Cloud or self-hosted: what automation really costs

Whether a cloud service or a self-hosted server pays off is, at low volume, usually decided in favour of the cloud. Self-hosting adds working time for updates, backups and faults to the server price, and in the worked example that time is the largest item. The platform prices can hardly be compared with one another, because each vendor counts something different.

A few terms first. A cloud service runs on the vendor’s servers, and you rent access. With self-hosting, the software runs on a server that you or your IT service provider manage. What a workflow is and which kinds of tools exist is explained in the article Process automation in a small business: the basics.

Four vendors, four units

All prices are vendor information taken from the pricing pages, retrieved on 13 November 2026 (as of November 2026). n8n, Zapier and Make do not say whether they are net or gross. Microsoft points out that the prices shown are indicative only and that the price is final at checkout.

Service	What is counted	Price
n8n Cloud Starter	Execution: one complete run of a workflow, however many steps	20 € per month for 2,500 executions, paid annually
n8n Cloud Pro	as Starter	50 € per month for 10,000 executions, paid annually
Zapier Professional	Task: one successfully completed action, triggers do not count	49 USD per month for 2,000 tasks paid yearly, 73.50 USD paid monthly
Make Core	Credit: usually 1 per module action	9 USD per month for 10,000 credits, billed annually
Power Automate Premium	User	15 USD per user per month, paid yearly

Microsoft also offers “Process” for unattended workflows: 150 USD per bot per month, also paid yearly. A bot there is a software robot that runs workflows without a person at the computer. Whether your existing Microsoft licences already include rights, I have not checked. Your licence reseller can clarify that.

Zapier and Make also offer smaller volumes: Zapier Free has 100 tasks a month, Make Free 1,000 credits. For each vendor the table shows the tier that fits the following example.

The same example, four calculations

The example is invented. A business receives 400 enquiries a month. The workflow has six steps: one trigger (the enquiry arrives) and five actions.

With n8n that is 400 executions. This is below the 2,500 of the Starter plan, so 20 € per month.

With Zapier the trigger does not count, but the five actions do: 5 × 400 = 2,000 tasks. That is exactly the 2,000-task tier, 49 USD paid yearly. Once the limit is reached, Zapier continues at a higher price per task under “pay-per-task” according to its pricing page, if you have activated that. Otherwise the workflows pause until the next billing period.

With Make I assume that each of the six modules costs one credit: 6 × 400 = 2,400 credits. The smallest paid tier has 10,000 credits, which is 9 USD per month with annual billing. The pricing page states a 15 per cent saving compared with monthly billing. With Power Automate the price depends on the user and not on the volume, so 15 USD per user, within the service limits that Microsoft states.

If the workflow grows to ten actions, the picture changes. With n8n it stays at 400 executions. With Make it is 11 × 400 = 4,400 credits, still within the 10,000. With Zapier it is 10 × 400 = 4,000 tasks, and the next tier on the page starts at 5,000. According to the data on the pricing page it costs 89 USD per month paid yearly, about 80 per cent more than the 49 USD. Setting “20 €” against “49 USD” therefore says little. They are also different currencies, and the vendors calculate with different units.

6 steps11 steps

• n8n Starter, 2,500 executionsCounted per run, not per step

  6 steps 16 % of tier
  11 steps 16 % of tier

• Zapier Professional, 2,000 tasksAbove 100 %: next tier needed

  6 steps 100 % of tier
  11 steps 200 % of tier

• Make Core, 10,000 creditsAssumption: 1 credit per module

  6 steps 24 % of tier
  11 steps 44 % of tier

Source: Vendor pricing pages, as of November 2026; invented example with 400 enquiries a month

Text version of the graphic

• n8n Starter, 2,500 executions: 6 steps 16 % of tier, 11 steps 16 % of tier (Counted per run, not per step)
• Zapier Professional, 2,000 tasks: 6 steps 100 % of tier, 11 steps 200 % of tier (Above 100 %: next tier needed)
• Make Core, 10,000 credits: 6 steps 24 % of tier, 11 steps 44 % of tier (Assumption: 1 credit per module)
• Source: Vendor pricing pages, as of November 2026; invented example with 400 enquiries a month

