n8n vs Railway — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
n8n starts at $25.92/mo. Railway starts at $5/mo. Railway is $20.92/mo cheaper on the entry tier than n8n.
How pricing works
These two tools don't price the same way, so the headline numbers below aren't directly comparable until you plug in your own volume.
- n8n (Per Usage) — n8n bills on usage — Workflow executions/month on top of a paid plan starting at $25.92/mo. The plan includes an allowance; anything beyond it is metered.
- Railway (Hybrid) — Railway is hybrid: a fixed subscription from $5/mo plus metered usage on top (Usage credits). Your real bill moves with volume, not seat count.
Per-minute, per-credit and per-token rates exclude any downstream model, speech or telephony costs unless the vendor states otherwise.
Open-source workflow automation positioned as the alternative to Zapier and Make for developers who want self-hosting + code-level control. Distinctive for fair-code license (free for internal use, paid for embedded resale) and its JavaScript node execution. Valued $2.3B private (2025 raise). Free when self-hosted; Cloud plans $20-$50/mo (annual). Popular with technical teams whose Zapier bill grew painful and who want to run automations on their own infrastructure.
Modern PaaS positioned as the alternative to Heroku for developers who want git-push-to-deploy simplicity plus per-resource billing. Distinctive for its usage-based pricing (compute per GB-hour, RAM per GB-hour) versus flat dyno pricing at Heroku. Free trial credits give hobby projects room; production apps typically $20-$500/mo. YC-backed, popular with indie hackers and Series A/B startups.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | n8n monthly | n8n annual | Railway monthly | Railway annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | — / Free Trial | — | — | Free | — |
| Entry paid | Starter / Hobby | $25.92 | $21.6 | $5 | — |
| Pro / power | Pro | $64.8 | $54 | $20 | — |
| Teams | Business / — | $864 | $720 | — | — |
| Enterprise | Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
n8n is worth it if… developers and ops-savvy teams that want visual workflow automation with the option to self-host and write custom JavaScript nodes — particularly if you value data sovereignty or need automations that Zapier/Make can't handle. Starter covers small teams; Pro adds more execution; Business adds RBAC and versioning; self-hosted free forever.
Railway is worth it if… developers building side projects or small production apps who want Heroku-style ease with modern pricing — deploy any GitHub repo in one click, scale to serverless functions. Hobby covers indie dev use; Pro adds team features and higher limits.
Bottom line: Choose based on how you want to pay — n8n is per usage, Railway is hybrid.
Choose n8n over Railway if…
Choose n8n if…
- You want to pay only for actual usage (per usage, from $25.92/mo).
- You match the profile n8n is built for: developers and ops-savvy teams that want visual workflow automation with the option to self-host and write custom JavaScript nodes — particularly if you value data sovereignty or need automations that Zapier/Make can't handle.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose Railway if…
- You're fine with a base subscription plus metered usage on top (from $5/mo).
- You match the profile Railway is built for: developers building side projects or small production apps who want Heroku-style ease with modern pricing — deploy any GitHub repo in one click, scale to serverless functions.
- You need a general-purpose developer & infrastructure option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| n8n | Railway | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Entry price | $25.92/mo | $5/mo |
| Enterprise available | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing model | Per Usage | Hybrid |
| Verification | Verified September 9, 2026 | Pricing under review |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 26, 2026. Tracked daily.