n8n.
Build your own workflows and work assistants.
n8n lets you join app actions into a workflow and add an AI agent where it helps. Use its paid Cloud service or run the Community software yourself. You build and maintain the result.
Getting started: Some setupIn Cloud, build a small workflow and connect only the work apps it needs. Self-hosting is technical: you install it and manage updates, access, storage and backups. Our setup guide, not a performance score.
Good for
People and small teams who want to build their own work automations and can review connections, errors and usage.
Start with
Cloud needs an account and approved access to the apps you choose. Self-hosting needs installation and upkeep. The software license and Cloud terms have use restrictions; Cloud is for your own internal business work. Model and other app access can have separate bills.
Cost
Community software is free to self-host; hardware, hosting, models and upkeep are separate. Cloud has a 14-day no-card trial with 1,000 workflow runs. Paid Cloud Starter is €24/month for 2,500 runs; entry Pro is €60/month for 10,000. AI model usage is separate from the workflow-run allowance.
Plans and limits explainedFree software. Cloud and AI cost extra.
- Free software
- Community software is free to self-host under a restricted license. Hardware, hosting, maintenance, models and outside services are separate. There is no ongoing free Cloud plan. Do not read free software as free unlimited AI.
- Free trial
- Initial Cloud trial: 14 days, no card, 1,000 workflow runs, five at once and one team project. The pricing FAQ says 180 seconds per trial run; the paid Starter table says five minutes. The trial guide promises Starter computing power, not the paid plan’s timeout. Confirm your current trial limit before planning a longer workflow. It expires without an automatic charge if you do not upgrade. Help says the workspace is deleted, with 90 days to download workflows. Pricing lists 800 Assistant credits and a separate 100 AI credits; the latter’s current balance label and value were not confirmed. The separate 14-day self-hosted Business trial needs a card; its conversion rules were not confirmed.
- Paid plans
- Cloud Starter €24/month for 2,500 runs; entry Pro €60/month for 10,000. Annual views show €20/€50 monthly equivalents billed annually; full annual invoices were not confirmed. Paid plans renew until canceled through billing; access ends after the paid period. Self-hosted Business starts at €800/month for 40,000 runs, with an annual view of €667/month equivalent; Enterprise is quoted. Business does not include hosting.
- Extra costs & limits
- Workflow runs, help from the build assistant and model/service usage have separate allowances. Starter includes 1,600 monthly Assistant credits; entry Pro 4,000. Included Assistant credits reset monthly without rollover; extra credits expire in 12 months. Gateway model/service calls use a separate prepaid balance, or your own provider bill. Purchased Gateway credits expire in 12 months. Optional automatic top-ups can charge your saved method. A request in progress can spend slightly above its balance. Cloud execution quotas cause new runs to fail at the cap; Business/Enterprise overage billing differs. Check the actual package, currency and extra-use settings.
Prices in EUR. Check the billing period; local prices, taxes and offers can differ.
Plan details
A workflow run, help from the build assistant and AI used inside a workflow are three different allowances.
- Community softwareFree to self-host
- The software is free for uses allowed by its Sustainable Use License. You provide the computer or hosting, maintenance and any model/service access. Letting outside users build workflows, hosting n8n as a service or using paid licensed features can require a commercial agreement.
- Initial Cloud trial14 days · no card
- 1,000 workflow runs, five at once and one team project. The pricing FAQ says 180 seconds per trial run; the paid Starter table says five minutes. The trial guide promises Starter computing power, not the paid plan’s timeout. Confirm your current trial limit before planning a longer workflow. No automatic charge if you do not upgrade. The workspace expires and is deleted; help gives 90 days to download workflows. Pricing lists 800 Assistant credits and a separate 100 AI credits; the latter’s current balance label and value were not confirmed. There is no ongoing free Cloud plan.
