n8n Cloud Pricing: Starter vs Pro vs Enterprise Plans (2026)
n8n Cloud has four paid tiers in May 2026: Starter at �20/month (2,500 executions), Pro at �50/month (10,000 executions), Business at �667/month (40,000 executions), and Enterprise with custom pricing. All plans include unlimited users, unlimited active workflows, and every integration in n8n’s catalog. You pay per workflow execution one complete run of your entire workflow, regardless of how many steps it contains. The Community Edition is free to self-host with unlimited executions on your own infrastructure. Annual billing saves 17% across every tier. A 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required for Starter and Pro.
“n8n’s execution-based billing is the single biggest pricing differentiator in the automation market. A 20-step workflow costs one execution on n8n. The same workflow on Zapier would cost 20 tasks. At volume, that gap compounds into thousands of euros per year.”
This guide uses only verified data pulled directly from n8n.io/pricing on May 28, 2026, cross-referenced against third-party analyses and community discussions. No stale screenshots, no guesswork.
The Real 2026 Prices: Complete Comparison Table
| Plan | Monthly (Annual) | Monthly (Monthly) | Executions/Month | Concurrent | Shared Projects | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community | Free | Free | Unlimited | Unlimited | Self-hosted, all integrations, community support | |
| Starter | �20 | �24 | 2,500 | 5 | 1 | Hosted by n8n, 50 AI credits, forum support |
| Pro | �50 | �60 | 10,000 | 20 | 3 | Admin roles, global variables, workflow history, 150 AI credits |
| Business | �667 | �800 | 40,000 | 200+ | 6 | SSO/SAML/LDAP, Git, environments, 30-day insights |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | 200+ | Unlimited | External secrets, log streaming, dedicated SLA, 365-day insights |
All prices verified May 28, 2026. Annual billing saves 17%. Source: n8n.io/pricing.
1. How n8n Pricing Actually Works
n8n bills per execution one complete run of a workflow from trigger to finish. This is fundamentally different from Zapier’s task model (every action step counts) and Make’s operation model (every module run counts).
An execution is the full lifecycle of a single workflow run. A workflow with 3 steps or 30 steps both count as exactly one execution. A workflow that handles one record or processes a thousand records during a single run still one execution. This is the core pricing advantage for teams running complex automations.
Watch out for polling workflows. Scheduled workflows burn executions continuously a Gmail poll every 10 minutes eats 4,320 executions/month, nearly double Starter’s allowance. Webhook-triggered workflows only consume executions when events fire.
What Counts Toward Your Limit
- Workflow run to completion 1 execution
- Workflow run with error 1 execution (failures count)
- Sub-workflow calls via Execute Workflow node 1 additional execution each
- Manual test runs count as production executions on Cloud
- Retries each is a separate execution
What does NOT count: Steps within a run, data volume, number of users, number of active workflows, or integration type.
In August 2026, n8n removed all active workflow limits across every plan. Now every tier includes unlimited workflows the only constraint is your execution cap. Source: n8n Blog.
2. Starter Plan (�20/month)
Starter is the entry-level Cloud plan for individuals and solo builders testing n8n’s capabilities. It is hosted entirely by n8n on EU servers in Frankfurt, Germany.
You get:
- 2,500 workflow executions per month
- 5 concurrent executions (how many workflows can run simultaneously)
- 1 shared project
- Unlimited users and unlimited active workflows
- 50 AI Workflow Builder credits per month
- 320MiB RAM, 10 millicore burstable CPU
- Forum support (no email or priority)
- 1 day of workflow history
- 7 days of execution log retention
You do NOT get: Community nodes (disabled on Cloud for security reasons), admin roles, global variables, SSO, Git integration, or workflow history beyond 1 day.
Who it fits: Freelancers building their first automations, solo founders testing whether n8n solves real problems, and anyone wanting zero infrastructure management for low-volume workflows. If your monthly runs stay under ~80 per day, Starter is the right home.
Who it does NOT fit: Anyone with polling workflows (email, RSS, Slack monitors) or teams needing shared project isolation. A single polling workflow checking Gmail every 10 minutes burns 4,320 executions nearly double the Starter cap.
3. Pro Plan (�50/month)
Pro is n8n’s recommended tier for solo builders and small teams running production workflows. It lifts most of Starter’s operational constraints while keeping the Cloud-managed hosting model.
