n8n automates processes by connecting your apps in workflows, with your own code and AI agents when needed. You can use it in n8n's cloud, hosted in Frankfurt, or install it free on your own server with the Community edition. Its licence is fair-code: it allows internal use and charging for building workflows, but not reselling it as a service. It beats Make or Zapier when you want control over where data lives, or your workflows are long.
What n8n is and what it is for
n8n works with workflows: a trigger (an email arrives, an invoice is created, it is Monday at 8:00) and a series of steps that read, transform and write data in your apps. According to its pricing page, every plan includes unlimited users and workflows and all integrations.
Three things set it apart:
- Code when you need it. The Code node lets you write JavaScript or Python and run it as just another step in the workflow.
- AI inside the workflow. n8n lets you connect model providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, add tools and memory, and combine several models in the same workflow. It includes an AI agent node and the option to require human approval before the agent uses a specific tool.
- You can install it yourself. As well as its cloud, n8n can be hosted on your own infrastructure, in your offices or in a private cloud.
Typical uses in a small business: moving online shop orders into the ERP, sending an alert when a customer does not pay, moving attachments from a mailbox into each client's folder, or sorting email with AI. If that last one interests you, we explain it in AI agents for business.
The licence: fair-code, not open source
n8n does not call itself open source. Its code is available under the Sustainable Use License, a licence n8n created in 2022 and describes as fair-code. n8n explains that, according to the Open Source Initiative, an open source licence cannot restrict use, and its licence does. The licence gives you the right to use, modify and redistribute the software, with three limits:
- You may only use or modify it for your own internal business purposes, or for personal or non-commercial use.
- You may only distribute it or make it available to others free of charge and for non-commercial purposes.
- You may not remove or hide any licensing or copyright notices.
Files with ".ee." in their name are not covered by that licence: they require the n8n Enterprise licence. And n8n's FAQs make it clear that the Community licence applies to the self-hosted version; n8n Cloud is a subscription with its own terms.
What those FAQs say, in short:
| You can | You cannot |
|---|---|
| Use n8n to run your business | Offer n8n as a service so your clients can build workflows |
| Build automations for your clients on your instance, if they cannot create or edit them | Let external users set up their own workflows from your product, via an interface, API, MCP or an AI agent |
| Charge your clients for building, configuring and maintaining workflows | Fork the code to launch your own automation product |
| Charge for training and consultancy | Remove the n8n branding and sell it as it is |
| Use n8n behind the scenes in your product, if the user only triggers workflows you have built | Use Enterprise features without an Enterprise licence |
| Run several instances of the Community edition |
The underlying rule, according to n8n, is not who enters the credentials but who controls the workflow logic. You can also install and maintain n8n on a client's server and charge them for it, as long as you do not also provide the hosting. If you want something the licence does not allow, such as embedding the workflow editor in your product, n8n asks you to sign a commercial agreement.
Self-hosted or cloud: prices as of October 2026
| Option | Where it is hosted | Published price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community | Your server | Free | Most features |
| Registered Community | Your server | Free, by registering an email | Also: folders, debugging in the editor and custom execution data |
| Starter | n8n's cloud | €20 a month billed annually | 2,500 executions a month, 5 at a time |
| Pro | n8n's cloud | €50 a month billed annually | 10,000 executions a month, up to 50 at a time |
| Business | Your server only | €667 a month billed annually | 40,000 executions, SSO, multiple environments, version control with Git |
| Enterprise | Cloud or your server | On request | Custom executions, log streaming, support with an SLA |
Sources: n8n pricing and choosing between cloud and self-hosted. The pricing page shows a 17% saving for annual billing over monthly, and a plan for companies with fewer than 20 employees with 50% off Business. It does not say whether the prices include VAT.
One important detail: n8n charges per execution, and an execution is one complete run of the workflow, however many steps it has.
Which one suits you? n8n's own documentation recommends the cloud if you do not have technical knowledge or do not want to manage infrastructure. Self-hosting means installing and configuring it, and maintenance becomes your responsibility: updates, backups, server security. Features such as SSO, environments, external secrets, projects or Git version control need a paid plan, even if you host it yourself.
Why hosting in the EU matters
Your workflows move personal data: names, emails, invoices, sometimes payslips. The automation platform processes that data on your behalf, so it is a data processor. The GDPR (the EU's General Data Protection Regulation) requires you to choose processors that offer sufficient guarantees and to govern the relationship with a contract (Article 28). If the data leaves the European Economic Area, the transfer conditions in Chapter V also apply (Article 44).
Here is where each tool stands, according to its own pages:
- n8n Cloud stores data in the EU, on servers in Frankfurt. If you host it yourself, the data is wherever you decide.
- Make lets you choose a data zone in the United States or the EU (US1, US2, EU1, EU2). But it warns that choosing a European zone does not guarantee that everything is processed in the EU: some AI features always go to the United States, and if you connect your own AI provider you lose Make's guarantee and everything depends on how you configure that provider.
