Local and Cloud: two ways to run a workflow
Every workflow in AI Workflow Automation runs in one of two modes. You choose the mode per workflow, and you can mix both on the same site.
- Local runs the workflow on your own WordPress server. AI calls go straight from your site to the provider you configured, using your own API key. This is free, needs no account, and nothing is sent to our platform.
- Cloud runs the workflow on our hosted engine using our keys. You connect a free account, and each action is metered in credits. There are no PHP timeouts, scheduling happens server-side, and you never manage a key.
You set the mode with the Local / Cloud switch on the workflow. If you have not connected an account, Cloud is unavailable and the switch tells you so.
Everything on this page about steps running on your site during a Cloud run applies from plugin version 2.0.9. On 2.0.8 and earlier, any step in the list below kept the whole workflow on Local.
When to run Local
Local is the default and the free path. Choose it when:
- You have your own AI provider key and want to run unlimited workflows at no cost to us.
- You want your data and your key to stay entirely on your own server.
- Your workflow finishes well within your host’s PHP execution limit.
In Local mode, your provider key never leaves WordPress. For how keys are stored and used, see BYOK keys vs keyless credits.
When to run Cloud
Cloud is useful when running on your own server is awkward. Choose it when:
- You would rather not manage a provider key at all (keyless AI).
- A workflow is long-running and risks hitting your host’s PHP timeout.
- You want reliable server-side scheduling that does not depend on WordPress cron.
- You are running many workflows across several sites and want central billing.
Cloud runs cost credits. A run is charged a small base credit plus the cost of each step that runs in the cloud. A step that runs on your site costs nothing. See Cost and usage tracking for the numbers.
Steps that run on your site during a Cloud run
From plugin version 2.0.9, a Cloud workflow no longer has to be all cloud. A step that needs your WordPress site runs on your site as part of the same Cloud run, automatically, without switching the whole workflow to Local, and it costs no extra credits:
- Chatbot. Chat widgets always run on your site. You still choose the chatbot’s AI source (your credits or your own key) in the node’s Model tab.
- Send Email. Email always goes out through your own site, using whatever mail setup your site already has. Your sending domain, your From address, your deliverability. A delayed send is scheduled by your site in the same way.
- Create File, Generate PDF and Document Parser. Generate PDF is rendered by our service and the rendered file is saved to your media library.
- Output set to HTML/shortcode, file, Google Sheets or Google Drive. Display and Webhook outputs run in the cloud, and an output that saves to a table, a shortcode or a post runs on your site as part of the same Cloud run.
- A Knowledge Base on the AI Model node, a Firecrawl node set to map, search or agent, a human task assigned to a WordPress user or role, and a Post node that sets the author, categories, a featured image, product images, custom fields or a future publish date.
- Unsplash Image usually runs in the cloud. It runs on your site only when no shared Unsplash access is configured.
The Loop node runs in the cloud, including a loop set to a fixed count and a loop that repeats while a condition holds.
Before you submit a Cloud run, the builder shows which steps will run in the cloud and which will run on your site, names the reason for each step that runs on your site, and estimates the credits. It warns you outright only for the few things a Cloud run genuinely cannot do: a workflow triggered by a live chat visitor, a site the cloud cannot reach, and a node with a required field left empty.
If every step in a workflow would run on your site, the builder says so and points at Local mode, which would do the same for free.
Cloud needs to reach your site for the steps that need it
When a Cloud run reaches a step that only your site can do, for example creating a post or parsing a document from your media library, our engine calls your site back over a signed, replay-protected request and continues the run with what your site returns. If your site is behind a firewall, on localhost, or otherwise not reachable from the public internet, the builder tells you before you submit the run, and that workflow needs Local mode instead.