You’ve hit the ceiling on your n8n Cloud plan. Maybe those 2,500 monthly executions aren’t cutting it anymore, or you’re tired of paying $20/month when you could run the same thing on a $5 VPS with fewer limits and more control.
Once you build out a few solid workflows and they start firing off regularly, that execution cap quickly becomes something you constantly monitor. Self-hosting gives you effectively unlimited executions and full control — but you need to cancel your cloud subscription without accidentally losing months of workflow work.
Clicking Cancel subscription is easy. The dangerous part is what happens when your billing cycle ends and n8n deletes your workspace. This guide walks you through backing up your workflows first, then canceling, so you avoid late-night rebuilds from memory.
TL;DR:
- Back up your workflows first via copy-paste or JSON export before touching the cancel button.
- Your credentials and API keys do not transfer; you must recreate them manually on self-hosted.
- Your n8n Cloud instance works until the end of the billing cycle, then everything is permanently deleted.
- Cancellation requires typing "CANCEL" in all caps and clicking through a short exit survey.
Why bother moving to self-hosted?
If you are running more than very simple automations, n8n Cloud pricing can get expensive very quickly compared to a self-hosted setup.
The Starter plan at $20/month caps you at 2,500 executions. If you hit that consistently, you are likely upgrading to Pro at $50/month for only 10,000 executions. In contrast, you can run n8n on a $5–$10/month VPS and process far more executions without strict SaaS caps. The cost difference adds up fast.
Self-hosting also means you control your environment:
- No waiting for n8n Cloud to ship specific features or upgrades.
- Your credentials and data sit on infrastructure you control.
- You decide on performance, backups, and scaling.
The tradeoff is that you are responsible for updates, SSL certificates, and keeping the server healthy. If you are comfortable with Docker and basic Linux administration, it is very manageable, but it is more work than just logging into a cloud dashboard.
Step zero: back up your workflows (do this first)
Back up before you cancel. Once you confirm cancellation, a deletion timer starts. When your billing cycle ends, n8n deletes your entire workspace — workflows, credentials, execution logs, everything — with no recovery.
There are two main ways to back up workflows: fast copy-paste and JSON export.
