Self-host n8n on a VPS with Docker

n8n is the kind of tool you start using lightly and then quietly route half your operations through. At which point "it's running on someone's cloud seat, metered per execution, with my API keys living on their servers" starts to feel less great. Self-hosting fixes all three — flat cost, no execution cap, and your keys stay on a box you own. With Docker it's a fifteen-minute job. How much server it actually needs Honest numbers first, so you don't over- or under-buy: ~2 GB RAM is the sweet spot — n8n plus its Postgres database plus normal workflows sit comfortably here. 1 GB works if your workflows are light, but you'll notice it on bigger runs. 4 GB if you do heavy parallel executions or push large payloads through. n8n isn't CPU-hungry at rest; it spikes during runs. A 2-core box is fine for most setups. (More on matching specs to workload in the sizing guide .) The Docker setup On a fresh Ubuntu/Debian box, install Docker: curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh Make a folder and a docker-compose.yml — n8n with a persistent volume and Postgres: services : n8n : image : docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n restart : always ports : - " 127.0.0.1:5678:5678" environment : - N8N_HOST=n8n.yourdomain.com - N8N_PROTOCOL=https - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.yourdomain.com/ - DB_TYPE=postgresdb - DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST=db - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=change-me volumes : - ./n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n depends_on : [ db ] db : image : postgres:16 restart : always environment : - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=change-me - POSTGRES_DB=n8n volumes : - ./db-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data sudo docker compose up -d Two things worth pointing out: the volumes ( n8n-data , db-data ) are what keep your workflows alive across restarts and upgrades — don't skip them. And n8n is bound to 127.0.0.1 , not 0.0.0.0 — it's not exposed to the internet directly. That's deliberate; the next step handles access safely. Access: HTTPS or a tunnel Public URL (needed for OAuth nodes and webhooks): point a subdomain at the server and run