Watch: Steeper learning curve, fewer built-in integrations than...
Tool Automation freemium active 8-8.9
n8n
N8n is the source-available automation platform with native AI Agent...
8.8/10 Strong
Active
$0 (Community self-host) - €667+/month (Business self-host)
Best plan
Community self-host for technical teams that can operate it
Risk: Steeper learning curve, fewer built-in integrations than...
Editorial · no paid placements
Should you use it?
n8n is the source-available automation platform with native AI Agent nodes. Self-host Community for free when someone can operate it. Hosted Starter is €20/mo and hosted Pro is €50/mo; Business is a €667/mo self-host license and Enterprise is custom. Pick it for developer control, EU-hosted cloud data, self-hosting, and AI agents. Skip for non-technical teams or long-tail SaaS coverage.
- Buy if Developers and agencies avoiding vendor lock-in
- Pick Community self-host for technical teams that can operate it; Pro cloud for most hosted production; Business self-host for SSO, environments, Git version control, and self-host governance; Enterprise for hosted/self-hosted governance, 200+ concurrency, support SLA, log streaming, external secret store, and extended retention
- Skip if Non-technical users who want zero setup
Plan guidance
What to buy
Community $0 self-host · Starter €20/mo hosted · Pro €50/mo hosted · Business €667/mo self-host · Enterprise custom
Steeper learning curve, fewer built-in integrations than...
Current pricing source: n8n pricing
Fit
Use it for this, skip it for that
Best for
- Developers and agencies avoiding vendor lock-in
- Teams needing data residency or self-hosting
- Native AI agent workflows
- High-volume automation with predictable cost
Avoid if
- Non-technical users who want zero setup
- Teams needing 9,000+ pre-built integrations
- Organizations mandating SaaS-only procurement
- Watch out
- Steeper learning curve, fewer built-in integrations than Zapier, real ops burden when self-hosted, Business is a self-host license rather than the next hosted-cloud tier, and Business overages can invoice in EUR4,000 buckets of 300,000 executions
Recent changes
Only what affects the decision
- Community · Starter · Pro · Business · Enterprise
June 26 recheck: public pricing remains Community self-host free, hosted Starter €20/month, hosted Pro €50/month, Business self-host €667/month, and Enterprise custom, with unlimited users...
n8n pricing - Community · Starter · Pro · Business · Enterprise
Verified unchanged from the May...
n8n pricing - Starter · Pro · Business
Pricing cut and restructured to annual billing; unlimited users added across paid tiers. Business is currently a self-host plan
n8n pricing
Alternatives
Best swaps
Microsoft Agent Framework
Build comparison Microsoft's open-source agentic AI engine, merging Semantic Kernel and AutoGen, now sitting beside the Work IQ, Foundry, Copilot
Free (open source) · 9/10 LangfuseOpen-source LLM engineering platform for observability, prompt management, evals, datasets, and OpenTelemetry tracing. ClickHous
$0 free / $29 Core / $199 Pro / $2,499 Enterprise · 8.8/10 LangGraphLangChain's low-level orchestration runtime for long-running, stateful AI agents. MIT-licensed Python and JavaScript libraries;
$0 library / $39 Plus / usage-based deployment · 8.8/10n8n comparisons
See all →Proof and score math Verified Jun 26
Proof
Why this recommendation is trusted
Evidence n8n AI Agent node docs
- Source
- Registered source
- Freshness
- Review due
- Confidence
- Low confidence
- Verified
- Review
- Volatility
- Volatile
Stale source n8n-agent-docs.
Editorial score
Unweighted average of 4 axes · confidence high
- Utility 9/10
How much real work it can do for a competent operator, end to end.
- Value 10/10
What you get for the dollar relative to the closest alternative.
- Moat 7/10
How hard it would be for a competitor to replicate the underlying advantage.
- Longevity 9/10
How likely the product is to still be best-in-class 24 months out.
Verified facts
- Best For Developer-friendly automation, self-hosted workflows, and AI agents with tool calling
- Pricing Anchor Community self-host free; hosted Starter €20/mo and Pro €50/mo; Business self-host €667/mo; Enterprise custom (annual billing; plans include unlimited users, workflows, and integrations, with execution-based usage)
- Flagship Model Native AI Agent node with tool calling across supported LLM providers
- Coding Agent No dedicated software-coding agent; n8n is an automation and AI-agent workflow platform
- Context Window Model-dependent: n8n connects to external LLM providers and local models rather than publishing a single context window
- Watch Out For Steeper learning curve, fewer built-in integrations than Zapier, real ops burden when self-hosted, Business is a self-host license rather than the next hosted-cloud tier, and Business overages can invoice in EUR4,000 buckets of 300,000 executions
- Best Paid Tier Community self-host for technical teams that can operate it; Pro cloud for most hosted production; Business self-host for SSO, environments, Git version control, and self-host governance; Enterprise for hosted/self-hosted governance, 200+ concurrency, support SLA, log streaming, external secret store, and extended retention
- Free Plan Yes: Community self-host runs free without a license key. Hosted Starter and Pro have no-credit-card trials, while the Business trial requires a credit card; there is no permanent free hosted tier.