- Zapier hosts data on AWS servers in the United States and does not offer EU-only storage. For transfers it relies on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, whose adequacy decision the European Commission adopted in July 2023, according to the same page.
A common trap: hosting n8n in the EU does not make the whole workflow European. If a step calls an AI model, that provider is another processor. As of October 2026, Anthropic's direct API only offers global or US-only inference, and OpenAI offers processing in Europe with certain retention controls and prior approval. Check every step, not just the tool.
Comparison: n8n, Make and Zapier
Prices published as of October 2026:
| n8n | Make | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it charges | Per complete workflow run, regardless of steps (n8n) | By credits: most actions use 1 (Make) | By tasks: each completed action counts as one (Zapier) |
| Free | Self-hosted Community; in the cloud, a 14-day trial (n8n) | Free: 1,000 credits a month (Make) | Free: 100 tasks a month, two-step workflows (Zapier) |
| Entry paid plan | Starter: €20/month billed annually, 2,500 executions (n8n) | Core: from $9/month, 10,000 credits (Make) | Professional: from $19.99/month billed annually (Zapier) |
| Where it is hosted | Cloud in Frankfurt or your server (n8n) | Cloud, with data zones in the US or the EU (Make) | AWS cloud in the US (Zapier) |
| Install on your server | Yes: Community, Business and Enterprise (n8n) | Not advertised; on Enterprise it offers on-premise agents to reach your network (Make) | Not shown on its pricing page |
| Your own code | Code node: JavaScript or Python (n8n) | Make Code, in beta and on paid plans: JavaScript or Python, 2 credits per second (Make) | Code by Zapier: JavaScript (Node.js 22) and Python 3.13 (Zapier) |
| AI and agents | Agent node, MCP and human approval for tools (n8n) | Make AI Agent (New), in open beta since 2 February 2026 (Make) | Zapier Agents: 400 activities a month free; 1,500 for $33.33/month billed annually (Zapier) |
Make describes itself in its own comparison as "cloud-first" on every plan, and its pricing page shows that annual billing works out cheaper than monthly.
An example to see the difference. A 10-step workflow (one trigger and 9 actions) that runs 1,000 times a month:
- n8n: 1,000 executions. It fits in Starter.
- Make: reading data from an app also uses credits, so if each module uses 1, that is 10 credits per run: 10,000 a month, the entry tier of Core.
- Zapier: it does not charge for checking whether there is new data, but each completed action is a task: 9,000 tasks a month, far above the 750 in Professional's first tier.
The more steps a workflow has, the bigger the advantage of n8n's model. With two-step workflows and low volume, the gap narrows.
When to use each one
- Zapier, if you want to connect two or three well-known apps in an afternoon, with low volume, with nobody technical, and you are fine with the data being in the United States.
- Make, if you prefer its visual scenario editor, want a European data zone and do not want to maintain servers.
- n8n, if you need to decide where the data lives, your workflows have many steps or a lot of volume, you need your own code, or you want AI agents with human approval. The trade-off: if you host it yourself, someone has to maintain it.
The tool matters less than how the process is designed. A badly thought-out workflow fails just the same in all three.
What to watch out for with n8n
- Maintenance. If you host it yourself, its documentation leaves maintenance to you. That includes updates, backups and server security.
- The licence. As soon as a client can create or edit workflows on your instance, you are outside what the Community licence allows, according to its FAQs.
- Credentials. Every workflow stores access to your apps. Give each one only the permissions it needs.
- AI. Models make mistakes. If an AI workflow writes to your systems or talks to customers, put human approval on the sensitive actions. And remember the EU AI Act: Article 4 of the Artificial Intelligence Act, rewritten by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, asks for measures to support AI training for your staff, and since 2 August 2026 Article 50 requires that anyone talking to an AI system knows it is one, unless it is obvious. If the workflow is a chatbot, see how much an AI chatbot costs.
We use n8n, among other tools, to build automations connected to what each business already uses, with the data hosted in the EU and no subcontracting. One automation workflow falls in our range of €1,500 to €6,000 ex VAT, with a fixed price after a free 2 to 5 day assessment. We explain it in process automation and in how we apply it for advisory firms and property managers.
Sources
- n8n: Plans and pricing
- n8n: Choose how to use n8n
- n8n: Host n8n
- n8n: Community license
- n8n: License FAQ
- n8n: Sustainable Use License text (GitHub)
- n8n: Using the Code node
- n8n: Integrate AI
- n8n: Human-in-the-loop for tools
- Make: Pricing
- Make: Make vs n8n
- Make: AI providers and data zones in Make
- Make: Make Code
- Make: Introduction to Make AI Agent (New)
- Zapier: Pricing
- Zapier: Data Privacy Overview
- Zapier: Using Code by Zapier
- Anthropic: Data residency
- OpenAI: Data controls in the OpenAI platform
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation (BOE, in Spanish)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the Artificial Intelligence Act (EUR-Lex)
- Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the digital omnibus on AI (EUR-Lex)