a month for 2,500 workflow executions and Pro is $50 a month for 10,000. Every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows and every integration. There is a free trial with no credit card required.
Can I move from n8n Cloud to self-hosted later?
Yes. n8n saves workflows as JSON, so you can export them from one instance and import them into another. The export carries credential names and IDs, so plan to reconnect your credentials on the new instance and test before you switch your webhooks over.