Getting Started with n8n

Connect your apps and let them pass work to each other — with a version you can run yourself, free, forever.

Current prices: Free, from €20/month · See all plans

Last reviewed 2026-10-14 · for n8n

How it works

You build on a canvas. You drop down a trigger — the "when," like a set time, a new email, or a form being filled in — then chain actions after it: send this, save that, look this up. You can run the whole chain with your real data before you ever turn it on.

What it is

A workflow automation tool: you build chains of steps that run without you, connecting apps you already use. It ships with hundreds of prebuilt connections and a library of ready-made workflows to adapt.

It's noticeably more capable than Zapier or Make, and noticeably harder to learn. Both are true.

The reason to pick it is the billing shape. Zapier and Make charge roughly per step; n8n's paid cloud charges per execution — one full run of a workflow, however many steps it contains — so a 3-step and a 30-step workflow cost the same. That changes what you're willing to build.

Before you start

There are two n8n's, and confusing them is the most common beginner mistake. n8n Cloud is the version n8n runs for you: sign up, build, pay monthly. Self-hosting means running the free Community edition on a machine you control: almost the full feature set, no cap on how many times your workflows run (nobody else in this category offers that), and the maintenance is yours.

Cloud needs only an email address, and the trial needs no card. Self-hosting needs a machine that stays on, and comfort typing instructions into a text window instead of clicking — n8n's own docs list technical expertise as required, and point non-technical readers to Cloud.

So if you're not technical you'll pay after the trial; if you'll self-host, possibly never — you pay in time and responsibility instead. Cloud has no free plan: Starter is €20/month and Pro €50/month, both billed annually, each with a monthly execution allowance. Those are euros, not dollars. Free means you run it yourself.

First step: start a free Cloud trial and open the template library rather than a blank canvas. Find a template near what you want, run it once, change one thing.

Security & privacy

Every app you link hands n8n a stored credential that lets it act as you — and a workflow with a mistake in it acts as you at machine speed, over and over. Connect one account at a time, only what a workflow needs, and run everything manually a few times before switching it on. Any connection can be revoked from the app's own settings, not just from n8n.

If you self-host, these become your job

Keeping the software updated — security fixes don't install themselves.
Backups: your workflows and stored credentials live on your machine, and if it dies, they die.
Locking down access, so your n8n isn't sitting open on the public internet.

What it's good (and not good) at

Best at

Multi-step workflows where the step count would get expensive elsewhere
Reaching a service with no prebuilt integration, via a plain web request
Adding an AI step to an ordinary automation, on hardware you control

Okay at

Being your first-ever automation tool — you'll hit concepts other tools hide
Team work on the free tier, where sharing and permissions are limited
Quick one-offs you'll build in five minutes and never touch again

Avoid

Choosing it to never see anything technical — Zapier is the kinder first step
Self-hosting because it's free, if you won't maintain it

Starter automations to try

When a form is submitted → log it to a spreadsheet and email you

n8n hosts the form itself, drops each response into a Google Sheet, and emails you the details.

Why this one: n8n makes you place and wire the boxes yourself, and run the chain with real data while it's switched off — so you watch data pass between two nodes (one step in a workflow, shown as a box you connect).

Tweak: Nothing runs until you switch the workflow on — canvas testing works fine while it's off.

When an email arrives with attachments → save every file and log the sender

An email trigger fires on each new message, a step saves every attachment to a folder in your file storage, and another appends the sender and subject to a spreadsheet.

Why this one: An email with five attachments is one execution in n8n. On a per-step tool, looping over each attachment is where your quota quietly evaporates — the pricing difference made visible.

Tweak: Filter to only invoices, by matching the subject line.

Every weekday at 8am → gather headlines, summarise with AI, post to chat

A schedule trigger runs at 8am on weekdays, a step fetches headlines from a feed, an AI step summarises them, and a chat step posts the result.

Why this one: AI steps are ordinary boxes here rather than a separate product you bolt on, and you can point one at your own model key instead of buying platform credits.

When a row is added to a sheet → call a service n8n has never heard of

Uses n8n's general-purpose web-request box to talk to a service directly, instead of waiting for an official integration.

Why this one: This is the honest reason people switch: on Zapier, no integration means you're stuck; here, if a service publishes a way for programs to talk to it, you have one.

Tweak: Start with a public service that needs no login, so you see it work first.

Common pitfalls

"Free" and "open source" aren't the same thing here. n8n publishes its source but licenses it as fair-code, under its Sustainable Use License: free for personal or internal use, but you may not resell it, white-label it, or host it commercially for others. Fine for almost every beginner; worth knowing before you build a business on it.
Data moves as a list of items, not one thing. A step usually runs once per item it receives — powerful, and the source of most confusing early results.
Templates from strangers carry credentials-shaped holes. They're a great way to learn, but read what a workflow does before you connect your accounts.

Where to next

More automation tools to compare Connect AI models directly into your workflows

Want the full picture first? See the n8n overview for pricing, the free tier and related tools.