n8n Hosting Options
Four ways to host n8n — and the hidden cost column most comparisons leave out.
The four options
| Option | Monthly cost | Hidden cost | Data control | Who fixes it at 3am |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n8n Cloud (official) | From ~€20+ | Low | n8n's EU cloud | n8n (infra only) |
| DIY self-hosting | Server ~€10–50 | Your hours — updates, backups, TLS, debugging | Full | You |
| VPS one-click installs | ~€10–30 | Your hours, minus setup | Full | You |
| Operated hosting (Oido) | Fixed fee | None | Full — your infra or ours | We do |
The column that decides it is the hidden one. A self-hosted instance costs almost nothing in server fees and a real number of engineer-hours per month in care — we wrote up the honest math.
When official n8n Cloud is the right answer
Small workflow count, no data-residency constraints, no custom nodes needed, and someone in-house building workflows. It's a good product; we set it up for clients when it fits. (We recommend by fit — see n8n vs Oido Studio for how we relate to n8n.)
When self-hosting is the right answer
You need custom nodes, strict data residency, or execution volumes where per-workflow cloud pricing stings — and you have a technical owner with maintenance time actually budgeted. Requirements-wise: a small VPS runs n8n fine (2 vCPU / 4 GB covers most SMEs); Postgres instead of SQLite once volume is real; queue mode with workers when you scale (scaling guide); and a plan for updates, backups and security.
When operated hosting is the right answer
You want self-hosting's control without becoming an ops team. We deploy n8n on your servers or cloud account (or ours, your call), then own upgrades, backups, monitoring, security hardening and workflow-level error handling — the full managed n8n layer. You keep root, ownership and the exit door; we keep the pager.
This is also the only option where the workflows are covered, not just the server — including AI agents for the judgment steps and custom integrations when a node doesn't exist.
Deciding in one question
"Whose calendar has the maintenance hours?" If the answer is a real person with real time — self-host. If it's "we'll figure it out" — official cloud for simple needs, operated hosting when the workflows matter to the business.