Cloud vs. Self-Hosted

n8n can run as a fully managed cloud service or on your own infrastructure. Both options give you access to the same workflow editor and node library. The differences come down to who manages the server, where your data lives, and how much you pay.

n8n Cloud

n8n Cloud is the hosted offering managed by the n8n team. You sign up, open the editor, and start building -- there is nothing to install or maintain.

What you get:

• Automatic updates to the latest n8n version.
• Managed infrastructure with built-in availability and backups.
• A dedicated instance URL (e.g., your-name.app.n8n.cloud).
• Support from the n8n team included in paid plans.

Pricing starts at EUR 24 per month for the Starter plan, with higher tiers available for teams that need more executions, users, or advanced features. A free trial is available to get started.

Self-hosted (Community Edition)

The self-hosted Community Edition is free to use and gives you full control over your n8n instance. You run it on your own server -- a VPS, a local machine, Kubernetes, or any environment that supports Docker or Node.js.

What you get:

• No licensing cost for the Community Edition.
• Complete control over your data and network.
• Freedom to choose your hosting provider, region, and architecture.
• Access to the same 400+ built-in integrations as Cloud.

Note

n8n also offers a self-hosted Enterprise Edition with SSO, role-based access control, and premium support. Contact the n8n sales team for Enterprise pricing.

Comparison

Criteria	n8n Cloud	Self-Hosted (Community)
Cost	From EUR 24/month	Free
Setup time	Minutes (sign up and start)	15--60 minutes depending on method
Maintenance	Managed by n8n	Your responsibility
Updates	Automatic	Manual (pull new Docker image)
Data residency	n8n-managed servers (EU/US)	Wherever you host
Scalability	Plan-dependent	Limited only by your infrastructure
SSL/TLS	Included	You configure it
Backups	Included	You configure them
Support	Included in paid plans	Community forum

When to choose Cloud

Cloud is the better fit when:

• You want to start building workflows immediately without managing infrastructure.
• You prefer predictable costs and do not want to handle updates, backups, or SSL certificates.
• Your team does not have dedicated DevOps capacity.
• You are evaluating n8n and want the fastest path to a working instance.

When to choose self-hosted

Self-hosting makes more sense when:

• Your data must stay within a specific network or geographic region for compliance reasons.
• You need to run n8n in an air-gapped or private environment.
• You want to avoid recurring subscription costs and have the infrastructure skills to manage a server.
• You require deep customization of the runtime environment (custom nodes, specific Node.js versions, internal network access).

Running self-hosted in production

If you choose to self-host, a minimal production setup typically involves:

docker compose up -d

Tip

The n8n documentation provides complete Docker Compose templates that include PostgreSQL for the database, proper volume mounts, and environment variable configuration. Start there rather than writing your own from scratch.

Key considerations for production self-hosting:

• Use PostgreSQL as the database backend instead of the default SQLite. SQLite is fine for testing but not recommended for production workloads.
• Set up a reverse proxy (Caddy, Nginx, or Traefik) to handle SSL termination.
• Automate backups of both the database and the /home/node/.n8n directory.
• Pin your n8n version in Docker to avoid unexpected breaking changes on restart.

Next steps

Whichever option you choose, the workflow-building experience is the same. If you have not already, try building your first workflow to see n8n in action.

For detailed installation instructions covering all deployment methods, see the official n8n hosting documentation.