n8n Review: Is the Workflow Platform Worth It?
Evaluate n8n if you want workflow automation billed per completed workflow execution — one run of the whole graph, regardless of how many nodes it contains — and you care that you can self-host a Community edition at no license fee. Skip it if you wanted a visual credit-based SaaS with an ongoing free plan (n8n vs Make) or a task-based connector catalog you pay per successful step (n8n vs Zapier).
- Official Cloud cards, checked November 6, 2026: Starter 20€/month billed annually; Pro 50€/month billed annually; Enterprise by contacting sales (Cloud or self-hosted). All Cloud plans the page lists include unlimited users, unlimited workflows, and every integration.
- Business is listed at 667€/month billed annually and is a self-hosted license (official Cloud FAQ: you cannot upgrade an existing Cloud plan to Business).
- There is no affiliate button on this page.
By Unfair Advantage · Updated November 6, 2026. Related: n8n pricing · n8n vs Make · n8n vs Zapier.
1. Who n8n is for — and who should skip it
This review answers whether n8n’s execution-based workflow platform is the right product. Plan math lives on n8n pricing; the two pairwise doors are vs Make and vs Zapier.
Evaluate it when…
- You want to pay when a workflow runs from start to finish, not per step inside that run.
- You may self-host (Community edition on GitHub, or a paid Business/Enterprise license key) so data and runtime stay on your machines.
- You will use code nodes, HTTP requests, and (if you self-host) custom nodes.
Skip it when…
- You wanted a visual-first SaaS with an ongoing free credit plan and per-module billing — n8n vs Make.
- You wanted the widest no-code connector catalog billed per successful task — n8n vs Zapier.
- Nobody on the team can operate a workflow canvas that expects JSON, credentials, and error paths.
UA did not create an n8n Cloud account or self-host an instance. Figures come from the official pricing page, Cloud FAQ, and docs, checked November 6, 2026. There is no affiliate button on this page.
2. What you are actually buying
| Question | What official materials say |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | A monthly quota of workflow executions. One execution is one complete run, regardless of step count or how much data it processes. “If it doesn’t run, you don’t pay.” |
| Cloud entry | Starter at 20€/month billed annually; Pro at 50€/month billed annually. The public cards we fetched did not print a monthly (non-annual) sticker, so we will not invent one. |
| Cloud trial | 14 days of Pro-level features; 1,000 executions; 5 concurrent executions; 180-second execution timeout; 1 team project. No credit card for the Cloud trial. |
| Self-host free | Community edition on GitHub. Docs also describe a free Registered Community unlock (folders, debug in editor, custom execution data) by registering an email. |
| Business | 667€/month billed annually, self-hosted license key. Cloud FAQ: Business is not available on Cloud at this time. Startup plan: 50% off Business if you qualify (under 20 employees). |
3. Pricing snapshot
| Plan | Where it runs | Public price (Nov 6, 2026) | Documented limits we can nail down |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud trial | Hosted by n8n | $0 for 14 days | 1,000 executions; 5 concurrent; 180-second timeout. |
| Starter | Hosted by n8n | 20€/mo billed annually | 5 concurrent executions; 5-minute max execution duration; 1 shared project; 1,600 Assistant credits/month; 2.5k saved executions. |
| Pro | Hosted by n8n | 50€/mo billed annually | Up to 50 concurrent (comparison table also lists 20 / 50); 40-minute max duration; 3 shared projects; Assistant credits “up to 9,600.” |
| Business | Self-hosted | 667€/mo billed annually | SSO and LDAP; Git version control; multiple environments; queue mode; 6 shared projects. |
| Enterprise | Cloud or self-hosted | Contact sales | Custom workflow executions; 200+ concurrent; dedicated support with SLA. |
| Community | Self-hosted | No license fee | You pay machines, monitoring, and maintenance. |
An official Assistant-credits FAQ dated 1 October 2026 names two Pro sizes: Pro-1 at 10,000 executions (4,000 Assistant credits) and Pro-2 at 50,000 executions (9,600 Assistant credits). Starter’s execution quota was not printed on the public cards we fetched, so this review will not invent one. Do not treat a competitor comparison page as n8n’s rate card.
The same FAQ: each Assistant credit has a fixed value of 1 cent (100 credits = $1); unused Assistant credits do not roll over; you can buy extras; running a workflow does not consume Assistant credits.
4. How it runs
- Decide Cloud or self-host first. Docs: Cloud if you want n8n to manage infrastructure; Community if you want to run it for free on your machines; Business/Enterprise license keys if you need paid self-host features (SSO, environments, Git, queue mode).
- Count executions, not nodes. A 3-node workflow that runs 1,000 times is 1,000 executions. A 30-node workflow that runs 1,000 times is also 1,000 executions.
- Start on the Cloud trial (1,000 executions, 5 concurrent, 180 seconds) before you prepay annual Starter or Pro.
- Watch concurrency and duration as separate caps from the monthly execution quota (Starter: 5 concurrent, 5 minutes; Pro: up to 50 concurrent, 40 minutes).
5. Pitfalls
- Comparing 20€ Starter to a per-task or per-module plan as if they bought the same unit.
- Assuming Cloud Starter includes Business features (SSO, Git, environments). Those sit on Business/Enterprise.
- Planning to “just upgrade Cloud to Business” — official Cloud FAQ says you cannot.
- Treating Community edition as free total cost of ownership. The license is free; servers, backups, and upgrades are not.
- Inventing a Starter execution quota the public cards did not print.
6. Decision
| If your situation is… | Decision |
|---|---|
| Execution billing, code nodes, optional self-host | n8n is worth evaluating — start on the Cloud trial or Community edition. |
| You want visual per-module SaaS with an ongoing free plan | Open the Make pairwise, not a thicker n8n Cloud plan. |
| You want per-task no-code at the widest catalog | Open the Zapier pairwise. |
| You already know n8n fits and need the bill | n8n pricing |
n8n is worth it for teams who want execution-based automation and, often, the option to self-host. It is not a generic “best automation tool.” There is no affiliate button on this page.
7. FAQ
Is n8n worth it?
Yes, if execution billing or self-hosting matches the job. No, if you wanted a per-step SaaS with an ongoing free plan or a task-based connector catalog. Official Cloud entry we fetched is Starter at 20€/month billed annually, checked November 6, 2026.
Is there a free n8n plan?
n8n Cloud’s public materials describe a 14-day trial, not an ongoing free Cloud plan. Self-hosted Community edition has no license fee.
Does n8n charge per step?
No. Official wording: you pay when a workflow runs from start to finish, regardless of complexity.
Do you earn a commission on n8n?
Not at the time this page was written. A hidden placeholder sits in the HTML for later.
8. Sources
- n8n official pricing page (checked November 6, 2026)
- n8n official docs: “Choose how to use n8n” (checked November 6, 2026)
- n8n Cloud FAQ on changing plans (Business is self-hosted only) (checked November 6, 2026)
- n8n Help Center article on Assistant credits from 1 October 2026 (Pro-1 10,000 executions / Pro-2 50,000 executions)