n8n Self-Hosted vs Cloud: Complete Pricing Guide for Workflow Automation
TL;DR n8n offers two deployment paths: self-hosted (free and open-source) or cloud-hosted with tiered pricing. Self-hosted n8n runs on your infrastructure with no licensing fees, while n8n Cloud provides managed hosting across Starter, Pro, and Enterprise tiers with varying execution limits and features. Self-hosted deployments require server management but give you complete control over data, unlimited workflow executions, and no per-execution costs. Install with npm install -g n8n or run via Docker on port 5678. You handle updates, backups, SSL certificates, and scaling. Infrastructure costs depend on your hosting provider and workflow complexity – a basic VPS can run simple workflows, while high-volume automation may need dedicated servers or Kubernetes clusters. ...