June 21, 2026

Self-Hosting n8n on a Cheap VPS: The Setup I Actually Use

Most “how to self-host n8n” guides stop at docker run and call it done. That’s fine until you need HTTPS, a stable domain, and the thing to survive a server reboot. This is what I landed on after a weekend of trial and error getting it to actually stick.

What you need

  • A VPS (a $5-6/mo box is plenty to start - n8n is light unless you’re running heavy workflows)
  • A domain or subdomain pointed at the VPS’s IP
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed

The docker-compose setup

version: "3.7"
services:
  n8n:
    image: docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=automate.yourdomain.com
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://automate.yourdomain.com/
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n

volumes:
  n8n_data:

Note the port binding to 127.0.0.1 only - n8n isn’t exposed directly to the internet. A reverse proxy handles that, which is also where SSL comes from.

Reverse proxy + SSL

Caddy is the least fuss option here - it gets you free, auto-renewing SSL with a 3-line config:

automate.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:5678
}

That’s genuinely the whole config. Caddy handles the certificate from Let’s Encrypt automatically on first request.

The part most guides skip: backups

Your workflows and credentials live in that n8n_data volume. If you lose it, you lose everything. A simple daily cron job covers this:

docker run --rm -v n8n_data:/data -v /backups:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/n8n-$(date +%F).tar.gz /data

Drop the resulting .tar.gz files somewhere off the box - even a free-tier object storage bucket is enough for personal use.

What I’d do differently starting today

If I were setting this up fresh, I’d add a WEBHOOK_TUNNEL_URL only during local dev (not production), and split webhook-heavy workflows onto their own n8n instance once volume picks up - but for a first self-hosted setup, the above is genuinely enough to run reliably for months without touching it.