Self-Host n8n on a VPS for Under $10/Month

What you get

A production-ready n8n instance with HTTPS, a real database and automatic restarts, on a small virtual private server (VPS). Software cost: $0. Server cost: typically $5–10 per month.

Cost breakdown

Item	Typical monthly cost	Notes
VPS (1–2 vCPU, 2–4 GB RAM)	$5–10	1 GB works for light use; 2 GB+ is more comfortable
Domain name	~$1 (about $10–15/year)	Optional, but needed for clean HTTPS webhooks
Backups / snapshots	$1–2	Most providers charge ~20% of the server price
n8n Community Edition	$0	Unlimited workflows and executions
Total	About $7–13

VPS prices move a lot in 2026. DigitalOcean's 1 GB droplet is $6/month; Hetzner's cheapest cost-optimised plans have been intermittently unavailable this year. Compare current prices before you choose a provider.

Compare that with n8n Cloud Starter at €20/month for 2,500 executions. If you run more than a few thousand executions a month, self-hosting pays for itself immediately.

What you need

• A VPS running Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04.
• A domain or subdomain, for example n8n.yourcompany.com, pointed at the server's IP with an A record.
• Basic comfort with SSH and the command line.

Step 1: Secure the server

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
apt update && apt upgrade -y
adduser n8nadmin && usermod -aG sudo n8nadmin
ufw allow OpenSSH && ufw allow 80 && ufw allow 443 && ufw enable

Use SSH keys and disable password login once you have confirmed key access works.

Step 2: Install Docker

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
usermod -aG docker n8nadmin

Log out and back in as n8nadmin.

Step 3: Create the Docker Compose file

Create a folder and a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  caddy:
    image: caddy:2
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
      - caddy_data:/data

  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: n8n
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: change-this-password
      POSTGRES_DB: n8n
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      DB_TYPE: postgresdb
      DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: postgres
      DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: n8n
      DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: change-this-password
      N8N_HOST: n8n.yourcompany.com
      N8N_PROTOCOL: https
      WEBHOOK_URL: https://n8n.yourcompany.com/
      GENERIC_TIMEZONE: Europe/Budapest
      N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY: generate-a-long-random-string
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n
    depends_on:
      - postgres

volumes:
  caddy_data:
  db_data:
  n8n_data:

And a Caddyfile next to it:

n8n.yourcompany.com {
    reverse_proxy n8n:5678
}

Caddy gets and renews a free HTTPS certificate automatically.

Step 4: Start it

docker compose up -d

Open https://n8n.yourcompany.com and create the owner account.

Step 5: Back up properly

• Save N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY somewhere safe. Without it, your stored credentials cannot be decrypted.
• Enable the provider's weekly snapshots.
• Dump the database regularly: docker compose exec postgres pg_dump -U n8n n8n > backup.sql.
• Export workflows as JSON or connect Git (paid feature) for version history.

Step 6: Update safely

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Take a snapshot before major version upgrades and read the release notes.

How big a server do you need?

Workload	Suggested size
A few workflows, light schedules	1 vCPU, 1–2 GB RAM
Dozens of workflows, webhooks, moderate volume	2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM
Heavy volume or large files and AI workflows	4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, consider queue mode with Redis

Next steps

• Connect credentials in n8n
• n8n Cloud vs self-hosted