Self-hosting: costs that appear on no pricing page

According to the pricing page, the Community Edition of n8n is available free of charge on GitHub. According to the licence FAQ it is free for your own business use as long as only you and your staff create or change the workflows. A server costs money all the same, and someone has to look after it. The documentation recommends updating at least once a month and reading the notes on changes beforehand. A backup includes the folder with the configuration, which holds the key for the stored credentials. Without it, these credentials can no longer be decrypted after a restore.

For the following worked example, all values are the author’s assumptions, not measured:

• Server: 10 € net per month. Hetzner names prices from 5.49 € net per month for its smallest cloud servers (vendor information). Whether such a server is enough for n8n, I have not checked.
• Backup storage: 5 € per month.
• Working time: 1 hour for the monthly update, 0.5 hours for checking the backup, 0.5 hours for faults and security notices, 2 hours per month in total.
• Hourly rate: 50 €, one-off set-up 6 hours.

That gives 10 + 5 + 2 × 50 = 115 € per month, and in the first year 12 × 115 + 6 × 50 = 1,680 €. The Starter cloud plan costs 12 × 20 = 240 € a year, Pro 12 × 50 = 600 €. Self-hosting would only be as cheap as Starter if running it took less than (20 − 15) / 50 = 0.1 hours, that is 6 minutes a month. The one-off set-up is not yet included in that.

n8n Cloud Starterself-hosted

• Platform or serverCloud: vendor, server: assumption

  n8n Cloud Starter 20 €/month
  self-hosted 10 €/month

• Backup storageAssumption

  n8n Cloud Starter 0 €/month
  self-hosted 5 €/month

• Working time to run it, 2 hoursAssumption, 50 € per hour

  n8n Cloud Starter 0 €/month
  self-hosted 100 €/month

• Total

  n8n Cloud Starter 20 €/month
  self-hosted 115 €/month

Source: Cloud price: vendor information, as of November 2026. Self-hosting: the author’s assumptions, not measured

Text version of the graphic

• Platform or server: n8n Cloud Starter 20 €/month, self-hosted 10 €/month (Cloud: vendor, server: assumption)
• Backup storage: n8n Cloud Starter 0 €/month, self-hosted 5 €/month (Assumption)
• Working time to run it, 2 hours: n8n Cloud Starter 0 €/month, self-hosted 100 €/month (Assumption, 50 € per hour)
• Total: n8n Cloud Starter 20 €/month, self-hosted 115 €/month
• Source: Cloud price: vendor information, as of November 2026. Self-hosting: the author’s assumptions, not measured

For the cloud variant I have assumed that the vendor looks after the servers. Whether and how it makes backups is not stated on the pricing page. Ask before you buy. You have to build and maintain the workflows in both cases, which is why that is not in the calculation.

When self-hosting can still pay off

At low volume the price alone rarely carries it. The reasons are more likely data location and control. n8n names a data centre in Frankfurt for its hosted plans and offers a pre-signed data processing agreement to download (vendor information). Whether that is sufficient for your data is for your data protection officer to clarify. I have not checked where Zapier, Make and Microsoft keep data.

Self-hosting can also fit if the number of executions exceeds the cloud tiers, or if a server and IT support exist anyway. Then count the support time as well, even if it appears on no invoice. How to measure cases and time is covered in the article Measure time savings instead of promising them.

Legal questions on the licence and on data protection are described here only in general terms. The vendor (license@n8n.io), your legal adviser and your data protection officer clarify the individual case.

What you can do now

1. Count how many cases per month you expect for a workflow and how many steps it has.
2. Calculate it with each vendor’s unit, as in the example above, and note the currency and whether the price is net or gross.
3. For self-hosting, enter your own hours for updates, backups and faults, even if nobody pays them.
4. Ask each vendor where your data is kept and how backups are made before you buy anything.