Guides · Updated 2026-11-02

n8n for Shopify: setup, one-time cost and what it changes (vs monthly apps)

Most Shopify B2B stores end up paying a monthly app fee for every job they want automated: one app for wholesale applications, one for payment reminders, one for reorder reminders. n8n is a different model. You run your own automation tool, the workflows are yours, and you pay once to set each one up. This guide covers where n8n can run, what it costs in the first year and after, what the setup involves, and what it changes for your store.

Short answer: n8n runs on n8n Cloud (from about €24 a month) or on your own small server (about $5–$10 a month). Each workflow is a one-time cost: $29 for a template you install yourself, or $199 for us to set it up and test it on your store. After that there's no fee per workflow, per order or per reminder, and you can add more workflows to the same n8n without paying for another app.

What n8n is

n8n is an automation tool, like Zapier or Shopify Flow, but one you can host yourself. A workflow is a chain of steps: a wholesale order comes in → look up the company → email the team and post to Slack → log it in Google Sheets. It talks to Shopify through the same Admin API that apps use, so it can read companies, payment terms, metafields and order history, and act on them.

The difference from an app is ownership. An app runs on the developer's servers with the developer's rules and pricing. An n8n workflow runs on your n8n, does exactly what your store needs, and keeps working as long as you keep n8n running.

Where n8n runs

	n8n Cloud	Your own server (self-hosted)
Monthly cost	From about €24/month (Starter, 2,500 executions)	About $5–$10/month for a small VPS
Who keeps it running	n8n	You, or whoever set it up
Updates and backups	Done for you	Your job (can be automated)
Execution limits	Per plan	None
Good for	Stores that want zero server work	Stores with someone technical, or many workflows

n8n Cloud prices are set by n8n in euros and change from time to time; check n8n.io/pricing for the current plans. The Community Edition you self-host is free; you only pay for the server.

Executions matter on Cloud. Every run of a workflow counts. Our templates are built to keep that low: an order alert runs once per order, a daily report once a day, a reminder check once a day. A store with a few hundred orders a month stays well inside the Starter plan.

What it costs: one time vs every month

Here's a store that wants three things automated: wholesale applications, payment-terms reminders and reorder reminders.

	Three apps	n8n, set up for you
Setup	Usually free	$199 per workflow, once
Monthly	About $13–$49 per app (Oct 2026 listing prices), so $39–$147/month	Your n8n: about $5–$10 (server) or €24 (Cloud)
Year one	About $468–$1,764	About $657–$897 (3 × $199 plus $60–$300)
Year two onward	Same as year one	Only the $60–$300 for running n8n
Fourth workflow	Another app fee	One more setup, no new monthly fee

App prices are from their Shopify App Store listings in October 2026. Many have free plans with low limits (for example 10 applications a month), and prices change, so compare against the apps you'd actually use.

If you're comfortable importing a workflow and adding credentials yourself, each Pro template is $29 once with a step-by-step guide, and the Wholesale Automation Kit has all six Pro templates for $99.

What the setup involves

This is what we do for a done-for-you setup, and what our guides walk you through if you do it yourself:

Pick where n8n runs. Use your existing n8n, start an n8n Cloud trial, or put n8n on a small server.
Connect Shopify. Create a custom app in your Shopify admin with only the access the workflow needs (for example read orders and customers), and add it to n8n as a credential.
Connect email and the rest. Your SMTP or Gmail for sending, plus Slack or Google Sheets if the workflow uses them.
Import and configure the workflow. Every template has one settings step: your thresholds, tags, email addresses, which payment terms to remind about.
Test on a copy. Run it against test orders or a test company so you see every email before a customer does.
Turn on error alerts. An error workflow emails you if a run fails, so nothing breaks quietly.
Go live and hand over. Activate the workflow and walk through how to change the settings later.

A done-for-you setup usually takes a few days from getting access, most of it waiting on test runs.

What it brings to your store

No per-workflow fees. Once n8n is running, the fourth and fifth workflow cost a setup, not another subscription.
Your rules, not the app's. Remind only buyers on Net 30, skip orders tagged no-reminder, send invoices to the address stored on the B2B company. Apps give you their settings; n8n does what your process needs.
Everything in one place. Shopify, email, Slack, Google Sheets and your accounting tool in one workflow, instead of several apps that don't talk to each other.
You can see every run. n8n keeps a log of each execution, so "did that reminder go out?" takes seconds to answer.
Your data stays with you. Customer and order data passes through your n8n, not another vendor's servers (on self-hosted n8n).
No lock-in. A workflow is a file you can export, back up, move to another n8n or hand to another developer.

The trade-offs

n8n isn't the right answer for everyone:

Someone has to own it. An app vendor watches their servers; with self-hosted n8n that's you or whoever you hire. n8n Cloud removes most of this.
Shopify changes its API. Workflows occasionally need small updates when Shopify retires an API version. Apps handle this for you.
Webhooks can be missed. If n8n is down when an order comes in, that run doesn't happen. Our free Missed Orders Check and Webhook Health Check catch this.
One simple job may not be worth it. If a single free app already does what you need, keep it.

If you want the ownership without the upkeep, we offer monitoring for $19 a month per store on your own n8n: we watch for failed runs and fix them.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be technical to use n8n? Not to use the workflows: once they're set up you change settings in one place and read emails. Setting n8n up the first time is the technical part, which is what the setup service is for.

Is self-hosted n8n really free? The n8n Community Edition is free to self-host under n8n's fair-code license, including for running your own business's automations. You pay for the server it runs on.

Will it work on n8n Cloud? Yes. All our templates work on both n8n Cloud and the self-hosted Community Edition, and don't use paid-only features.

What happens if I stop paying for n8n Cloud? Your workflows stop running. Export them first; they import into a self-hosted n8n unchanged.

Can I start with one workflow? Yes. Most stores start with the one that costs them the most time (often wholesale applications or payment reminders) and add more once n8n is in place.

Skip the setup

Want it set up for you? We install and test each workflow on your store for $199 once. See the setup service or watch a recorded run first. Or have it installed and adapted for your store.

See the template Get it set up for you