There are two ways to run n8n: as a managed cloud subscription straight from the vendor, or self-hosted on a server you control. The short answer for busy readers: the cloud is the fastest, lowest-maintenance way in, while self-hosting gives you full data control and becomes cheaper as usage grows. Which one fits depends on three questions: Who will look after operations? Where does your data have to live? And how many workflows will you run?
The two options in one sentence each
n8n Cloud is the official subscription on n8n.io: you create an account and build your first workflow within minutes. Updates, backups and uptime are the vendor’s problem.
Self-hosting means n8n runs as software on a server you control. That can be a small cloud server at a European provider such as Hetzner, or a machine on your own premises. The community edition can be run free of charge under the fair-code licence, you only pay for the server.
What does n8n Cloud cost, what does self-hosting cost?
n8n Cloud starts at around 20 euros per month on the entry plan, billed by workflow executions. At the beginning, that is almost always enough. If you run many workflows with high execution counts, you move into bigger plans, and that is where the gap to self-hosting becomes noticeable.
With self-hosting you pay for the server: a small cloud server for n8n costs from roughly 5 to 10 euros per month. There are no licence fees per workflow or execution. Only when the server itself runs out of capacity do you need a bigger one. Then there is the honest part of the bill that often gets left out: someone has to look after the instance, apply updates and investigate when something breaks. It is not a full-time job, but it is not zero either. If you do not want to do it yourself, you hand it to a service provider.
Privacy and data control
This is the biggest substantive difference. In n8n Cloud, your workflow data runs through the vendor’s infrastructure. n8n is a German company and offers EU hosting, which simplifies the GDPR picture. EU hosting alone does not make a setup GDPR-compliant, though: that still depends on the services you connect and on the configuration.
With self-hosting, your workflow data initially stays on your server and only goes where a workflow deliberately sends it. In sectors with strict confidentiality duties, this is often the deciding argument, for instance law firms bound by legal privilege or practices handling health data. Data processing agreements also get simpler when the processor is your own server.
The distinction between the workflow tool and the services you connect still matters most: if your workflow sends data to an AI model in the US, a server in your own basement does not change that. Hosting is only one part of the privacy picture.
Maintenance and reliability
The cloud wins on everything operational: updates arrive automatically, backups run, and if something fails, the vendor deals with it.
When you self-host, you are the operations team. The setup itself is manageable: if you know Docker, an instance is often up and running in 20 to 30 minutes. The real work comes afterwards. Updates should be applied regularly, especially when they close security holes, because outdated n8n instances with known vulnerabilities are an easy target. Add a backup concept, which is less complicated than it sounds: backing up the database is usually enough, since that is where workflows, credentials and executions live. And you should know who to call when a workflow stops at night.
Feature set
For normal automations both options are equally capable: same nodes, same workflows, same editor. Differences exist at the edges: self-hosting allows community nodes and deep system access, while some features such as SSO or advanced user management are reserved for enterprise customers in both worlds.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | n8n Cloud | Self-hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | minutes, no setup | server setup required |
| Starting costs | from ~20 €/month | from ~5–10 €/month for the server |
| Costs at high usage | grows with executions | stays at the server price |
| Data control | EU hosting at the vendor | fully with you |
| Maintenance | handled by the vendor | your job (or a provider’s) |
| Updates | automatic | manual, security-relevant |
| Community nodes | limited | unrestricted |
When is self-hosting worth it?
If you first want to find out whether automation works in your business, n8n Cloud is the right choice: no operational overhead, EU hosting, predictable costs. You can switch later at any time. Workflows can be exported and imported into your own instance; only your credentials, the stored logins for your connected services, have to be set up again there for security reasons.
We recommend self-hosting when confidentiality obligations demand it, as in law firms or healthcare, when execution volumes outgrow the cloud plans, or when you already run your own infrastructure with someone looking after it. In all three cases, the setup must include an update and backup concept, otherwise you trade privacy for security risk.
We run both for clients: cloud instances for a fast start, and self-hosted instances where data control is the deciding factor. Most of our clients start in the cloud and only move once there is a concrete reason to. That is why a short look at the requirements beforehand beats building the biggest possible setup from day one.