Full review notes Long-form details, FAQ, and source history
n8n is the source-available workflow automation platform built by n8n GmbH. Visual canvas, 400+ built-in integrations, native AI Agent nodes that now work as Tools Agents, and JavaScript or Python code nodes when the visual layer runs out. Self-host Community for free if you can operate it, or run hosted cloud from €20/month on annual billing.
Recent developments
- June 26, 2026 verification: Current sources still keep the buyer model unchanged: Community self-host is the free route, hosted Starter is EUR20/month, hosted Pro is EUR50/month, Business is EUR667/month for self-host governance, and Enterprise is custom. The pricing page still separates hosted Starter/Pro from self-host Business.
- June 24, 2026 verification: Current sources still kept the buyer model unchanged: Community self-host is the free route, hosted Starter is EUR20/month, hosted Pro is EUR50/month, Business is EUR667/month for self-host governance, and Enterprise is custom. GitHub marked n8n@2.27.3 as the latest release, dated June 19, 2026.
- May 2026: Pricing restructured. Starter dropped from €24 to €20/month, Pro from €60 to €50, and Business from €800 to €667 (all annual billing). Every paid tier now includes unlimited users; tiers separate primarily on workflow-execution caps, concurrent executions, and admin features.
- June 21, 2026 verification: n8n’s pricing page still says all plans include unlimited users, unlimited workflows, and every integration, with pricing based on monthly workflow executions rather than per-step task counts. Starter and Pro are hosted by n8n; Business is currently self-hosted. The AI Agent docs still say all AI Agent nodes work as a Tools Agent in current versions.
- June 21, 2026 buyer-risk check: Business self-host uses a license key that pings n8n daily for usage tracking, telemetry is enabled by default unless disabled, and Business overages are listed at EUR4,000 for each extra 300,000-execution bucket. Treat Business as procurement for governed self-hosting, not as the next hosted-cloud plan.
- June 21, 2026 affiliate check: n8n’s public affiliate page confirms 30% commission on n8n Cloud referrals for 12 months. AiPedia still has no tracked n8n affiliate link because its prior application was declined.
System Verdict
Pick n8n if the automation layer needs to be owned, not rented. Community self-hosting is free, while paid cloud and self-host licenses scale by workflow-execution volume and governance features. The AI Agent node ships autonomous multi-step agents with tool calling, memory, subworkflows, HTTP requests, and model-provider choice. JavaScript and Python code nodes close any gap the visual canvas leaves.
Skip it if onboarding speed outweighs control. Zapier ships 9,000+ integrations to n8n’s 400+ built-in integrations. Non-technical operators land faster on Zapier or Make. Teams that refuse server ops work should avoid n8n self-hosting and stay on hosted platforms.
Who pays which tier: Community self-host for engineers and agencies, Starter €20/mo for small hosted cloud use, Pro €50/mo for active hosted production, Business €667/mo for self-hosted SSO/environments/Git versioning, Enterprise custom for hosted or self-hosted governance plus log streaming, external secret stores, extended retention, 200+ concurrency, and dedicated support. All paid tiers ship unlimited users; pricing scales on workflow-execution volume.
Key Facts
| License | Fair-code (source-available, self-host permitted) |
| Core product | Visual workflow canvas with code fallback |
| Integration count | 400+ built-in integrations, with broader app/service pages often framed as 1000+ services |
| AI Agent node | Native Tools Agent behavior in current versions · connects to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral, Cohere, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, and other supported model providers |
| Code nodes | JavaScript · Python |
| Plan pricing (annual) | Hosted Starter €20 · hosted Pro €50 · self-host Business €667 · Enterprise custom |
| Paid-tier users | Unlimited on every paid tier (May 2026 update) |
| Self-host | Free Community Edition; paid Business/Enterprise license keys unlock higher-governance editions · GitHub repo at 193k+ stars |
| Deployment | Docker · Kubernetes · VPS · Railway · any Node.js host |
| Data residency | Hosted plans store data in Frankfurt, Germany; self-host is wherever the buyer runs it, with license-key pings and default telemetry to review on paid self-host |
Every data point above was verified against vendor documentation on 2026-06-24. See Sources.
