Self-Hosted N8N: Complete Production Setup Guide (2026)
N8N Cloud starts at $20+/month for basic usage. A self-hosted instance on a $6-12 VPS gives you unlimited executions, full data ownership, and no surprise bills. This guide walks you from a blank VPS to a production-ready N8N instance with HTTPS, PostgreSQL, automated backups, and monitoring. What you will have after this guide: Production N8N with PostgreSQL, Traefik, and automatic HTTPS Automated daily backups with rotation and off-site storage Monitoring and alerts via Telegram or Slack A 15-point production readiness checklist Who this is NOT for: if you have fewer than 50 workflows and no technical person on the team, N8N Cloud is the right call.