n8n Cost Calculator: Cloud vs Self-Hosted
By Rick, NoCode Guide
Enter your workflows and monthly executions to see whether n8n Cloud or self-hosting on a VPS is cheaper for you, with the yearly savings shown live.
Self-hosting saves you about $8,785/year versus the equivalent Cloud plan (n8n bills in euro; converted at about €1 = $1.12, October 2026).
How n8n pricing actually works
n8n charges by execution, not per task or per node. One complete run of a workflow, whether it has three nodes or thirty, counts as a single execution. This is the key reason n8n is so much cheaper than per-task tools like Zapier for complex automations: a 20-step flow costs the same as a 2-step flow.
Execution limits explained
Cloud plans cap the number of executions per month. Since 2026 they no longer cap active workflows, which are unlimited on every plan. Starter covers 2,500 executions a month and Pro 10,000. n8n publishes overage terms for Business but not for Starter or Pro, so ask before relying on running past a limit. Self-hosting has no such cap; the only ceiling is your server's CPU and memory.
The hidden costs most calculators miss
On Cloud, the real surprise is the price jump between tiers: crossing from Starter to Pro more than doubles your bill. On self-hosted, the hidden costs are the VPS itself ($12–29/mo at renewal rates), backups, and the time you spend on the occasional update. Both routes also carry any third-party API fees, for example your OpenAI usage, which are billed separately by those providers.
So which should you choose?
If you're comfortable in a terminal and expect steady volume, self-host on a VPS; it's cheaper and unlimited. Read how to install n8n on a VPS. If you want zero maintenance and your volume is low, Cloud's convenience can justify the premium. Either way, the full comparison and pricing guide go deeper. Official rates: n8n.io/pricing.
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What the calculator assumes, so you can check it
A calculator is only as honest as its inputs, so here are the ones this page uses and where they came from.
n8n Cloud prices are taken from n8n's own pricing page, which renders in euro, at the annual-billing rate: Starter at €20 a month for 2,500 executions, Pro at €50 for 10,000, and Business at €667 for 40,000. Annual billing saves 17% against monthly. Because the active-workflow caps were removed during 2026, the calculator selects a Cloud plan on executions alone. If you see an older calculator asking how many workflows you have, it is using a pricing model that no longer exists.
Self-hosted prices are Hostinger's VPS plans at their renewal rate rather than the promotional one, because the promotional price expires and the renewal price is what you will actually be paying in year three. The calculator picks a VPS tier from your execution volume as a proxy for load, which is a simplification: real memory use is driven by payload size more than by run count, so a low-volume workflow processing large files may want a bigger server than the calculator suggests.
The costs it leaves out
Your time, on the self-hosted side. Roughly an hour a month for updates and checks if you keep up, considerably more if you let versions pile up. Price that against your hourly rate before concluding that self-hosting is free.
API costs, on both sides. If your workflows call OpenAI, Anthropic or any other metered service, that bill is identical whichever way you host n8n and is usually larger than the n8n cost itself.
Paid features, on the Cloud side. If you need single sign-on, environments or Git-backed workflows, the free Community Edition does not have them and the comparison is not apples to apples. The cloud versus self-hosted page lists exactly what is gated.
Reading the result
The yearly saving is the number to look at, and it should be read alongside whether anyone on your team actually wants to run a server. A saving of a few hundred a year for a job nobody wants is not a saving. A saving of several thousand, which is what the arithmetic produces at Business-tier volumes, usually is. If the calculator recommends Cloud despite self-hosting being cheaper, that is because you told it you are not comfortable managing a server, and it is taking you at your word.
Frequently asked questions
We compare the cheapest n8n Cloud plan that covers your executions against a self-hosted VPS sized to your workflow count, then show which costs less per year.
Correct. The Community Edition has no execution cap. The only limit is your server's resources.
They reflect published pricing as of October 2026. Always confirm current rates with the provider before committing.
Those are separate and apply regardless of hosting choice. The calculator covers only the automation platform cost.
Community support is free via forums and docs. Paid support requires a Cloud or Enterprise plan.