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Before you build anything on n8n you have to decide where it runs: on n8n's hosted Cloud, or on a server you control. The choice changes your monthly bill, who looks after backups and updates, and what happens if something breaks at 2am. We run our own n8n on a VPS, so we have opinions, but the honest answer depends on the business. This post lays out the costs from n8n's own pages and the trade-offs that do not show up in a price table.
Prices below come from n8n's pricing page and Hetzner's cloud page, both read on 10 November 2026. Neither page showed an effective date, so check them before you budget. For how these costs sit next to an agency fee, see what an n8n agency costs.
What n8n Cloud costs
n8n's pricing page lists these plans in euros, with the figures shown for annual billing:
| Plan | Price a month | Executions a month | Notable limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €20 | 2.5K | 1 shared project, 5 concurrent executions, 5-minute maximum execution, 7-day log retention |
| Pro | €50 | 10K | 3 shared projects, 40-minute maximum execution, 30-day log retention, 7 days of Insights |
| Business | €667 | 40K | Listed as self-hosted only, with a Cloud version on a waitlist |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | Hosted by n8n or self-hosted |
The page lists unlimited active workflows on all of these. The thing you are buying is executions. A workflow that checks an inbox every five minutes uses roughly 8,600 executions in a 30-day month on its own, so a polling trigger can use up the Starter allowance quickly. That is simple arithmetic, not a figure from n8n, but it is worth doing for your own schedule before you pick a plan.
What self-hosting costs
The Community Edition is a standard self-hosted version available on GitHub. Its pricing entry gives no price and no limits, so the practical ceiling is your server rather than a plan. You pay for the machine and for the time spent looking after it.
- The server. Hetzner's cloud page lists shared-vCPU servers from €6.49 a month excluding VAT. n8n's own Hetzner guide says a CPX11-size server is enough for most usage, and recommends at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs if you add the n8n Assistant. Other providers are comparable.
- The setup. n8n's hosting documentation lists Docker Compose as the route for production deployments with databases, alongside one-line setup and several cloud-provider guides.
- The time. Updates, monitoring and backups are yours. The Hetzner guide does not cover backups, and it notes that n8n uses its built-in SQLite database by default unless you set up something else. A serious deployment usually adds a proper database and a backup routine on top.
So the hardware is cheap and the labour is the real cost. If nobody on your side wants that job, that labour either becomes a monthly agency line or a risk you are carrying without noticing.
The trade-offs that matter more than the price
Control and data location
On your own server you choose the region, the network rules and who can log in. If you handle customer details you may care where they sit. n8n Cloud is simpler, but you accept n8n's hosting setup.
Limits
Cloud plans have execution and time limits written on the pricing page. The Starter plan's five-minute maximum execution rules out some long-running jobs, such as processing a big batch of files in one go. A self-hosted instance has whatever limits your server and configuration give it.
Features by plan
Some features are tied to plans. On the pricing page, the Business plan lists things like SSO, LDAP, multiple environments and Git version control. If you need those, check which hosting options each plan allows, because the page describes Business as self-hosted only. It also says Business and Enterprise license keys can be applied to unlimited self-hosted instances, and that the Business license key pings a license server daily. That last detail matters if your server is in a locked-down network.
Reliability and who gets paged
On Cloud, n8n runs the platform, though your workflows can still fail for their own reasons. Self-hosted, you also own server uptime, disk space, certificates and upgrades. Set up monitoring that tells you when a workflow stops running, not only when it throws an error, because a stopped schedule is silent.
Moving later
Starting on one and moving to the other is possible, because workflows can be exported as JSON and imported elsewhere. What does not move on its own are the credentials, the execution history and any webhook URLs that other tools point at. Plan an afternoon for that, and keep a list of every service that calls a webhook so none are missed. If you expect to move, keep the workflows tidy and documented from day one, because that is what makes it a small job rather than a rebuild.
The licence question for agencies and resellers
n8n's source is under the Sustainable Use License, which is not a standard open-source licence. The text in the n8n GitHub repository says you "may use or modify the software only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use", and that you may distribute it or provide it to others only "free of charge for non-commercial purposes". It does not mention consulting. It does not say whether hosting n8n for a client counts. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. If you plan to run n8n for other people, read the licence and ask n8n directly, and ask any agency you hire how they stay inside it.
One more thing to ask on either route: who holds the admin login? Whether the instance is on n8n's Cloud or on a server, it should be in an account your business owns, with the agency added as a user. That way, ending the relationship never means losing the workflows.
How to choose
| If this describes you | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| One or two workflows, nobody technical, low volume | n8n Cloud, Starter or Pro |
| Polling triggers or high volume that would burn through executions | Self-hosted, or a higher plan after doing the arithmetic |
| Strict data location or network rules | Self-hosted in your chosen region |
| You want Business-plan features | Self-hosted, per the pricing page |
| You want someone else to run and monitor it | Cloud, or self-hosted with an agency retainer that includes monitoring |
What we do
We self-host n8n on a VPS for our own work. On our pricing page, the n8n Starter build includes "n8n cloud or self-hosted setup", and there is a separate $750 add-on for self-hosting on your own VPS (setup and hardening), as listed on 10 November 2026. Which one we recommend depends on the questions above, not on which is cheaper for us. The service details are on the n8n automation page.
Questions people ask
Is self-hosted n8n free?
The Community Edition is a standard self-hosted version available on GitHub, but you still pay for the server and the time to maintain it. Hetzner, for example, lists shared-vCPU servers from €6.49 a month excluding VAT.
How much does n8n Cloud cost?
On n8n's pricing page, read on 10 November 2026, Starter is €20 a month for 2.5K executions and Pro is €50 a month for 10K executions, with figures shown for annual billing. Business and Enterprise cost more.
Can I use n8n for client work?
The Sustainable Use License allows use for your own internal business purposes or non-commercial use and does not mention consulting. Read the licence and ask n8n if you are unsure; this is not legal advice.
Which is better for a small business?
If nobody on the team wants to look after a server, Cloud is usually simpler. If you run frequent polling workflows, have data location rules, or want features listed as self-hosted only, self-hosting may suit you better.