Hey everyone, looking for advice on handling the recent n8n pricing updates.
I’ve been seeing lots of discussions about people being unhappy with the new execution-based pricing model. For those of you running n8n workflows (either self-hosted or cloud), I’m curious about your game plan.
What approach are you taking:
- Staying put and accepting the new costs
- Mixed strategy: converting high-execution workflows to custom code while keeping simple ones in n8n
- Complete migration away from n8n
- Other solutions?
Some clarifications since there’s been confusion:
I’m asking because I see many users frustrated with pricing changes and want to understand their migration strategies. Not questioning whether they should leave, just interested in their plans.
I’m a developer who has used n8n for projects. Not promoting any competing platform. Actually curious how other platforms can guarantee they won’t follow similar pricing paths unless they have truly open licenses.
Currently not migrating myself, but want to understand what options people are considering and how they’re executing those plans.
honestly surprised more people aren’t just freezing their current setup. i’m staying on the old pricing tier as long as possible while testing makecom in parallel. gives me breathing room without rushing into bad decisions or half-built alternatives that break in production.
Had the same issue when Zapier changed their pricing last year. I took a different route though - ditched the idea of migrating workflows and slowly built my own alternatives instead. Used GitHub Actions for scheduled stuff and simple webhook endpoints for event-driven tasks. Here’s what clicked for me: every automation platform eventually does this pricing squeeze, so I figured I’d build something more portable from the start. Kept n8n running for six months while I built replacements - gave me time to test properly without rushing. Yeah, the upfront work was a pain, but now my costs are way more predictable and I can actually see what’s running.
mixed approach is def the way to go. I’ve been on n8n for 2 yrs - the pricing sucks now, but ripping everything out at once is crazy. I’m keeping simple stuff like notifications and basic integrations since they barely run anyway. heavy data processing tho? moving that to python scripts or maybe windmill.dev if I want to keep the visual workflow without execution limits.
Been through this exact headache when another workflow platform pulled the same move on us.
Don’t rush the migration but start planning now. Execution-based pricing gets brutal fast with decent volume.
I switched everything to Latenode after testing alternatives. Sold me on their transparent pricing - complex workflows won’t explode your costs. Visual editor beats n8n for most stuff too.
Simple strategy: find your most expensive workflows (high execution ones) and migrate those first for immediate relief. Move the rest over time. Took me 3 weeks total but saved hundreds monthly.
Bonus: Latenode handles the same integrations with better performance. No more execution limits killing your budget.
Check it out: https://latenode.com
Dealing with unexpected pricing changes is never easy, especially if you’ve invested time into a platform like n8n. I experienced a similar scenario with another service that raised its fees significantly. My solution was to examine each workflow carefully, considering their frequency, complexity, and impact on my projects. I migrated the high-volume workflows to alternatives such as custom scripts and cron jobs, while simpler tasks remained in n8n due to their lower cost impact. The transition took some effort, but it paid off in terms of both cost savings and increased control. Moving forward, I’ve made it a point to keep my workflows independent of any one platform to mitigate potential vendor lock-in.
Timing these migrations can make or break everything. I learned this the hard way - waited too long on another platform’s changes and got stuck paying premium rates for three months while frantically rebuilding workflows. Not making that mistake again. This time I started with an audit of my execution patterns. Needed to see which workflows actually cost money vs. which ones just feel expensive. Turns out 80% of mine run less than 100 times monthly. The real problem was five high-frequency automations. Instead of panic-migrating everything, I’m using this as forced optimization. Discovered some workflows were running way too often because of bad trigger design. Fixed those first before even thinking about switching platforms. Biggest lesson: separate your emotional reaction from actual financial impact. You need real numbers to make smart decisions.
Self-hosting’s definitely worth it if you know your way around infrastructure. I ditched n8n’s cloud when the pricing got ridiculous for what I needed. Now I run it on a small VPS for $20/month - doesn’t matter how much I use it, which beats those crazy unpredictable cloud bills. Took me a weekend to get the docker-compose setup dialed in, but now I control my costs and can bump up resources whenever. Downside? You handle backups, updates, and monitoring yourself. If you’re a smaller team or solo dev who doesn’t mind babysitting it, self-hosting beats both expensive cloud plans and rebuilding everything from scratch.