At a glance
| Feature | n8n Cloud | Self-hosted Community Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Starter €20/month and Pro €50/month (billed annually). Business €667/month | Software is free. You pay for your own server |
| Billing unit | Executions (full workflow runs), not steps | No execution billing |
| Data location | EU, Frankfurt (per n8n) | Wherever you host it |
| AI Assistant | Credits included (1,600/month on Starter) | Preview. You bring your own API key |
| Who maintains it | n8n | You: updates, backups, security |
| Trial | 1,000 executions, no card | n/a |
Our take
For most small businesses: start on Cloud. Self-hosting saves money only if someone is happy to patch and back up a server. A broken or exposed automation server that holds your email and CRM credentials costs far more than €20 a month.
Who it's NOT for
n8n Cloud
Cloud is not for teams with strict "data never leaves our servers" rules.
Self-hosted
Self-hosted is not for anyone who doesn't know what a reverse proxy or a backup restore is.
Sources
- n8n pricing (checked 16 Oct 2026)
ComparisonsAll comparisons and how we score