- Cloud Starter and entry Pro€24 / €60 per month
- Starter: 2,500 workflow runs/month and 1,600 Assistant credits. Entry Pro: 10,000 runs and 4,000 Assistant credits. Higher Pro has different limits. Annual views show €20/€50 monthly equivalents billed annually; full annual invoices were not confirmed. Paid subscriptions renew until canceled. Workflows stop after paid access ends; keep your own export.
- Workflow runsWhole workflows, not steps
- Cloud counts workflow runs, rather than each step. Execution quotas reset at the start of the calendar month, separately from your bill. At the Cloud quota, new runs fail immediately; they are not saved in a queue to catch up later. More runs can require an upgrade or a supported higher Pro package. This differs from Business/Enterprise overage billing.
- Assistant creditsFor building and debugging
- These pay for conversations with the n8n build assistant, not AI in a running workflow. Included credits reset on the first of the month at midnight UTC and do not roll over. Extra credits expire after 12 months. Optional automatic top-ups can add charges. Help values 100 Assistant credits at US$1. Stopping a message or getting an error can still use credits.
- Model and service usageSeparate prepaid balance or provider bill
- Starter/Pro can use Gateway credits for supported model and tool calls. This is separate from Assistant credits and workflow runs. Purchased Gateway credits expire after 12 months. Optional automatic top-ups charge the saved payment method; a monthly top-up limit is optional. A running request can finish below a zero balance and be deducted from the next top-up. Your own provider key has its own bill. Gateway credits are unavailable on self-hosted and Cloud Enterprise.
- Business and EnterpriseSeparate licensed offers
- Business is self-hosted only: the observed entry price is €800/month for 40,000 runs, or €667/month equivalent billed annually. Its separate 14-day trial needs a card; conversion terms were not confirmed. Enterprise is quoted. Business/Enterprise work can keep running above its quota and incur extra charges; pricing lists €4,000 per extra 300,000-run Business bucket, invoiced after 45 days if unresolved. Buying a new plan does not cancel another n8n subscription.
Cloud prices in EUR before tax, checked 21 October 2026. Assistant credit values are documented in USD; service rates vary. Confirm the actual annual invoice, selected package, trial route and extra-credit terms before paying.
Pricing checked 21 Oct 2026.
Try something small.
- Prepare a work update from chosen app data
- Build a helper for your work inbox or calendar
- Check incoming information and pass it to the next app
Getting started.
Begin with a workflow you start by hand and harmless sample data. Check its output and each app permission. Add an actual approval step before sensitive actions; asking an AI to ask first is not the same control. Review all three costs: workflow runs, the build assistant and models used by a running workflow.
The provider’s Huel account describes staff building inbox/calendar helpers and internal data workflows on Enterprise. It is attributed use, not our test or proof that every Enterprise feature is in Starter. Community is source-available under a restricted license, not an unrestricted open-source hosting offer. Self-hosting does not make connected cloud apps or model calls local.
Clean up three sample rows.
Try this task
- You’ll need
- A Cloud trial/paid workspace or your own Community installation. Build this by hand without model or outside-app steps; using the optional build assistant consumes its own credits.
- A request to copy
Make a workflow that starts only when I click it. Use these fictional rows: Alex — review the draft — Friday; Sam — check the budget — unknown; Jo — prepare the update — Monday. Return the same three rows with separate owner, next step and deadline fields. Keep unknown as unknown. Do not connect accounts, send messages, add an AI model or turn on a schedule.
- What to expect
- Three matching rows, with the missing deadline left unknown.
- How to check it is done
- Check names and dates against the sample and confirm that no outside app was changed. Inspect the recorded run and any build-assistant usage separately.
A proposed first task, not our hands-on result. Manual workflow building does not require buying model credits.
Our suggested prompt, based on the linked source. We haven’t tested this task ourselves.
Source checked October 21, 2026.Checked 21 October 2026. Prices and access can change. Character art is our unofficial illustration.
The official imprint identifies n8n GmbH, its Berlin address and German company registration. This is the registered operator country, separate from product access, founder nationality and data residency.