What it actually is
A workflow automation engine built on Node.js with a drag-and-drop canvas and a code escape hatch. Workflows run locally, in Docker, on a VPS, in Kubernetes, or on n8n’s managed cloud. The same workflow file moves between them.
node is the part worth noticing. Point it at any LLM nodes now work as Tools Agents; older workflows that already used Tools Agent should keep their behavior.
The moat is the license and the agent stack. Source-available fair-code with self-host permitted means buyers can inspect the code and run their own instance. Native AI Agent nodes beat bolt-on LLM modules in Make and Zapier for technical agentic workloads. The trade-off is fewer built-in integrations than Zapier and a steeper learning curve than either.
When to pick n8n
- Data residency or compliance rules require on-prem. Self-host on controlled infrastructure. n8n explicitly warns that self-hosting requires server, scaling, security, and configuration knowledge.
- The workflow involves AI agents with tool calling. The AI Agent node is purpose-built. Make calls LLMs but does not run agent loops; Zapier Agents work but cost task credits per tool call.
- Budget is tight and volume is high. Self-host is free. A $5 to $20/month VPS handles tens of thousands of executions without cloud bills.
- The team writes code. JavaScript and Python code nodes cover anything the visual layer cannot. Credentials, versioning, and queue mode scale to production.
- Agencies run automation for clients. Self-host on the client’s infrastructure keeps margins high and data ownership clean.
When to pick something else
- Non-technical team with zero server ops: Zapier. Lower learning curve, AI Copilot builds flows from prompts, 9,000+ integrations.
- Cost-efficient complex branching without self-hosting: Make. Operations-based billing stays affordable at volume.
- LangChain-native RAG and multi-agent pipelines: Langflow chains, not SaaS glue.
- Customer-facing chat or voice agents: Voiceflow. Built for support, not workflow ops.
- Niche long-tail SaaS integration: Zapier. 9,000+ connectors covers the tail that n8n often requires HTTP nodes to reach.
Pricing
Subscription pricing via n8n.io/pricing. Public paid prices below are quoted at annual billing.
| Plan | Monthly | Executions | Concurrent | Users | Shared projects | Who’s it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community (self-host) | $0 | Self-managed | Self-tuned | Self-managed | Self-managed | Developers and agencies land here |
| Starter (cloud) | €20 | 2,500 | 5 | Unlimited | 1 | Small teams, light cloud use |
| Pro (cloud) | €50 | 10,000 | 20 | Unlimited | 3 | Active production |
| Business (self-host) | €667 | 40,000 | Higher | Unlimited | 6 | SSO / SAML / LDAP, environments, Git version control, self-host scale |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | 200+ | Unlimited | Unlimited | Hosted or self-hosted governance, external secret store, log streaming, extended retention, dedicated support, SLA |
Prices verified 2026-06-26 via n8n pricing. Plans include unlimited users, workflows, and integrations. Pricing is based on monthly workflow executions, not per-step cost. Qualifying startups get 50% off the Business plan. Community self-host is free, but n8n’s own hosting docs recommend it only for expert users because mistakes can cause data loss, security issues, and downtime. Business overages are listed at EUR4,000 per extra 300,000 executions when the buyer exceeds quota and does not upgrade.
Against the alternatives
| n8n | Zapier | Make | Langflow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | Source-available, self-host OK | Proprietary SaaS | Proprietary SaaS | Open source (MIT) |
| Integration count | 400+ built-in integrations | 9,000+ | 3,000+ | LLM-focused |
| AI agents | Native AI Agent nodes | Zapier Agents + AI orchestration | Make AI Agents and AI Toolkit | LangGraph-based |
| Self-host | Free Community path; paid licenses for governance | None | None | Free, unlimited |
| Code escape hatch | JS + Python nodes | Code step (JS/Python) | Custom functions | Custom Python nodes |
| Best viewed as | Dev-friendly source-available workflow platform | Incumbent generalist | Cost-efficient cloud | LLM-chain specialist |
Failure modes
- Learning curve is steeper than Zapier. The JSON data model, expression syntax, and credential system assume technical comfort. Non-technical operators stall.
- 400+ built-in integrations lags Zapier. Niche SaaS often requires hand-built HTTP nodes and OAuth. Doable but costs engineering time.
- Self-host ops is real work. Upgrades, backups, credential encryption, queue mode, and scaling to worker processes fall on whoever runs the server.
