Automation and integration · Workflow automation
n8n
Workflow automation with first-class AI agent nodes, self-hostable, billed per workflow run.
Our pick for workflow automation- Vendor
- n8n
- Pricing model
- Free self-hosted Community edition; cloud and Business plans billed per workflow execution, not per step.
- Runs on
- Self-hosted anywhere, or n8n cloud
- Agentic OS layer
- Flow
- Industries
- Any industry
- Last reviewed
- November 2026
Our verdict
The best value for teams with some engineering skill: AI agent nodes, code when you need it, and pricing per run rather than per step. You trade some polish and governance for control.
What it is
n8n is a visual workflow tool with code steps, more than 400 integrations and native AI agent, memory and vector store nodes. It can be self-hosted under a fair-code licence or used as a cloud service.
Billing counts a full workflow run as one execution, however many steps it has, which makes complex or AI-heavy workflows far cheaper than per-task tools.
Best for
Engineering, operations and RevOps teams building multi-step and agent workflows, and organisations that must keep data on their own servers.
Not the right fit
Non-technical business teams who want a guided, fully managed experience.
Key capabilities
AI agent nodes
Agents, memory, tools and vector stores inside workflows.
Code when needed
JavaScript and Python steps alongside visual nodes.
Self-hosting
Run on your own infrastructure for data control.
Per-run billing
One execution covers the whole workflow, not each step.
Strengths
- Very low cost at volume, especially self-hosted
- Flexible enough for agent workflows
- Large community and templates
Watch-outs
- SSO, environments and Git need Business or Enterprise
- Self-hosting means you own uptime and upgrades
- Less hand-holding than Zapier
Pricing
The Community edition is free to self-host. Cloud Starter is about €20 a month (annual) for 2,500 executions and Pro about €50 for 10,000. Business, self-hosted with SSO, Git and environments, is about €667 a month annually for 40,000 executions, with overage on top. Enterprise is quoted. A startup plan halves the Business price for companies under 20 people.
Checked November 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm current pricing with n8n before you budget.
Security and governance
Self-hosting keeps data in your network. Business and Enterprise add SSO, SAML, LDAP, environments, Git version control and log streaming.
How we would roll it out
- Decide hosting firstSelf-host for data control, cloud for speed.
- Version workflows in GitTreat important workflows as code with reviews.
- Add approvals to agent stepsPut a human check before anything that changes records or sends messages.
Compare with
Other tools in Automation and integration, closest match first.
Zapier
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UiPath
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Choosing between n8n and the alternatives?
Book a call. We look at your systems, data and governance together and tell you which platform fits, and what to build on it first.