Short version: n8n itself is source-available and free to self-host — your real cost is a small VPS (≈A$5–A$50/month) plus the build. NexFlow build pricing in AUD: a single production workflow (Spark) from A$2,400 one-off, an ongoing partnership (Flow) at A$1,800/month, and enterprise (Fleet) custom-quoted. Scoping consults are US$50 (15 min) or US$130 (60 min), credited toward a build.
Two costs: running n8n vs building on it
People search ‘n8n pricing’ meaning two different things. (1) The cost to run n8n — near-free if self-hosted, or n8n Cloud's subscription. (2) The cost to build production workflows on it — which is where a consultancy comes in. Both, in Australian dollars, below.
Cost to run n8n
- Self-hosted: a small VPS (e.g. Hetzner/DigitalOcean) runs n8n for roughly A$5–A$50/month regardless of execution volume.
- n8n Cloud: a managed subscription if you would rather not host — priced per active workflow tier.
- No per-execution tax: unlike Zapier, self-hosted n8n does not charge per task.
NexFlow build pricing (AUD)
- Spark — from A$2,400 one-off — one production workflow, up to 5 integrations, ships in ~2 weeks.
- Flow — A$1,800/month — ongoing partnership: new workflows, monitoring, monthly tune-ups.
- Fleet — custom — enterprise, multi-region, PwC-grade governance, SLA.
- Scoping consults — US$50 (15-min map) or US$130 (60-min deep map), credited toward a build.
- Enterprise — custom.
Cost at scale: Zapier vs Make vs n8n
For long-running workflows, n8n's curve flattens because it is self-hostable. Indicative monthly cost at three volumes (USD, source: NexFlow llms.txt cost reference): 1,000 ops — Zapier US$29 / Make US$9 / n8n ~US$5; 10,000 ops — US$119 / US$29 / ~US$15; 100,000 ops — US$799+ / US$199 / ~US$50.
Common questions
Is n8n free?
The community edition is source-available and free to self-host — you only pay for the server it runs on (≈A$5–A$50/month). n8n Cloud is a paid managed option. The build work to create production workflows is separate.
How much does it cost to build an n8n workflow in Australia?
At NexFlow, a single production workflow is the Spark plan — from A$2,400 one-off, up to 5 integrations, ships in ~2 weeks. Ongoing multi-workflow work is the Flow partnership at A$1,800/month. Scoping starts with a paid 15-minute map (US$50) or a 60-minute Deep Map (US$130), credited toward a build.
Why is n8n cheaper than Zapier at scale?
Because you can self-host it, n8n has no per-task fee. Zapier bills per task, so at 100,000 operations/month Zapier costs US$799+ while self-hosted n8n is roughly US$50 of infrastructure.
The 15-minute map tells you yes, no, or “you don’t need us.”
Paid, focused, no deck. A single production workflow starts at A$2,400 (Spark) and ships in about two weeks; ongoing partnerships are A$1,800/month (Flow).