So you’re done with n8n Cloud. Maybe you’ve spun up a self-hosted instance and realized you don’t need to drop money on a monthly subscription anymore. Maybe you’re cutting back on SaaS bloat. Or maybe you just want to see if running the open-source version yourself makes sense for what you’re actually building.
The scary part? When you go to cancel, the immediate panic sets in: Will everything I’ve automated just vanish?
It won’t. This guide walks you through where the cancel button hides, what happens to your workflows when you pull the trigger, and how to back up your automations in about five minutes. No mystery, no trapped data.
TL;DR: The Quick Version
TL;DR:
- Where to cancel: Admin Panel → Manage → Cancel Plan → type “CANCEL” → Confirm – takes about two minutes.
- Your workflows don’t disappear immediately: your workspace stays active until your billing cycle ends.
- Backing up is easy: open a workflow, press Cmd/Ctrl+A, then Cmd/Ctrl+C, and paste into your new instance with Cmd/Ctrl+V.
- Credentials never transfer: API keys and authentication must be recreated and reattached in your new n8n environment.
Canceling your n8n Cloud plan stops billing now—but your actual workspace only disappears at the end of the current cycle.
You’re Not Stuck—Here’s Your Way Out
You can cancel n8n Cloud without losing your work—as long as you understand when deletion happens and how to grab your workflows beforehand. The key is using your billing-period grace window wisely.
Quick reality check
Canceling your plan does not nuke your workspace instantly. You always have a buffer window until the billing period ends—use that time to migrate.
The Cancellation Process (Seriously, It’s Not Hidden)
How to cancel your n8n Cloud plan
- From the left sidebar, click Admin Panel in your n8n Cloud dashboard.
- Open the Manage tab at the top.
- Find your current plan and click Cancel plan.
- Type CANCEL in the confirmation field when prompted.
- On the final screen, click Cancel subscription to actually stop billing.
- Optionally answer the exit survey or skip it—you’re canceled either way.
What to know before you click
- You’re canceling future billing, not instantly deleting your workspace.
- Your workspace stays live until the end of the current billing cycle.
- You can still sign in, run workflows, and migrate everything during that period.
- After the cycle ends, the workspace and its data are permanently removed.
The whole flow takes about two minutes, and there’s no trick step—you just need to know where to look.
What Actually Happens to Your Data (The Part You Care About)
When you click cancel, n8n flags your Cloud workspace for removal at the end of the current billing cycle, not immediately.
- Immediately after canceling: all workflows, executions, and credentials are still there. Your instance behaves normally.
- During the grace period: you can sign in, edit workflows, and copy everything to a new instance.
- At the end of the cycle: the workspace is deleted—workflows, execution history, credentials, and environment data are removed.
Data retention at a glance
| Item | During billing cycle | After workspace deletion |
|---|---|---|
| Workflows | Fully available and editable | Deleted, cannot be recovered |
| Credentials (API keys, OAuth, etc.) | Stored and functional in Cloud only | Deleted with workspace |
| Execution history | Viewable based on your plan limits | Permanently removed |
| User access and settings | Unchanged until removal date | All access revoked, workspace gone |
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Your “backup window” is the time between canceling and your billing end date. Once that date hits, support can’t resurrect your workspace.
How to Back Up Your Workflows (It’s Borderline Stupid Easy)
n8n’s copy-paste system is one of the simplest ways to move automation logic between instances—no export wizards, no weird file formats.
- Open a workflow in your current n8n Cloud workspace.
- Press Cmd+A (Mac) or Ctrl+A (Windows) to select every node.
- Press Cmd+C or Ctrl+C. You should see a “Copied to clipboard” toast in the bottom-right corner.
- Go to your new n8n instance (self-hosted or a different Cloud workspace) and create a blank workflow.
- Click into the canvas and press Cmd+V or Ctrl+V.
- All nodes, connections, and settings reappear instantly in the new environment.
