n8n pricing: From $20/mo (2,500 executions, billed annually). Free plan: yes — Free self-hosted Community Edition; no free cloud plan. Each figure links to the comparison it was verified in.
Only if you already run servers well: the Community Edition is free to license, but self-hosting makes you responsible for the TLS reverse proxy and encryption at rest.
The alternative is n8n Cloud from $20/mo for 2,500 executions, billed annually, with unlimited users, where an execution is one run of a whole workflow and hosting is on Microsoft Azure in the EU. What people underestimate is what the server holds. An automation box stores working credentials for every system it connects to (your CRM, your inbox, your payment tools), so it's one of the most sensitive machines you'll ever run. If you self-host, keep it patched, keep the editor behind your own login controls rather than open to the internet, and back up the database and its configuration, then prove a restore works before you depend on it. Price that time honestly against the Cloud fee.
My read of the verified data on this page, checked against vendor sources on September 18, 2026. Disagree or spot an error? Tell Bill
Every row was recorded on a HelpCompare comparison page. The Source column links to the page it was verified on and the date it was last checked.
| Attribute | Value | Source & date |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | From $20/mo (2,500 executions, billed annually) | zapier-vs-n8n |
| Free plan | Free self-hosted Community Edition; no free cloud plan | zapier-vs-n8n |
| Users | Unlimited on every plan | zapier-vs-n8n |
| Billing unit | Executions — one run of a whole workflow | zapier-vs-n8n |
Compliance reports, sign-in controls, offline access and the setup details that matter for remote, hybrid and in-office teams. Each value links to the vendor page it came from. n8n’s own security documentation: trust.n8n.io. Scope: n8n Cloud researched for plan, SSO and hosting fields; the self-hosted edition runs on your own infrastructure, where you handle encryption and hosting yourself.
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