How long n8n stores execution history per plan (Starter to Enterprise), important for debugging and record-keeping obligations in accounting workflows.
n8n stores the history of past workflow executions for different lengths of time depending on the pricing plan. According to the official pricing page n8n.io/pricing it is 7 days on the Starter plan, 30 days on the Pro plan, and unlimited on the Enterprise plan. For a self-hosted Community Edition, the software sets 14 days by default, which you can freely adjust via an environment variable of your installation. These periods determine how long you can still view failed or successful executions afterward and use them for debugging or record-keeping purposes. As of: July 2026.
The following list summarizes what n8n currently states for the individual plans. Important: besides the plain day limit, some plans also cap the number of stored executions and the storage space used, whichever limit is reached first.
The longer the execution history reaches back, the better errors can be reconstructed afterward. If a workflow runs only once a week and then fails, the 7 days of retention on the Starter plan is often not enough to still view the exact input and output data of each individual node. Especially with sporadic errors, for example caused by an unstable external API or unexpected data formats, looking at the exact values of a past execution is often the only way to find the cause. For workflows with an irregular rhythm, it is therefore worth looking at the combination of the day limit and the additional limits on quantity and storage space, since a very active workflow can reach the quantity limit before the day limit and lose older runs.
For workflows related to accounting, such as automated invoice verification, DATEV exports, or payment reconciliation, a long execution history may at first seem like a convenient proof that a process ran correctly. Honesty matters here: n8n's execution history is a debugging tool, not a legally vetted archive. Statutory retention obligations for accounting records in Germany require significantly longer periods than even the Enterprise plan technically provides with "unlimited", and the requirements for a GoBD-compliant, immutable storage are not automatically met by a workflow history in the editor. Anyone using n8n for accounting-relevant processes should additionally write receipts and result data to their own audit-proof storage system instead of relying solely on the retention period included in the plan. NordFlux helps with choosing the right plan and setting up such an additional, audit-proof storage as part of its n8n consulting.
7 days, additionally limited to a maximum of 2,500 stored executions and 2.5 GB of storage space. As soon as one of these limits is reached, n8n removes the oldest entries first.
Yes. On the Community Edition, you determine the period via the environment variable EXECUTIONS_DATA_MAX_AGE of your own installation; the default value is 336 hours, i.e. 14 days, according to the n8n documentation.
No. Execution logs are meant for debugging, not for GoBD-compliant archiving. For accounting-relevant records, you should additionally store receipts and result data in your own permanently maintained system.
n8n automatically removes the oldest entries as soon as one of the limits, i.e. day limit, quantity, or storage space, is reached. Running and future workflows are not stopped as a result, only the viewable history becomes shorter.
Founder of NordFlux. Spent four years automating processes at enterprise scale at Dräger, and now brings that depth to the mid-market — pragmatic and with full data sovereignty.
Certifications
The Community edition is free and unlimited, Business costs 667 EUR/month. What the plans really differ in and when an SME needs Enterprise.
Workflow History shows only 24 hours without an Enterprise plan. Here is how you can permanently back up n8n workflows yourself via JSON export and Git.
Why n8n doesn't run parallel branches at the same time and what the Merge node actually waits for, explained according to the official documentation.
Between 7 days on the Starter plan and unlimited retention with self-hosting lies a significant gap, especially once compliance requirements or complex troubleshooting come into play. NordFlux reviews with you which plan or self-hosting setup fits your compliance and debugging needs.
