n8n is popular with small technical teams because it charges per workflow run, not per step, and because you can host it yourself. This guide explains how its pricing works so you can estimate your cost before you build. All figures come from n8n’s official pricing page; prices are shown there in euros and billed annually.
What n8n counts: executions
An execution is one complete run of a workflow. A workflow with two steps and a workflow with twenty steps each count as one execution per run. That is the main difference from Zapier (which counts tasks) and Make (which counts credits per module action).
To estimate your usage, multiply how often each workflow runs by the number of workflows:
3 workflows × 20 runs a day × 30 days = 1,800 executions a month
That example fits within the Starter plan.
Cloud plans (hosted by n8n)
| Plan | Price (billed annually) | Executions per month | Notable limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €20/month | 2,500 | 5 concurrent executions, 1 shared project, 5-minute max execution time, 1-day workflow history |
| Pro | €50/month | 10,000 | Up to 50 concurrent executions, 3 shared projects, 40-minute max execution time, admin roles, global variables |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | 200+ concurrent executions, audit logs, log streaming, SLA-backed support; also available self-hosted |
All plans list unlimited users and unlimited active workflows. The pricing page shows a monthly/annual toggle, but the prices it displays are annual.
The free trial
Starter and Pro start with a free trial that needs no credit card. The trial is limited to 1,000 executions, 5 concurrent executions, a 180-second execution timeout and one team project. That’s enough to rebuild one or two real workflows and see how many executions they use.
Self-hosted options
- Community Edition: n8n states that a standard self-hosted version is available on GitHub. It’s released under n8n’s own fair-code license rather than a standard open-source license, so read the license documentation if you plan commercial use.
- Business: €667 a month billed annually, self-hosted, 40,000 executions, with SSO/LDAP, multiple environments, Git version control and queue mode. Companies with fewer than 20 employees may qualify for 50% off.
- Enterprise: custom pricing, self-hosted or hosted.
The hidden costs of self-hosting
Self-hosting the Community Edition can look free, but budget for:
- A server (a small virtual machine is often enough to start) and a database backup plan.
- Your time for updates, security patches and monitoring. If n8n stops, your automations stop.
- AI usage: if a workflow calls an AI model, you pay that provider separately.
If nobody on your team is comfortable maintaining a server, the cloud Starter plan is usually cheaper than the hours you’d spend.
Which plan should a small business pick?
- Testing n8n: start the free cloud trial and rebuild one real workflow.
- A few workflows, under 2,500 runs a month: Starter.
- Long-running workflows or AI agents: Pro, mainly for the 40-minute execution limit and higher concurrency.
- Strict data-control needs and a technical team: self-hosted Community Edition, with a maintenance plan.
Still deciding between platforms? Compare Make vs n8n, or read our overview of Zapier alternatives for small businesses.
Sources and further reading
We link to official documentation and primary sources. Product details change — check the source before relying on a specific limit or price.
- n8n pricing n8n.io
- n8n license documentation docs.n8n.io