How to Cancel Your n8n Account (And Actually Keep Your Workflows)

So you’re done with n8n Cloud. Maybe you spun up a self-hosted instance or you’re trimming SaaS costs. The worry: will your automations vanish the second you cancel? They won’t. Here’s exactly how to cancel, what happens to your data, and how to back up everything in minutes.

Your workflows stay active until your billing period ends—use that window to copy everything you need.

The Cancellation Process (Seriously, It’s Not Hidden)

Open your n8n Cloud workspace and click Admin Panel in the left sidebar. Go to the Manage tab and hit Cancel plan. Type “CANCEL” in the confirmation field, then click Cancel subscription. You’ll get a short exit survey (optional) and a final confirmation—done in under two minutes.

• Admin Panel → Manage → Cancel plan
• Type “CANCEL” → Confirm
• Optional survey → Finish

What Actually Happens to Your Data (The Part You Care About)

When you cancel, n8n marks your workspace for deletion at the end of your current billing cycle. Until then, your workflows remain active and accessible. A yellow banner shows the exact removal date. After that date, the entire workspace is permanently deleted—workflows, credentials, and execution history.

Event	When	What you see
Cancel subscription	Immediately	Workspace flagged for removal; yellow banner with removal date; workflows still run
End of billing cycle	On removal date	Workspace deleted; workflows, credentials, and execution history wiped
Resubscribe	Anytime before removal	Plan reactivated; no deletion; everything remains in place

Back up first, cancel second—avoid racing the clock on your final billing day.

How to Back Up Your Workflows (It’s Borderline Stupid Easy)

• Open a workflow in your current instance.
• Select all nodes: Command+A (Mac) or Ctrl+A (Windows).
• Copy: Command+C (Mac) or Ctrl+C (Windows). You’ll see “Copied to clipboard.”
• In your new instance, create a blank workflow → paste with Command+V / Ctrl+V.
• Repeat for each workflow you want to keep.

This preserves every node and connection. No export files, no import dialogs—just copy and paste.

The One Thing That Won’t Transfer (Credentials)

For security, credentials don’t copy with workflows. When you paste into a new environment, nodes that require auth will show warnings (for example, “No credential selected”). Recreate or reconnect each credential in the new instance, then select it in the affected nodes.

• Open the node → Credentials section
• Add the API key, OAuth app, or service account details
• Save and select the credential for that node

n8n integrates with hundreds of services, so the re-credentialing is the only real time sink. The automation logic itself transfers perfectly.

Before You Cancel: Do This First

• Back up every workflow. Even ones you might not need—storage is cheap.
• Document your connections. Note which services/credential types each workflow uses (not the keys).
• Save any execution history you need. Logs are deleted with the account.
• Test one migration. Paste a workflow into your new instance and run it end-to-end.
• Plan the timing. Don’t cancel right before a critical automation run.

Why People Actually Cancel (And Why It Makes Sense)

n8n Cloud is great when you want hosted convenience, but monthly costs add up—especially for always-on automations. Self-hosting can be cheaper and gives you full control of uptime, data, and scaling. Most cancellations aren’t about disliking n8n; they’re about picking the right deployment model.