Everything in Starter, plus:
- 10,000 workflow executions per month
- 20 concurrent executions
- 3 shared projects for team isolation
- 150 AI Workflow Builder credits per month
- Admin roles for access control
- Global variables (reusable across workflows)
- 5 days of workflow history (version rollback)
- Execution search (find runs by data content)
- 7 days of insights dashboard
- Priority support
- Higher compute resources
Who it fits: Small operations teams with 3�10 production workflows, agencies managing client automations, and solo developers who need history for debugging and the ability to search execution data. Pro is the practical sweet spot for most paid n8n Cloud users.
Who it does NOT fit: Teams needing SSO/SAML/LDAP, Git-based version control, or multi-environment setups (dev/staging/prod). These push you to Business or Enterprise.
4. Business Plan (�667/month)
Business is a self-hosted plan (you run the instance on your own infrastructure) for companies that need collaboration, governance, and scale. It bridges the gap between Pro and Enterprise without requiring a custom sales conversation.
Everything in Pro, plus:
- 40,000 workflow executions per month
- 200+ concurrent executions
- 6 shared projects
- SSO, SAML, and LDAP authentication
- Git-based version control with workflow diff
- Multi-environment support (dev, staging, production)
- 30 days of insights retention
- Scaling options (queue mode, worker view, external S3 storage)
- Audit logging
Overage pricing: If you exceed 40,000 executions, additional blocks of 300,000 executions cost �4,000. The n8n sales team reaches out when you approach 80% of your annual quota.
Startup discount: Companies with fewer than 20 employees and less than �5 million in total funding qualify for 50% off the Business plan �333.50/month instead of �667. Source: n8n.io/pricing/startup-plan.
Who it fits: Mid-size companies (under 100 employees, per n8n’s own recommendations), security-conscious teams needing identity controls, development teams requiring Git-based workflow versioning, and organizations that want staging environments before pushing changes to production.
Who it does NOT fit: Teams without infrastructure skills (Business is self-hosted), companies needing dedicated SLA support (Enterprise-only), or anyone exceeding 40,000 executions/month without overage budget.
5. Enterprise Plan (Custom Pricing)
Enterprise is for organizations with strict compliance, governance, security, and support requirements. Deployment can be hosted by n8n or self-hosted on your infrastructure.
Everything in Business, plus:
- Custom execution volume (no fixed cap)
- Unlimited shared projects
- 200+ concurrent executions
- 365 days of insights retention
- 1,000 AI Workflow Builder credits (Cloud only)
- External secret store integration (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)
- Log streaming to external services (Datadog, Grafana, etc.)
- Extended data retention
- Dedicated support with SLA
- Invoice billing and sales-assisted procurement
Enterprise also unlocks in self-hosted mode: Custom nodes, control via CLI, queue mode with multi-main architecture, and worker view for horizontal scaling.
Who it fits: Organizations where automation is mission-critical infrastructure. Security teams that require external secrets management. Compliance teams that need log streaming to centralized SIEM systems. Procurement departments that require invoice billing and contract negotiation. Anyone running workflows that directly affect customer data, billing systems, or revenue operations.
Enterprise pricing cannot be evaluated from a public table. Contact n8n sales, run a pilot, and negotiate.
6. Community Edition (Free Self-Hosted)
n8n’s Community Edition is the free, self-hosted version available on GitHub with 190,061+ stars as of May 2026. It includes every integration in the catalog and unlimited workflow executions. Source: github.com/n8n-io/n8n.
Important license note: n8n uses the Sustainable Use License, a fair-code license not traditional OSI open source. It permits internal business and personal use but restricts using n8n as a hosted service you sell to others. Source: docs.n8n.io/reference/license.
You are responsible for:
- Server provisioning and operating system maintenance
- n8n installation and version upgrades
- SSL certificate setup and renewal
- Database management (SQLite for small deployments, PostgreSQL for production)
- Backups and disaster recovery
- Security patching and firewall configuration
- Monitoring, alerting, and incident response
- Scaling (queue mode, workers, load balancing)
Realistic self-hosting costs in 2026:
- Small/hobby deployment on Hetzner VPS: �4�7/month
- Production deployment for SMEs (4GB+ RAM, PostgreSQL): �15�50/month
- Enterprise high-availability setup (Kubernetes, multi-node): �100�300/month
- DevOps time: 3�10 hours/month for a small team, full-time for enterprise
Self-hosting saves subscription costs but adds infrastructure responsibility. Cloud buys focus and managed uptime. Only self-host if someone treats it as production infrastructure.
