What it's for
Our self-hosted n8n note uses it for small servers on the client's own account.
- Small servers
- Self-hosting n8n and similar
- Client-owned infrastructure
Plans and prices
| Plan | Price (USD unless shown) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Droplet 512 MiB | $4/mo ($0.00595/hr) | 1 vCPU; 10 GiB disk; 500 GiB transfer |
| Basic Droplet 1 GiB | $6/mo | 1 vCPU; 25 GiB disk; 1,000 GiB transfer |
| Basic Droplet 2 GiB | $12/mo | 1 vCPU; 50 GiB disk; 2,000 GiB transfer |
| Basic Droplet 4 GiB | $24/mo | 2 vCPUs; 80 GiB disk |
Read on the official pricing page on . Prices change; check before you buy.
Free plan in real output
No free plan; billed hourly up to the monthly cap.
- A 2 GiB Droplet at $12/mo is a common size for a small self-hosted n8n instance; check n8n's own guidance for your workload.
- Droplets bill hourly, so a test server for a few days costs cents.
Cost at your stage
| Plan | Monthly cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 (testing, low volume) | Basic 1 GiB | $6 |
| Month 12 (working volume) | Basic 2 GiB | $12 |
Break-even: Usually billed to the client's own account; $12/mo is covered by any setup fee.
Month-12 plan is our estimate of what a solo seller at steady weekly output needs, based on the plan limits above. Costs exclude tax.
Commercial use and output rights
Not a content generator. Cloud hosting; your data stays yours.
Your data and AI training: Not checked.
This is a summary of public terms, not legal advice. Terms change; re-read the clause before client work.
First-hour setup
- Have the client create the account.
- Create a Droplet with Ubuntu or a marketplace image.
- Add SSH keys and a firewall.
- Install Docker and your app.
- Turn on backups.
Competitors compared
| Tool | Pricing model | Free plan | Starting price | Difficulty | Output rights | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DigitalOcean | Paid plans only | No | $4/mo ($0.00595/hr) | 3/5 | Not a content generator | A small server you control |
| Hostinger | Paid plans only | No | See official site | – | – | Cheap WordPress hosting |
| Vercel | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | $0/mo · then $20/mo | 2/5 | Not a content generator | Deploying Next.js sites and apps |
| Netlify | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | See official site | 2/5 | – | Static and Jamstack sites |
| Cloudflare Pages | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | See official site | 2/5 | – | Fast static hosting with generous free limits |
| Replit | Free plan + paid plans | Yes | $0 · then $20/mo monthly or $18/mo billed annually | 2/5 | Not a content generator | Building and hosting an app entirely in the browser |
| Next.js | Free, open source | Yes | Free | – | – | Building programmatic and dynamic sites |
Learning difficulty
3/5: Server administration.
When not to use it
If nobody will maintain a server, use n8n Cloud or another managed service.
Cheaper or free alternatives:
- Hostinger: Cheap WordPress hosting (no free plan)
- Vercel: Deploying Next.js sites and apps (yes free plan)
- Netlify: Static and Jamstack sites (yes free plan)
- Cloudflare Pages: Fast static hosting with generous free limits (yes free plan)
Which of our hustles use it
- n8n self-hosted automation setup: Small servers on the client's own account
Price history
Each monthly check adds rows here. Older rows are never edited, so you can see when prices changed.
Sources
- DigitalOcean Droplet pricing (read 17 October 2026)
Last verified . Anything we couldn't confirm on an official page is marked "not published", "not shown" or "not verified".