n8n Free Plan: What You Actually Get Before Paying
Yes, n8n is free if you self-host the Community Edition, with no execution cap. Hosted Cloud plans start at 20 euros a month. Here is what each option includes.
By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-11T01:25:50+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-11T01:25:50+00:00
n8n Free Plan: What You Actually Get Before Paying
Yes, n8n is free if you self-host it. The Community Edition costs nothing to license and has no cap on workflow executions. There is no free tier of the hosted Cloud service. Cloud starts with a trial, then paid plans from 20 euros a month. This guide explains what each option includes and which one fits your setup.
What the n8n free plan actually is
The free option is the Community Edition. It is the standard self-hosted version of n8n, available on GitHub. You install it on your own server, usually with Docker. You pay for the server, the database, backups, and upkeep. The software itself costs nothing.
The Community Edition runs the full workflow engine and editor. It includes the same nodes and integrations as the paid plans. It has no execution quota. Your server is the only limit. A workflow that runs ten times costs the same as one that runs ten thousand times: nothing to n8n.
The licence matters. n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License, not open source. You may use it for your own internal business purposes or for personal use. You may not resell a hosted n8n instance as your own product. Read the licence before you build a service on top of it.
The free plan is not a trial. It does not expire. It does not ask for a card. It stays free as long as you keep the server running. That makes it a real option for solo builders, small teams, and anyone who already runs a server.
n8n free plan vs Cloud plans
n8n charges by execution. One execution is one full run of a workflow, from trigger to finish. It does not matter how many steps the workflow has. A 50-step workflow that runs once counts as one execution. Every plan includes unlimited workflows and unlimited users. The meter is runs, not seats or steps.
Prices below come from n8n's own pricing page, read on 11 November 2026. The page shows euros to European visitors and dollars to visitors in the United States. The euro figures are 20, 50, and 667 per month billed annually. The dollar figures shown to US visitors are $20, $50, and $800.
| Plan | Price billed annually | Executions a month | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Edition | Free | No plan quota | Your server |
| Starter (Cloud) | 20 euros a month | 2,500 | Hosted by n8n |
| Pro (Cloud) | 50 euros a month | 10,000 | Hosted by n8n |
| Business | 667 euros a month | 40,000 | Self-hosted only |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Custom | Cloud or self-hosted |
Paying monthly costs more. Starter is 24 euros a month on monthly billing, against 20 euros billed annually. Pro is 60 euros monthly, against 50 annually. Business is 800 euros monthly, against 667 annually. Annual billing saves about 17 percent, according to n8n.
Cloud plans also include a trial. Starter and Pro offer a free trial with no credit card required. There is no permanent free Cloud tier. When the trial ends, you pick a paid plan or move to self-hosting.
What the free plan leaves out
The Community Edition keeps the workflow engine. It drops the team features. That is the real trade-off.
It has no shared projects. It has no credential sharing. Only the instance owner and the person who created a workflow can open it and its logins. It has no single sign-on. It has no Git version control and no separate environments. It has no log streaming or external secret stores. Support is the community forum.
For one person, none of that matters much. For a team, it matters a lot. Two people cannot safely share credentials or review each other's workflows. That gap pushes most teams toward Cloud Pro or the paid Business licence.
Self-hosting also means you own the upkeep. You patch n8n when updates ship. You back up the database. You fix the server when it goes down. A small virtual server costs little, but the hours add up. If nobody on your team touches a terminal, Cloud is the simpler choice.
How to start with the n8n free plan
Starting is straightforward if you are comfortable with a server. Follow these steps.
- Pick a server. A small virtual private server with 2 GB of memory is enough to start. You also need a database. n8n supports PostgreSQL and SQLite.
- Install with Docker. n8n publishes an official Docker image. Run it, map the data folder to a persistent volume, and set a secure password for the owner account.
- Put it behind HTTPS. Use a reverse proxy with a valid certificate. Never expose n8n over plain HTTP. Webhooks and credentials travel through it.
- Set up backups. Back up the database and the data folder on a schedule. Test a restore once. A backup you have never restored is a guess.
- Build one small workflow first. Start with something simple, such as a scheduled check that posts a message to Slack. Watch it run for a week before you move anything important onto it.
- Keep it updated. Check for new releases on a regular schedule. n8n ships fixes often, including security fixes. Apply them promptly.
If the server work puts you off, try the Cloud trial instead. You get 14 days to build real workflows without touching a terminal. That trial is the honest way to test whether n8n fits before you pay.
Bottom line
The n8n free plan is real and permanent, but only for self-hosting. The Community Edition gives you the full workflow engine with no execution cap. You pay for the server and the upkeep. If you want n8n to host it, the trial is free for 14 days, then Starter costs 20 euros a month billed annually for 2,500 executions. Pick self-hosting when you run servers and work alone. Pick Cloud when you want zero upkeep or your team needs shared projects and roles.