Why it matters for your business
n8n sits between no-code tools like Zapier and fully custom code. It counts usage by workflow execution rather than by individual step, which can make long, high-volume workflows cheaper to run; check current pricing for your volume. Self-hosting keeps data on infrastructure you control, which helps with some compliance and data residency requirements, but also makes you responsible for updates, backups and uptime. Teams with some technical capacity tend to get the most from n8n, because its flexibility comes with more setup decisions.
Example
A field services company uses n8n to process inbound service requests. A webhook receives each web form submission, an AI node classifies the job type and urgency, a lookup checks the customer in the CRM, and the workflow creates a job in the scheduling system. Urgent jobs also trigger an SMS to the on-call dispatcher through Twilio.