Quick answer: n8n Cloud starts at €20/month for 2,500 workflow executions (Pro is €50/month for 10,000), and — unlike Zapier and Make — an "execution" is one complete workflow run no matter how many steps it has. Self-hosted n8n (Community Edition) is free: your only cost is a server, typically $6–$20/month for unlimited executions. That metering difference is why teams running multi-step workflows routinely cut their automation bill 80–95% by switching. All prices verified against the official pricing pages on July 19, 2026.
n8n Cloud pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price (billed annually) | Executions / month | Users & workflows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €20/mo | 2,500 | Unlimited |
| Pro | €50/mo | 10,000 | Unlimited |
| Business | €667/mo | 40,000 | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Unlimited |
Two things make n8n's cloud pricing unusual. First, every plan includes unlimited users, unlimited workflows, and every integration — you're only paying for executions. Second, n8n bills in euros everywhere; at recent exchange rates Starter works out to roughly $22/month. Startups under 20 employees can apply for 50% off the Business plan.
The metering difference that changes everything
Most pricing comparisons miss this, and it's the entire ballgame: n8n charges per workflow run; Zapier and Make charge per step.
- n8n: one execution = one complete run of a workflow, whether it has 3 steps or 300.
- Zapier: every action step that runs consumes a task (triggers and a handful of built-in utilities are free).
- Make: every module operation consumes a credit — reads, searches, writes, transforms all count.
Here's what that means for a realistic automation — say, a lead-intake workflow with 20 steps (enrich the lead, score it, write to CRM, notify Slack, draft a follow-up, log it) that runs 1,000 times a month:
| Platform | Units consumed / month | Plan you'd need | Approx. monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud | 1,000 executions | Starter (2,500 execs) | €20 (~$22) |
| n8n self-hosted | 1,000 executions (unmetered) | Community Edition + a VPS | $6–$20 (server only) |
| Make | ~20,000 credits | Above the 10k base tier | ~$30–$60+ |
| Zapier | ~19,000 tasks | Professional, ~20k-task tier | ~$150–$250+ |
The gap widens as workflows get more sophisticated — which is exactly the direction every business's automations evolve. Add an AI-agent step that loops five times and a Zapier bill grows fivefold; the n8n execution count doesn't move.
Self-hosted n8n: the real math
The Community Edition is the same core product, self-hosted, with no license fee and no execution metering. What it actually costs:
- Server: a $6–$20/month VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Lightsail) comfortably runs tens of thousands of executions.
- Setup: a few hours with Docker if you know your way around a server — SSL, backups, and updates are on you. Our step-by-step self-hosted n8n guide covers the whole install.
- Honest overhead: budget 1–2 hours a month for updates and monitoring, or have it professionally set up once with automated backups and never think about it.
Run 50,000 executions a month self-hosted and your bill is still the price of the server. On n8n Cloud that volume is Business-tier (€667/month); on Zapier's per-task meter it can clear $1,000/month. This is why we deploy self-hosted n8n for most client builds — it's the difference between renting your automation and owning it. One-time setup, your infrastructure, your data, no meter running.
When each option actually makes sense
- n8n Cloud Starter (€20): you want zero server responsibility and run under ~2,500 workflow runs a month. Great starting point.
- n8n Cloud Pro (€50): same, at real production volume.
- Self-hosted n8n: you run serious volume, care about data staying on your infrastructure, or simply refuse to pay a permanent meter. Best cost-per-execution in the industry, by far.
- Zapier: you need its enormous app catalog (8,000+) for simple 2–3 step zaps at low volume — its free 100 tasks and polish are genuinely good there.
- Make: visually-built mid-complexity scenarios at moderate volume; cheaper than Zapier, more managed than n8n.
n8n pricing FAQ
Is n8n really free?
The self-hosted Community Edition is genuinely free — full workflow engine, all integrations, unlimited executions. You pay only for the server it runs on. n8n Cloud (the hosted version) starts at €20/month.
Is n8n cheaper than Zapier?
At any meaningful workflow complexity, dramatically — because n8n charges per run while Zapier charges per step. A 20-step workflow consumes one n8n execution but ~19 Zapier tasks. For multi-step automations, n8n Cloud typically comes out 5–10× cheaper, and self-hosted n8n 20–50× cheaper.
How many executions do I actually need?
Count workflow runs, not steps. A lead workflow that fires 30 times a day is ~900 executions a month — inside the €20 Starter plan even if the workflow is huge. Most small businesses run 1,000–10,000 executions a month across all automations.
What's the catch with self-hosting?
You're the ops team: updates, SSL, backups, uptime. It's a few hours a month if you're comfortable with Docker, or a one-time professional setup if you're not. Some cloud-only conveniences (managed scaling, built-in SSO tiers) also stay on the paid plans.
Can I start on n8n Cloud and move to self-hosted later?
Yes — workflows export as JSON and import into any n8n instance. Starting on Cloud and migrating to self-hosted once volume justifies it is a common and sensible path.
Where this fits: we build client automations on n8n (usually self-hosted) precisely because of this pricing model — a one-time build on infrastructure you own, with no per-task meter. If you're weighing platforms, our n8n vs Zapier vs Make comparison goes deeper on capability, and the free automation audit will tell you what your actual execution volume — and bill — would look like.