Pullquote
Copying a workflow in n8n is literally just “select all → copy → paste” between instances.
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If you have fewer than 20 workflows, you can usually migrate everything in a single focused session—most of the time is spent re-adding credentials, not copying logic.
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Treat your n8n Cloud account like a staging area: copy every workflow you might need later. Storage on self-hosted is cheap—regret is not.
The One Thing That Won’t Transfer: Credentials
n8n keeps workflows and credentials separate on purpose. When you paste a workflow into another instance, the workflow references credential names, but the underlying secrets are not copied for security reasons.
- Nodes arrive in the new instance fully configured, but with missing or unassigned credentials.
- You’ll see warnings like “No credential selected for X” on affected nodes.
- You must manually recreate credentials in the new instance and reassign them per node.
50/50 Boxes
What transfers with copy/paste
- All nodes and their configuration fields
- Node connections and workflow structure
- Expressions, mapping, and logic
- Trigger definitions (you must still enable them)
What never transfers
- API keys, OAuth tokens, and passwords
- Saved credential records in n8n
- Execution logs or past run data
- Workspace-level environment variables (unless you manually recreate them)
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Success!
Once you’ve recreated your credentials and mapped them to each node, your migrated workflows behave identically to Cloud—just running on your own infrastructure.
Before You Cancel: Do This First
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Pre-cancellation checklist
- Back up every workflow. Even “maybe” workflows are worth copying—you’ll never wish you had less automation saved.
- Document which services each workflow touches. Note providers and auth types (e.g., “Gmail – OAuth”, “Stripe – API key”).
- Decide if you need execution history. If compliance, audits, or debugging matter, capture key logs before deletion.
- Test a single workflow migration. Validate that self-hosted is configured correctly before moving everything.
- Plan your cutover date. Don’t cancel on the last day you need workflows running—build in overlap time.
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Warning…
Do not assume n8n support can restore a deleted workspace. Once the billing cycle ends and deletion runs, your workflows, credentials, and executions are gone for good.
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The safest approach is simple: migrate first, cancel second. If your new setup runs flawlessly for a week, then pull the plug on Cloud.
Why People Actually Cancel (And Why It Makes Sense)
Most users don’t cancel n8n Cloud because they dislike the product—they cancel because their usage pattern or budget makes self-hosting more logical.
- Cost: Heavy, always-on workflows can make Cloud more expensive than a server you already pay for.
- Control: Self-hosted gives you full control over infrastructure, networking, and data residency.
- Security/compliance: Some teams need everything inside their own VPC or behind internal firewalls.
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Cloud is about convenience; self-hosted is about control and long-term cost. Canceling Cloud usually means you’re graduating to the latter, not quitting automation.
FAQ: The Actual Questions People Ask
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
No. Once your workspace is deleted at the end of the billing cycle, workflows and data are gone. n8n does not guarantee any post-deletion recovery, so you must export during the active period.
Yes. Execution logs live inside your Cloud workspace. When the workspace is deleted, all run history disappears with it. If you need records, export or copy relevant data before cancellation takes effect.
Consider downgrading to the Free Cloud tier instead of canceling outright. You’ll keep your workspace and workflows, but with lower execution limits—perfect for light or occasional automation.
No. Cloud and self-hosted are separate environments. When you copy/paste a workflow into self-hosted, it becomes independent—changes in one place don’t affect the other.
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Critical warning!
If you rely on n8n for business-critical workflows, do not cancel Cloud until your self-hosted instance has run flawlessly in parallel for at least a few days.
Final Thought: Canceling Isn’t Giving Up
Canceling n8n Cloud usually means you’re optimizing, not quitting. Once your workflows are safely migrated and your credentials are reattached, the difference between Cloud and self-hosted is mostly about who runs the servers and who pays the bill.
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Ask yourself one question: Do I want to pay for managed infrastructure, or own the stack myself? Your answer tells you whether to cancel or stay on Cloud.
