n8n Cloud vs self-hosted: which one should you pick?

Pick n8n Cloud if nobody on your team runs servers: the vendor hosts, updates and backs up your instance, and you pay for a monthly number of executions. Pick self-hosted n8n with the Community edition if you are comfortable managing a Linux server: the software is free and has no execution quota, but all the upkeep is on you. The deciding factor is not the sticker price. It is how much time and skill you have for the server.

What n8n Cloud gives you

According to the docs, n8n Cloud needs no installation: the vendor handles hosting, updates and scaling. n8n docs, “Choose how to use n8n” (accessed November 11, 2026)

In practice:

• Updates are applied for you. The instance owner picks a cadence and a maintenance window, but n8n upgrades every instance at least every two weeks. The instance restarts and is unavailable for one to two minutes, and you can’t roll back to the previous version after a major version update or a database migration. n8n docs, “Update your version” (accessed November 11, 2026)
• Backups run automatically. They contain workflows, never credentials. n8n docs, “Download workflows” (accessed November 11, 2026)
• Your data is stored in the EU, which matters if you are a US business with European customers: Hosted plans: EU, servers in Frankfurt (Germany); self-hosted: wherever n8n is installed source.

What n8n Cloud bills

n8n Cloud has no permanent free plan: a 14-day trial, then a subscription. The billing unit is the execution, meaning one complete run of a workflow, however many steps it has.

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n8n plans

Plan	Monthly price	Monthly price, billed annually	Monthly quota included	Limits
Startersource	€24	€20	2,500executions	Hosted by n8n, a single level of 2,500 executions. 1 shared project, 5 concurrent executions, unlimited users and active workflows, up to 5 minutes per execution, logs kept for 7 days. Forum support; overage: "Capped".
Prosource	€60	€50	10,000executions	Hosted by n8n, levels of 10,000 and 50,000 executions, then "Custom plan". 3 shared projects, 20 concurrent executions at the 10,000 level and 50 at the 50,000 level, up to 40 minutes per execution, logs kept for 30 days, admin roles, global variables. Forum support; overage: "Capped".
Businesssource	€800	€667	40,000executions	Self-hosted plan only ("Self-hosted only"); the version hosted by n8n is on a waiting list. Levels from 40,000 to 500,000 executions, then "Custom plan"; for companies with fewer than 100 employees. 6 shared projects, SSO and LDAP, environments, Git version control, external S3 storage; forum support, no dedicated support.
Enterprisesource	custom pricing	custom pricing	—	Custom pricing ("Contact Sales"), custom executions, hosted by n8n or self-hosted. Unlimited shared projects, SSO and LDAP, environments, Git, external secret storage, log streaming, audit logs, custom roles. Dedicated support with SLA, payment by invoice.

How to read this table:

• The entry plan, Starter, costs €24 per month (€20 per month billed annually) for 2,500 executions. The Pro plan starts at 10,000 executions per month. The prices recorded on the vendor’s pricing page are in euros.
• The quota is not the only limit. Starter caps you at 5 concurrent executions and 5 minutes per execution; Pro, at 20 concurrent executions on its first level and 40 minutes. Past the concurrency limit, production executions wait in a queue.
• The “Business” row is not a Cloud plan: it is a paid self-hosted license that adds team features (SSO, environments, Git version control) on top of the Community edition.
• On Cloud, telemetry can’t be turned off, and sessions in the interface are recorded, then deleted after 21 days, according to the privacy page in the docs.

Levels and overage rules are covered on the n8n pricing page.

What self-hosting gives you

The Community edition is what n8n runs without a license key. It is free and, according to the pricing grid, has no limit on users, active workflows or concurrent executions. It is not billed per execution: the only volume limit is what your server can handle.

What it adds compared with Cloud:

• Data where you decide: on your server, in the country and with the hosting company you choose.
• Custom nodes, which are available only when self-hosting.
• Telemetry you can turn off with environment variables.

What it leaves out, according to the docs: custom variables, environments, external secrets, external storage for binary data, log streaming, projects, SSO (SAML, LDAP), sharing of workflows and credentials, and Git version control. n8n docs, “Compare editions” (accessed November 11, 2026) For a solo founder or a small team sharing one account, that list rarely matters. For a team that wants separate access per person, check it first.

The license is not an open source license: it allows internal use and forbids reselling n8n as a service. The guide Is n8n free and open source? explains what it permits.

What self-hosting really asks of you

The docs are blunt: n8n recommends self-hosting for expert users who can set up servers and containers, manage resources, secure a server and configure n8n. They warn that mistakes can lead to data loss, security issues and downtime, and point everyone else to n8n Cloud. n8n docs, “Use Docker Compose” (accessed November 11, 2026)

Four chores replace the subscription:

1. A server. The Docker Compose guide asks for Docker Engine, Docker Compose v2 and at least 4 GB of RAM and 2 vCPUs, for a stack that includes the Assistant sandbox. What such a server costs depends on the hosting company. It is not a fact published by n8n, so we don’t put a number on it.
2. Updates. The docs advise updating at least once a month, reading the release notes and taking a full backup first. n8n docs, “Update n8n” (accessed November 11, 2026)
3. Backups. You need to back up the database and the encryption key: without that key, stored credentials can no longer be decrypted. n8n docs, “Back up and restore” (accessed November 11, 2026)
4. Security. HTTPS access, a firewall, protected accounts: the docs have a whole section on it (SSL, two-factor authentication, security audits).

The documented installation paths are described in the guide to self-hosting n8n.

The two options side by side

Item	n8n Cloud (Starter, Pro)	Self-hosted, Community edition
Software price	Subscription, see the plan table	Free, no license key
Execution quota	Yes, depends on the plan	No billed quota
Server	Provided and managed by n8n	Yours to provide and manage
Updates	Applied by n8n, at least every two weeks	Yours to run, at least monthly per the docs
Backups	Automatic (workflows)	Yours to set up: database and encryption key
Data location	Frankfurt, Germany	Wherever you install n8n
Custom nodes	No	Yes
Telemetry	Can’t be turned off	Can be turned off

The math to do before you choose

Count your monthly executions, not your steps. Three common automations (200 form submissions, a monitoring workflow that runs every hour, an email triage workflow that fires 900 times) use about 1,820 executions a month: the Starter quota covers it. The same monitoring workflow run every fifteen minutes uses 2,880 executions on its own, and goes past that quota. The full calculation is in the n8n workflow examples, and the cost calculator redoes it with your volumes.

When you self-host, that math goes away. The question becomes: who looks after the server, and how many hours a month does it take?

Which one fits your situation

• You have never managed a server: n8n Cloud. That is also what the docs recommend.
• You want to explore the tool without paying: the 14-day Cloud trial, or a local install on your computer with the Community edition.
• You can run a Linux server and your volume is high or hard to predict: the Community edition, which doesn’t count executions.
• Your data must stay on your own infrastructure: self-hosting.
• Your team needs SSO, environments or separate projects: neither Starter nor Community is enough; look at the Business (self-hosted) and Enterprise plans in the table.
• You want to resell an automation service to your clients: read the license first, then compare with the n8n alternatives, including Activepieces, which also offers a self-hosted version.

To see how n8n stacks up against a tool that bills differently, read n8n vs Make and the n8n profile.

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