Pricing Units, Proprietary Limits & Migration Complexity
The operational fine print U.S. SaaS founders and small business owners check before committing.
| Evaluation Dimension | n8n | dots |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price & Billing Unit How your monthly bill scales | $0 Self-Host / $24/mo Cloud (2.5k runs) Full Workflow Executions (Not Steps!) | From $29/mo Developer Seat / Credits |
| Free Tier & Included Quotas Sandbox vs production allowance | 100% Free self-hosted Community Edition (Docker) with unlimited workflow executions & steps | Paid plans start at $29/mo (free trial available) |
| Proprietary Limits & Gotchas Caps, lock-in & overage cliffs | Fair-use Sustainable Use License (free for internal business ops; OEM embedding requires commercial license) | Higher-tier SSO, custom audit logs, and volume overages gated on higher commercial plans |
| Migration Complexity Engineering & ops switching effort | Moderate (2–4 hrs) Docker Compose deploy or n8n Cloud + visual webhook/AI agent builder | Moderate (2–4 hrs) Standard CSV/JSON data export, API sync, or webhook integration |
| Target Company Stage Best operational fit | Technical Founders, Agencies & Ops | Growing Teams & Mid-Market (10–250+) |
| Data Privacy & Compliance U.S. & enterprise governance | SOC 2Self-Hostable (Full Data Privacy)Native AI Agent Nodes | GDPR / CCPA ReadyEnterprise SSO Options |
Interactive Team Seat & ROI Simulator
Adjust your team headcount to compare real monthly and annual licensing costs.
n8n: Full Workflow Executions (Not Steps!)
dots: Developer Seat / Credits
Estimated Annual Savings with n8n: $1,452/yr
Saves ~83% annually at this workload tier based on published USD rates.
Technical Capability Matrix
Side-by-side feature, API, and data-ownership checklist.
| Feature Specification | n8n | dots |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Click Full Data Export data-ownership | Supported Every workflow exports as portable JSON | Not Included |
| Built-In AI Automation ai | Supported Native AI agent nodes, vector stores & LLM chains | Not Included |
| Flat-Rate Small Business Pricing pricing | Supported Charges per full workflow run, not per step | Not Included Per-seat or usage-tiered pricing |
| Full API & Webhooks developer | Supported Unlimited webhooks, HTTP requests & custom code | Supported REST API & integrations |
| Native Dark Mode ui | Supported Native dark canvas | Not Included |
| Self-Hostable / Open Source infrastructure | Supported Run unlimited workflows on Docker for free | Not Included Cloud-only proprietary SaaS |
Official Published USD Pricing Tiers
Verified plan structure for n8n and dots.
n8n Plans USD Verified
Community Self-Hosted (Unlimited)
monthly
Cloud Starter (2,500 full executions)
monthly
dots Plans USD Verified
Pro / Team Seat
monthly
Business / Enterprise
monthly
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Frequently Asked Questions
Key pricing, quota, migration, and security answers for n8n vs dots.
What is the main difference between n8n and dots in 2026?
n8n ($0 Self-Host / $24/mo Cloud (2.5k runs), billed by full workflow executions (not steps!)) is best suited for: Founders & agencies running 50-step AI/webhook automations at 80–95% lower cost than Zapier. By contrast, dots (From $29/mo, billed by developer seat / credits) is best for: Enterprise ai coding platform for teams and organizations
How do n8n and dots compare on free tiers and USD pricing?
n8n: 100% Free self-hosted Community Edition (Docker) with unlimited workflow executions & steps. dots: Paid plans start at $29/mo (free trial available). Always compare based on your real workload metric (Full Workflow Executions (Not Steps!) vs Developer Seat / Credits) rather than headline base tier alone.
What proprietary feature limits or overages should founders watch out for?
On n8n: Fair-use Sustainable Use License (free for internal business ops; OEM embedding requires commercial license). On dots: Higher-tier SSO, custom audit logs, and volume overages gated on higher commercial plans.
How difficult is migrating from dots to n8n, and what compliance is supported?
Estimated migration effort to n8n is Moderate (2–4 hrs) (Docker Compose deploy or n8n Cloud + visual webhook/AI agent builder). Security & data governance signals for n8n include SOC 2, Self-Hostable (Full Data Privacy), Native AI Agent Nodes, while dots offers GDPR / CCPA Ready, Enterprise SSO Options.
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