We self-host n8n and want to confirm execution counting for sub-workflows.
When a parent workflow calls sub-workflows via Execute Workflow, is usage counted as parent only, or parent + each sub-workflow (including retries)?
Hey @rgrzesk, while you wait for a response, here are some things that might help:
Suggested resources
Automatically matched to your question.
Docs:
Forum:
@hideto, @sergeys, @Gallo_AIA - you’ve helped with similar issues before, can you take a look?
Automatically suggested by n8n’s community bot. It’s a pilot - please share feedback here.
Hi @rgrzesk
Only parent workflow is counted as part of usage quota
Sub-workflows do not incur additional count.
Does this answer your question?
Hi @rgrzesk
Retries split into two cases. Node-level Retry On Fail replays inside the same run, so it adds nothing to the count. A retry started from the executions list is written as its own execution row, with mode retry and retryOf pointing back at the original, and retries aren’t on the list of runs excluded from the quota, so budget for each one as a production execution.
If you’re deriving the numbers yourself, filter on mode rather than on manual alone. Sub-workflow runs land as integrated and error-workflow runs as error, and both are excluded, which is exactly where a mode != 'manual' count drifts above what the licence counts.
On the billing side, the figure n8n works from is the one your instances report in the daily licence-server ping, and a single key applied to several instances pools all of their production executions into the same quota.