Are you tired of paying for every single automation you run, watching your bill climb higher every time you add a new workflow? That is exactly the problem that brings most people to n8n, and it leads to one key question: is n8n open source? Yes, n8n is open source, and that one fact is what separates it from almost every other automation tool you have probably looked at.

Open source means the code behind n8n is publicly available. Anyone can see it, use it, and build on it. You do not need to pay a license fee just to run it. You are not stuck inside one company’s platform. You install it on your own server, you run your workflows, and you stay in control of everything from day one.

With n8n being open source, you can:

• Host it on your own VPS, which is a remote computer that runs your tools around the clock without needing your personal laptop switched on. 
• Change how n8n behaves if your setup needs something specific. 
• You are not forced onto a paid subscription just to keep your automations alive. 
• Your data stays on your own server, not sitting on someone else’s system.

Now, it is one thing to say n8n is open source and leave it there. It is another thing entirely to know what that gives you on a day-to-day basis. So, let’s get into the real benefits you get when you choose n8n open-source automation. 

1) Full Control

With most automation tools, you log in and work with whatever the platform gives you. If something does not work the way you need it to, you wait for the company to fix it, or you just live with it.

With n8n being open source, you choose your own VPS and decide how much RAM and CPU it has. RAM is your server’s short-term memory, and the CPU is what processes everything your workflows do. 

When your automations grow and start demanding more power, you upgrade your server on your own terms. You control when updates happen. You decide how the whole thing runs.

2) No Vendor Lock-In

With closed automation tools, your workflows live inside that company’s platform. If you stop paying or want to move somewhere else, getting your work out becomes a real problem. You either lose everything or spend hours trying to rebuild it somewhere new.

With n8n, your workflows belong to you. Your setup belongs to you. If you find a better VPS provider with faster speeds or lower pricing, you move your n8n setup there without breaking a single workflow. That kind of portability is something closed tools simply cannot give you.

3) Lower Long-Term Cost

This is where n8n open source becomes something you can feel. n8n itself has no license fees; the only cost is your VPS hosting. A small VPS runs between $5 and $10 per month. A medium VPS sits around $10 to $25 per month, while heavier setups start around $30 per month.

Now look at what closed tools charge.

Zapier, while it offers a free option forever, depending on how much you automate, you’ll need to pay $20+ per month for starters. Make runs from $10 to $30 or more, and both of them charge you per task or per run. So every time your automations get busier, your bill gets bigger.

With n8n, that does not happen. You pay for your server, and that is it. You can run as many workflows as your VPS can handle without touching a higher pricing tier. As your automation grows, your cost stays steady.

4) Flexible and Customizable

Closed tools give you a fixed list of supported apps and features. If the integration you need is not on that list, you are stuck waiting, or you go without it.

With n8n being open source, you can:

• Connect custom APIs, which are basically communication bridges that let different apps talk to each other. 
• Build your own nodes, which are the individual action blocks inside n8n that make things happen. 

If a tool is not natively supported, you connect it yourself through an API call and keep moving. Your workflows are never blocked by what the platform officially supports.

5) Better Data Control

When you self-host n8n on your own VPS, your data never leaves your server. Every workflow runs on your system. Every piece of information in your automation process stays where you put it.

With cloud automation tools, your data passes through their servers every single time an automation fires. You are trusting their infrastructure with your information and your clients’ information every day. 

With n8n being open source and self-hosted, that dependency disappears. Your data stays yours, which is especially important if you handle sensitive information or need to meet any kind of privacy or compliance standard.

Is n8n Open Source? FAQs

Run Open-Source Automation the Right Way

So, is n8n open source? Yes, completely, and that gives you control, flexibility, and cost savings that closed tools cannot match.

But open source alone does not keep your workflows running. You still need a solid server behind it. A slow or unstable VPS means missed automations, crashes during important runs, and constant restarts that eat your time. Your hosting is just as important as the tool itself.

That is where Truehost comes in. 

Instead of wrestling with free servers that fall over or paying over the odds for hosting you do not fully need yet, Truehost gives you an affordable VPS that keeps n8n running reliably from day one. You start small, test your workflows, and scale your server as your automations grow without any pressure to jump into an expensive plan before you are ready.

Set up n8n on a reliable VPS and run your automation the way it was meant to be run.