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The Stack / Automation
n8n
04 AutomationYes for operators who've outgrown per-task pricing — n8n executes whole workflows per credit (or free self-hosted), drops into code when visual logic runs out, and has become the default for serious AI agent workflows. It asks more of you than Zapier; it returns more too.
The job in the stack
The heavy-automation seat: complex, high-volume workflows and AI agent pipelines, self-hosted or cloud.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Community (self-hosted) | $0 | Unlimited executions and workflows, full integration catalog, fair-code license |
| Starter (cloud) | 20€/mo | 20€/mo billed annually, 24€/mo billed monthly — n8n prices in euros with no USD toggle; your card converts. 2,500 executions/mo, 5 concurrent, 1 shared project, 2,300 AI credits/mo |
| Pro (cloud) | 50€/mo | 60€/mo billed monthly. 10,000 executions/mo, 20 concurrent, 3 shared projects, up to 13,700 AI credits/mo |
| Business (cloud or self-hosted) | 667€/mo | 800€/mo billed monthly — confirmed on n8n.io/pricing. 40,000 executions/mo, SSO/SAML/LDAP, 6 shared projects; AI Assistant credits not yet available on this tier ("coming soon") |
| Enterprise | custom | Unlimited executions, air-gapped options, 1,000 AI Workflow Builder credits |
Pricing verified 2026-08-20. Plans change — the source of truth is n8n's own pricing page.
Models & versions
- AI Agent nodev1.28 added structured tool calling, 4 memory backends (in-memory, Redis, Postgres, Motorhead), and a ReAct execution mode; now supports multi-agent orchestration with human-in-the-loop approval gates
The honest read
What works
- +Execution-based pricing: a 50-step workflow costs the same as a 2-step one
- +Self-hosting means data sovereignty and near-zero marginal cost
- +Native AI agent nodes make it a real agent-orchestration layer
- +JavaScript/Python escape hatches when visual builders hit their ceiling
What breaks
- −Steeper learning curve than Zapier — it expects you to think in data
- −Smaller connector catalog; niche SaaS may need HTTP-node handiwork
- −Self-hosting shifts uptime and updates onto you
Use it for
- →High-volume automations where Zapier task math breaks
- →AI agent workflows with branching, memory, and tool calls
- →Teams that want the automation layer inside their own boundary
Skip it if
- ×You need it running today with zero learning curve — start with Zapier
- ×The app you need has no n8n node and you won't touch an HTTP request
Questions operators ask
?Is self-hosted n8n really free?
The software is — you pay in infrastructure and attention. A $5–10/mo VPS runs most solo workloads. If that sentence made sense to you, self-host; if not, cloud Starter.
What changed
- Currency correction: n8n's cloud plans are priced in euros, not dollars — n8n.io/pricing shows 20€/50€/667€ per month billed annually, with no USD toggle. The figures we carried were right; the symbol was wrong. Annual billing saves 17%. Self-hosted Community is still free.
- Freshness sweep: cloud prices held — Starter, Pro, and Business are unchanged, and unlimited workflows and unlimited users stay on every cloud tier, so execution volume is still the only thing that scales your bill. Corrected the Starter row: $20/mo on annual billing, $24/mo monthly. We had been publishing the monthly rate as the annual one.
- Corrected Pro annual price to $50/mo (was listed at ~$60, which is actually the monthly-billed rate). Confirmed Business at $667/mo annual / $800/mo monthly directly on n8n.io/pricing — resolves a standing conflict between sources. AI credit allotments jumped sharply: Starter now 2,300/mo (was 50), Pro up to 13,700/mo (was 150); Business AI Assistant credits are "coming soon," not yet live.
- Verified cloud pricing tiers. AI Agent node upgraded with structured tool calling, four memory backends, and human-in-the-loop approval gates for multi-agent workflows.
- Seeded from January 2026 baseline; cloud pricing pending fresh verification by the update loop.
Give n8n a job
The heavy-automation seat: complex, high-volume workflows and AI agent pipelines, self-hosted or cloud.
Try n8n →Affiliate link — same price for you, keeps the stack maintained.