Self-Hosted n8n: Community vs Enterprise

Not sure which n8n edition fits your team? We evaluate your workflows, security requirements, and growth plans to help you select and deploy the right self-hosted n8n setup that is hardened, scalable, and enterprise-ready.

pricing

Self-Hosted n8n: Pricing, Editions Secure Automation

Self-hosted n8n gives you full control over workflow automation, flexibility, and enterprise-grade security for individuals, teams, and organizations.

Free

n8n Community Edition

Perfect for: Individuals, startups, and small teams Access the full n8n automation engine at zero cost, with unlimited workflows and integrations.

Full automation engine official nodes

Unlimited workflows/executions

Deploy anywhere: VM, Docker, Kubernetes, on-premises

You Manage: Updates, backups, scaling, and user access

Why it works: Maximum flexibility and zero licensing fees, ideal for teams starting automation

Paid

n8n Enterprise Edition

Perfect for: Enterprises, B2B teams, and regulated organizations Includes all community features plus advanced security, governance, and professional support.

SSO (SAML OIDC) RBAC

Audit logs log streaming

Multi-environment workflow promotion

Vendor SLAs dedicated support

Why it works: Secure, compliant, and reliable automation for mission-critical workflows at scale

Advantage

The Codimite n8n Advantage

We don't just "turn it on." We help you decide (Community vs Enterprise), then build a production-grade setup: identity integration, secrets strategy, observability, CI/CD, and runbooks so your automations are reliable on day one.

PLAYBOOK

Our Proven Self‑Hosted Playbook

A battle-tested 6-step framework that takes you from initial assessment to production-ready n8n deployment with zero surprises.

01

Discovery & Fit

Workflows, data flows, risk profile, and edition fit

03

Pilot

Stand up an instance, rebuild 2-3 critical workflows, measure throughput

04

Security & Access

SSO (SAML/OIDC), RBAC, secret management, audit/log streaming

05

Environments & CI/CD

Dev/Staging/Prod promotion, backups, upgrade plan

Cutover & Hypercare

Zero-downtime switch, dashboards, on-call pathways

EDITIONS

Find the Right n8n Version for Your Team

Choose the right n8n edition for your team size, security needs, and compliance requirements.
Here's who benefits most from each version.

Individuals  Makers

Individuals Makers

Spin up quickly, automate freely, and learn fast. Community covers almost everything you need early on.

Small Teams  Startups

Small Teams Startups

Start on Community to validate value; move to Enterprise once you need SSO, roles, approvals, and audit trails.

B2B  Regulated Companies

B2B Regulated Companies

Choose Enterprise for identity integrations, governance, auditability, multi-environment control, and SLA-backed support. That combination is what security, legal, and ops teams expect in vendor reviews.

COMPARISON

n8n Community vs Enterprise: Key Differences

Understand the key differences between n8n editions to choose the right version for your team's
security, collaboration, and operational needs.

Area
Security Access
Authentication and user management capabilities
Local users/passwords
Local users/passwords you manage
Collaboration Governance
Team workflows and deployment controls
Basic multi-user
Basic multi-user, no formal sharing/governance
Scale Operations
Performance, monitoring and operational support
DIY Configuration
You configure scaling/queue mode yourself
Licensing Support
License terms and professional support options
Sustainable Use License
Free under Sustainable Use License (internal use)

Security Access

Authentication and user management capabilities

Community
Local users/passwords
Local users/passwords you manage

Collaboration Governance

Team workflows and deployment controls

Community
Basic multi-user
Basic multi-user, no formal sharing/governance

Scale Operations

Performance, monitoring and operational support

Community
DIY Configuration
You configure scaling/queue mode yourself

Licensing Support

License terms and professional support options

Community
Sustainable Use License
Free under Sustainable Use License (internal use)

TCO SNAPSHOT

Self-Hosted n8n: Community vs Enterprise Overview

A detailed breakdown of total cost of ownership factors when choosing between
Community and Enterprise editions for self-hosted deployment.

Category
License
Free (SUL)
Identity
Local users/2FA
Access Control
Basic
Audit Logs
Basic instance logs
Environments
Manual
Support
Community only

License

Community
Free (SUL)

Identity

Community
Local users/2FA

Access Control

Community
Basic

Audit Logs

Community
Basic instance logs

Environments

Community
Manual

Support

Community
Community only

faq

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions about Codimite’s deployments, support, and capabilities.

Is n8n Community enough for production?

Yes for smaller, low-risk use cases with simple access needs. As soon as you need centralized identity, roles, auditability, or SLAs, n8n Enterprise is the safer bet.

Do we need n8n Enterprise for SSO?

Yes. SAML/OIDC SSO is available on n8n Enterprise self-hosted.

Can we start on n8n Community and upgrade later?

Absolutely. Many teams begin on n8n Community and switch to Enterprise when governance or scale requirements kick in.

What about licensing?

n8n Community is under the Sustainable Use License (fair-code); n8n Enterprise uses a commercial license.

Do you offer SLAs?

Codimite can provide managed ops SLAs; n8n Enterprise also includes vendor SLAs/support packages.

Ready To Pick The Right Edition?

We’ll help you evaluate, harden, and deploy your self‑hosted n8n Community or Enterprise without the guesswork.

Contact Us
"CODIMITE" Would Like To Send You Notifications
Our notifications keep you updated with the latest articles and news. Would you like to receive these notifications and stay connected ?
Not Now
Yes Please