n8n Cloud
The vendor's own hosted service. Nothing to operate, upgrades handled, support included. Priced by execution tier, and your workflow data lives on n8n's infrastructure.
Compare with Zapier →Comparison · Deployment models
n8n Cloud vs self-hosted three options, not two.
Most comparisons frame this as cloud versus self-hosted. There is a third option: managed hosting, where you keep the self-hosted licence and data control but do not operate the server. Which one fits depends on how much operational work you want to own.
- Zero ops
- n8n Cloud
- Full control
- Self-hosted
- Both
- Managed hosting
- JSON
- Workflows are portable
The question is who runs the server, not which n8n you get.
The application is the same in all three. What changes is who handles upgrades, HTTPS, backups, storage, and being paged when a webhook stops responding.
Self-hosted on your own server
Maximum control and the lowest raw compute cost. You own Docker updates, TLS renewal, database backups, storage growth, and the pager when a webhook fails at 3am.
See the self-hosting checklist →Managed n8n hosting
The self-hosted model without server administration: one-click deploy, persistent workflow storage, managed HTTPS, health checks, and backups on a Darwa plan.
View n8n hosting →Data control
Self-hosted and managed hosting both keep workflow data and credentials on infrastructure you choose. n8n Cloud processes on the vendor's platform.
View hosting locations →Webhook reliability
Any model needs a stable public HTTPS endpoint. A laptop or home server behind a tunnel is the usual cause of webhooks that work in testing and fail in production.
View n8n hosting →Cost shape
Cloud scales with execution tiers. Self-hosted and managed scale with the resources the instance needs, so heavy workflow volume does not change the bill directly.
See pricing →The work that comes with each model.
Self-hosting is genuinely cheaper on compute and genuinely more work. These are the tasks that move between you and the provider.
Upgrades01
n8n releases often. Cloud and managed hosting handle the update path; self-hosting means you pull images, read breaking-change notes, and test.
HTTPS certificates02
Webhooks require valid TLS. Cloud and managed hosting issue and renew automatically; self-hosting means running and monitoring the renewal yourself.
Backups03
Executions and credentials live in a database. Managed options back this up on a schedule; self-hosting means configuring, testing, and verifying restores.
Encryption key04
n8n encrypts credentials with a key. Lose it and every stored credential must be re-entered, so it has to be backed up separately from the database.
Scaling05
Concurrency depends on CPU and memory rather than workflow count. Growing means resizing the instance, whichever model you choose.
Licence06
Self-hosting n8n for internal business use is permitted under the Sustainable Use Licence. Reselling n8n itself as a service is not.
Products, plans, and regional guidance.
Answers before you deploy.
Is self-hosting n8n cheaper than n8n Cloud?+
On raw compute, usually yes, especially at high execution volume where cloud tiers step up. The saving shrinks once you account for the time spent on upgrades, TLS renewal, backup testing, and incident response. Managed hosting sits between the two: you pay for the plan but not the operational time.
Is self-hosting n8n hard?+
The initial Docker deployment is straightforward. The ongoing work is what people underestimate: version upgrades with breaking changes, certificate renewal, database backups with tested restores, safeguarding the encryption key, and resizing when concurrency grows.
Do webhooks work when self-hosting?+
Only with a stable public HTTPS endpoint and a valid certificate. Webhooks failing in production after working in testing is almost always a tunnelling or certificate problem rather than an n8n problem.
Can I move from n8n Cloud to self-hosted later?+
Yes. Workflows export as JSON and import into any n8n instance. Credentials are deliberately excluded from exports and must be re-entered, so plan for that step.
What happens to running workflows if the instance restarts?+
Completed executions persist in the database. An execution in flight during a restart does not resume automatically, so design anything critical to be safe to retry.
Is self-hosting n8n allowed by its licence?+
Yes for internal business use, under the Sustainable Use Licence. What the licence prohibits is reselling n8n itself as a hosted product to third parties.
What is managed n8n hosting?+
A middle option: the self-hosted deployment model, with the server operated for you. Darwa provides one-click n8n deployment with persistent workflow storage, managed HTTPS, health verification, and backups included in the plan.