- AI Agent node tuning matters. Complex multi-step reasoning can loop or stall without careful prompt and tool design. Not fire-and-forget.
- Cloud executions burn fast. Heavy cron schedules or high-frequency triggers chew through monthly execution limits. Self-hosting moves the bottleneck to the buyer’s infrastructure, license tier, and operating discipline.
- UI clutters past 20 nodes. Large workflows become visually hard to navigate. Sub-workflows and careful grouping help.
- Business is not the next hosted-cloud tier. The current pricing page marks Business as self-hosted, while Starter and Pro are hosted by n8n. Buyers who need hosted governance should talk to Enterprise sales.
- Paid self-host is not fully isolated from vendor metering. Business and Enterprise license keys ping n8n daily to keep paid features active and report production-execution usage; telemetry is also enabled by default unless disabled.
- Overages are chunky. Business workflows continue after the quota, but n8n lists EUR4,000 overage buckets for each extra 300,000 executions if there is no upgrade path.
Methodology
This page was produced by the aipedia.wiki editorial pipeline, an automated system that ingests vendor documentation, verifies pricing and model details against primary sources, and generates the editorial analysis you are reading. No individual human wrote this review. Scoring follows the four-dimension rubric at /about/scoring/ (Utility, Value, Moat, Longevity, unweighted average). Last refreshed 2026-06-26 against n8n pricing, n8n hosting docs, n8n AI Agent node docs, the n8n GitHub repository, and the n8n affiliate program page.
FAQ
Is n8n free? Yes, self-hosted. The Community Edition runs free without a cloud subscription; hosting cost is the VPS/container bill and the operator’s maintenance time. n8n’s own docs recommend self-hosting for expert users because server, scaling, and security mistakes can cause data loss or downtime. Hosted cloud starts at €20/month on annual billing (n8n pricing, hosting docs).
What does the AI Agent node do? It runs autonomous multi-step reasoning with tool calling. Current n8n docs say all AI Agent nodes work as a Tools Agent, while older workflows that already used Tools Agent should continue to behave as intended. The workflow can connect to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral, Cohere, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, and more through model/provider nodes. Define tools, and the agent plans and executes tasks inside a workflow (n8n Agent docs).
n8n vs Zapier? n8n wins on self-host, native AI agents, and cost at volume. Zapier wins on integration breadth (9,000+ vs 400+ built-in integrations) and onboarding speed for non-technical users.
Is n8n really open source? Fair-code licensed: source-available under the Sustainable Use License plus n8n Enterprise License. The code is visible, self-hosting is permitted, and buyers can add nodes, but this is not the same as a plain permissive open-source license.
How do cloud executions count AI workflows? n8n prices by workflow execution. The current pricing FAQ defines an execution as one run of the entire workflow regardless of the number of steps or data processed, so AI workflows should be modeled by trigger frequency and conversation volume rather than per-node task counts. Separate model-provider API charges may still apply when the workflow calls paid LLMs.
Sources
- n8n pricing: current plan rates, execution limits, AI Workflow Builder credits, EU hosted-data note, overage buckets, license-key metering, and affiliate-program pointer (refreshed 2026-06-26)
- n8n hosting docs: Community self-host path and self-hosting risk guidance (refreshed 2026-06-26)
- n8n AI Agent node: native agent capabilities and Tools Agent behavior (refreshed 2026-06-26)
- n8n GitHub: source, license, integrations, current release, and self-hostability (refreshed 2026-06-26)
- n8n affiliate program: public commission framing; AiPedia has no approved link (refreshed 2026-06-26)
Related
- Category: AI Automation
- Comparisons: Activepieces vs n8n
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According to aipedia.wiki Editorial at aipedia.wiki (https://aipedia.wiki/tools/n8n/) aipedia.wiki Editorial. (2026). n8n: Editorial Review. aipedia.wiki. Retrieved July 2, 2026, from https://aipedia.wiki/tools/n8n/ aipedia.wiki Editorial. "n8n: Editorial Review." aipedia.wiki, 2026, https://aipedia.wiki/tools/n8n/. Accessed July 2, 2026. aipedia.wiki Editorial. 2026. "n8n: Editorial Review." aipedia.wiki. https://aipedia.wiki/tools/n8n/. @misc{n8n-editorial-review-2026,
author = {{aipedia.wiki Editorial}},
title = {n8n: Editorial Review},
year = {2026},
publisher = {aipedia.wiki},
url = {https://aipedia.wiki/tools/n8n/},
note = {Accessed: 2026-07-02}
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