7. The Math: n8n vs Zapier vs Make
The three platforms bill on completely different units. Comparing sticker prices without understanding the billing model is the most common pricing mistake.
| Scenario | n8n Cloud Pro | Zapier Professional | Make Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | �50 (10,000 executions) | ~$49 (2,000 tasks) | ~$29 (40,000 operations) |
| Billing unit | Per execution (full workflow run) | Per task (each action step) | Per operation (each module run) |
| 10-step workflow � 500 runs/month | 500 executions | 5,000 tasks | ~5,000 operations |
| Cost for above | Fits in Starter (�20) | Requires Professional ($49+) | Requires Pro ($29+) |
| 20-step workflow � 2,000 runs/month | 2,000 executions (Starter fits) | 40,000 tasks (Teams plan, $69+) | 40,000 operations (Pro, $29+) |
| 50,000 executions with avg 15 nodes | 50,000 executions (Enterprise) | 750,000 tasks ($799+/month) | 750,000 operations (~$300/month) |
A 15-step workflow running 5,000 times per month consumes 75,000 Zapier tasks versus 5,000 n8n executions. At those volumes, Zapier costs 8�15� more. Source: Zapier pricing, Make pricing, n8n pricing.
8. How to Choose
Move from Community to Starter when: You want managed hosting without infrastructure work, your execution volume is under 2,500/month, and you have no polling workflows firing more than once per 10 minutes.
Move from Starter to Pro when: You need multiple shared projects, admin roles, workflow history, or your execution volume consistently exceeds 2,000/month. Do not wait until you hit the cap and workflows stop.
Move from Pro to Business when: Your team needs SSO/SAML/LDAP, environments for dev/staging/prod separation, Git-based version control, or execution volume exceeds 8,000/month.
Move to Enterprise when: Automation is company infrastructure. Workflows touch customer data, security demands log streaming, compliance requires external secrets, or procurement needs SLA-backed support and invoice billing.
Do not upgrade only because a higher tier sounds more professional. Upgrade because you have a measured constraint: execution volume, concurrency, identity, environments, or support.
Review monthly: Check execution usage in Settings ? Usage, delete inactive workflows, remove old credentials, and convert polling workflows to webhooks where possible. Pricing is not a one-time decision review whenever automation moves from experiment to production.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does n8n have a free plan? Yes the Community Edition is free to self-host with unlimited executions and every integration. On Cloud, there is a 14-day free trial (no credit card required for Starter and Pro). There is no permanent free Cloud tier.
What is an execution? A single complete run of a workflow from start to finish. A 3-step workflow and a 30-step workflow each count as one execution. Workflow complexity and data volume do not change the count.
How does annual billing work? Annual billing saves 17%: Starter drops from �24 to �20/month (�240/year), Pro from �60 to �50/month (�600/year), Business from ~�800 to �667/month (�8,004/year).
What happens when I hit my execution limit? On Starter and Pro, workflows stop executing until your next billing cycle. There is no automatic overage or grace buffer. On Business, overage blocks of 300,000 executions cost �4,000. Enterprise has custom negotiation.
Are AI features included? AI Agent nodes and LLM integrations (OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini) are free at the platform level you pay your model provider for token usage separately. AI Workflow Builder credits (the assistant that generates workflows from prompts) are metered: 50/month on Starter, 150/month on Pro, 1,000/month on Enterprise.
What is the startup discount? Companies with fewer than 20 employees and less than �5 million in total funding qualify for 50% off the Business plan (�333.50/month). Apply at n8n.io/pricing/startup-plan.
Where is my data stored? n8n Cloud instances are hosted in Frankfurt, Germany (EU). Self-hosted data stays wherever you deploy.
Is n8n open source? n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License the code is public and free for internal use, but the license restricts offering n8n as a hosted service to third parties. It is not OSI-approved open source.
Can I use community nodes on n8n Cloud? No. Community node installation is disabled on n8n Cloud for security reasons. You need a self-hosted instance to use community-built integrations.
Does the Business plan include support? Business is a self-serve option. Forum support is included. Dedicated support with SLA is only available on the Enterprise plan.
Sources
- n8n.io/pricing Official pricing page, verified May 28, 2026
- n8n.io/pricing/startup-plan Startup discount program
- blog.n8n.io Build without limits New pricing announcement, August 2026
- docs.n8n.io/reference/license Sustainable Use License details
- docs.n8n.io/hosting Self-hosting documentation
- github.com/n8n-io/n8n Community Edition (190,061+ stars)
- instapods.com/blog/n8n-pricing Third-party pricing analysis, May 2026
- connectsafely.ai/articles/n8n-cloud-pricing-guide Third-party plan breakdown, May 2026
- openhosst.com/blog/n8n-cloud-pricing Execution limit analysis, April 2026
- express-tech.io/the-real-cost-of-self-hosting-n8n-in-2026 Self-hosted cost analysis, April 2026