Quick Answer
Complete n8n pricing breakdown for 2026 — Cloud Starter, Pro, Enterprise, and self-host. Real cost economics at 1K, 10K, 50K, and 200K monthly executions vs Zapier and Make. Plus the crossover point where self-host becomes the obvious choice.
Quick Answer
n8n Cloud Starter €20/mo (2,500 executions). Cloud Pro €50/mo (10K). Enterprise custom. Self-host: completely free forever. Self-host wins above ~3,000 monthly executions. Crossover vs Zapier: n8n is 5-10x cheaper at any scale because it charges per-execution, not per-task.
All n8n Plans (2026)
| Plan | Price | Executions/Month | Workflows | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-host | $0 (hosting only) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Anyone with technical skills |
| Cloud Starter | €20/mo (~$22) | ~2,500 | 5 active | Solo / small projects |
| Cloud Pro | €50/mo (~$55) | ~10,000 | 15 active | Agencies / SMBs |
| Enterprise | €500+/mo (custom) | Custom (50K+) | Unlimited | Large orgs (SSO, audit, SLA) |
Self-Host: The Best Deal in Automation
n8n is open-source under Apache 2.0 — fully free forever. Self-host gives you:
- Unlimited workflow executions — no per-task or per-execution charges
- Unlimited active workflows — no “5 max” like Cloud Starter
- Full data ownership — secrets and customer data stay on your infrastructure
- Custom node development — write any integration n8n doesn't natively support
- Air-gapped deployment — required for HIPAA, regulated industries, government
Hosting cost: $5-$20/month on a VPS (DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Linode). 1 vCPU + 2GB RAM handles ~10K executions/day. Larger workloads need 2-4 vCPU.
Cloud Starter — €20/month
The default entry point. €20/month (or €17/mo annual). Includes:
- ~2,500 workflow executions/month
- 5 active workflows (test workflows count separately)
- 5 concurrent executions
- 5 days execution history
- Standard support via community forum
Best for solo operators, freelancers, and small projects. Hits limits around 80-100 executions/day.
Cloud Pro — €50/month
The agency / SMB sweet spot.
- ~10,000 workflow executions/month
- 15 active workflows
- 10 concurrent executions
- 14 days execution history
- Priority email support
Best for marketing agencies running client automations, AI agencies orchestrating LLM calls, SMBs with multiple integration needs.
Enterprise — Custom Pricing
For large organizations needing:
- SSO (SAML, OAuth)
- Audit logs + compliance certifications
- Custom execution limits (50K-millions/month)
- Dedicated infrastructure / private deployment
- Unlimited active workflows + concurrent executions
- Dedicated support / SLA
- External secrets manager integration
Pricing starts at €500+/month, typically negotiated. Many Enterprise customers run hybrid: Cloud for prototyping + self-hosted for production.
Real Cost at Different Volumes
| Volume / Mo | n8n Cloud | n8n Self-Host | Zapier | Make.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 executions | €20 (Starter) | $5 hosting | $30 (Pro 750 tasks) | $11 (Core) |
| 5,000 executions | €20 (Starter) | $10 hosting | $74 (Pro 5K) | $35 (Pro) |
| 10,000 executions | €50 (Pro) | $15 hosting | $104 (Pro 10K) | $53 (Pro 10K) |
| 50,000 executions | €200+ (Pro overage) | $25 hosting | $330+ (Pro 50K) | $165 (Teams) |
| 200,000 executions | €500+ (Enterprise) | $50 hosting | $1,000+ (Pro 200K) | $500+ (Enterprise) |
Note: Zapier charges per-task. A workflow with 10 steps = 10 tasks per run. n8n charges per-execution (one workflow run = 1 execution regardless of step count). The real cost gap is wider than the table suggests.
When to Pick Each Plan
- Cloud Starter (€20): Solo creator, <2,500 monthly executions, want zero ops overhead. Default entry point.
- Cloud Pro (€50): Marketing agency or SMB running client automations, 5-10K executions, multiple workflows.
- Self-host (free): Anyone with 1-2 hours to set up Docker. Wins above ~3K executions/month or for data-sensitive workloads.
- Enterprise: 50K+ executions, SSO required, regulated industry, >5 simultaneous developers.
vs Zapier and Make.com
See our deep comparisons:
- n8n vs Zapier — full feature + cost breakdown
- n8n vs Make.com — visual UX + AI nodes + scale
Short version: n8n wins on AI/LLM workflows and at scale. Zapier wins on simple cross-app automations with non-technical users. Make sits between.
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