Setup Guide · Infrastructure · Automation
Self-Host n8n on
Hostinger VPS
n8n Hostinger VPS: run unlimited automations with no per-task fees — n8n self-hosted on a €5/mo VPS. The open-source alternative to Zapier and Make, with full SSL, webhooks, and persistent workflows.
€5/mo
VPS cost — unlimited workflows
~30min
Full setup time
400+
Native integrations
n8n vs Zapier vs Make
Why self-hosting saves you €100+/month
Zapier and Make charge per task execution. At any meaningful automation volume, the fees compound fast. n8n self-hosted has a one-time infrastructure cost of €5–8/mo — and runs unlimited automations. The math is obvious.
n8n (self-hosted)
€5–8/mo
Unlimited workflows, executions, and users. VPS cost only.
Make (Integromat)
€9–29/mo
10k–150k ops/mo. Overage fees after that.
Zapier
€19–69/mo
750–2000 tasks/mo on paid plans. Expensive at scale.
Step-by-Step Setup
n8n Hostinger VPS running in 30 minutes
1
Get a Hostinger VPS (KVM 1 is enough)
n8n needs minimum 1 GB RAM, but 2 GB is recommended for stability with multiple workflows. Hostinger's KVM 1 plan (€3–5/mo) works perfectly. Choose an EU data centre — Lithuania or Netherlands — for GDPR compliance.
Get Hostinger VPS →💡 Select Ubuntu 22.04 LTS as your OS during setup. Most n8n guides and community support assume Ubuntu — it avoids unnecessary troubleshooting.
2
SSH in and install Docker
Connect to your VPS via SSH and install Docker. We'll run n8n as a Docker container — the most reliable and update-friendly method.
# Connect to your VPS
$ ssh root@your-server-ip# Update system packages
$ apt update && apt upgrade -y# Install Docker
$ curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh# Verify Docker is running
$ docker --version
Docker version 25.x.x, build xxxxxxx3
Run n8n with Docker (with persistent data)
Run n8n with a Docker volume so your workflows survive container restarts and updates. Set a basic auth password to protect your instance from the public internet.
# Create a data directory for persistent storage
$ mkdir -p /opt/n8n-data# Run n8n with persistence + basic auth
$ docker run -d \
--name n8n \
--restart unless-stopped \
-p 5678:5678 \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=your-strong-password \
-e WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.yourdomain.com/ \
-v /opt/n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n \
n8nio/n8n# Check it's running
$ docker ps | grep n8n⚠️ Replace
your-strong-password with a real password. Never run n8n without auth on a public IP — it exposes your automation logic and credentials.4
Point a domain and set up SSL with Nginx + Certbot
For webhooks to work (required for most integrations), you need HTTPS. Add an A record pointing your domain to your VPS IP, then install Nginx as a reverse proxy and Certbot for a free SSL certificate.
# Install Nginx and Certbot
$ apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y# Create Nginx config for n8n
$ nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n# Paste this config (replace n8n.yourdomain.com):
server {
listen 80;
server_name n8n.yourdomain.com;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:5678;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
}
}# Enable config and get SSL cert
$ ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/n8n /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
$ nginx -t && systemctl reload nginx
$ certbot --nginx -d n8n.yourdomain.com
✓ SSL certificate successfully installed✅ n8n is now accessible at https://n8n.yourdomain.com with a valid SSL certificate. Webhooks from Shopify, GitHub, Stripe, and others will work without issue.
5
Build your first workflow
Open your n8n instance in the browser. Log in with your basic auth credentials. Click "New Workflow". The canvas-based editor lets you drag-and-drop nodes and connect them with lines — start with a simple trigger → action workflow.
# This workflow runs every time a Shopify order is placed1. Shopify Trigger ← listens for "order.created" event
↓
2. Set node ← extract: order ID, customer, total
↓
3. Slack node ← post to #orders channel
Message: "New order #{{order_id}} — {{customer}} — €{{total}}"# Takes about 3 minutes to build
# Runs automatically 24/7 while your VPS is on💡 n8n has 400+ pre-built integration nodes. Search the node panel on the right side. Most popular: Shopify, WooCommerce, Gmail, Slack, HubSpot, Airtable, Google Sheets, Stripe, and HTTP Request (for any API).
6
Set up auto-updates with a cron job
n8n releases updates frequently. Set up a weekly auto-update so you always have the latest security patches and features without manual intervention.
# Create update script
$ nano /opt/update-n8n.sh# Paste:
#!/bin/bash
docker pull n8nio/n8n
docker stop n8n && docker rm n8n
docker run -d \
--name n8n --restart unless-stopped \
-p 5678:5678 \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin \
-e N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=your-password \
-e WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.yourdomain.com/ \
-v /opt/n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n \
n8nio/n8n$ chmod +x /opt/update-n8n.sh# Schedule weekly update (Sunday 3am)
$ crontab -e
0 3 * * 0 /opt/update-n8n.sh >> /var/log/n8n-update.log 2>&1✅ n8n is fully set up, SSL-secured, and auto-updating. You now have unlimited automation capacity for the cost of a VPS.
Workflow ideas to get started
What to automate first
🛒
Shopify Order → Slack + Google Sheets
Log every order to a spreadsheet and notify your team in Slack in real-time. 3 nodes, 5 minutes to build.
📧
New lead in HubSpot → Slack alert + task created
Instant notification when a new lead comes in. Auto-creates a follow-up task so nothing falls through.
📊
Daily revenue report → Email or WhatsApp
Pull data from Shopify, format it, and send yourself a daily summary every morning at 8am.
🔄
WooCommerce low stock → reorder alert
Monitor inventory levels. Alert when stock drops below threshold — optionally trigger a supplier email.
🤖
AI-powered content pipeline
Trigger from Google Sheets → Claude API generates blog post → published to WordPress via REST API. Fully automated.
💳
Stripe payment → invoice + CRM update
Every Stripe payment auto-generates an invoice PDF and updates the deal in HubSpot as Won.
FAQ
n8n on a VPS — common questions
What are the minimum VPS requirements to run n8n?▾
n8n runs on 1 vCPU and 1 GB RAM, but 2 GB RAM is the realistic minimum for stable production use with multiple active workflows. Disk space is a non-issue — n8n itself uses under 1 GB, so 20 GB covers workflow data and logs comfortably. Hostinger's entry KVM plan meets these requirements; see our Hostinger review for the full breakdown.
How do I update n8n on a Hostinger VPS?▾
With the Docker setup from this guide: pull the latest image, remove the old container, and start a new one with the same volume. Your workflows survive every update because they live in /opt/n8n-data on the VPS, not inside the container. Step 6 above automates exactly this with a weekly cron job — most people never update manually again.
How much does it cost to self-host n8n on Hostinger?▾
€3–8 per month total. The n8n software is free with no execution limits — the only recurring cost is the VPS itself. For comparison, 2,000 tasks per month on Zapier costs around €69/mo. At any real automation volume, self-hosting pays for itself in the first month.
Which Hostinger data centre should I choose for n8n?▾
If you or your customers are in Europe, pick an EU data centre — Lithuania or the Netherlands. That keeps your automation data inside the EU for GDPR compliance and keeps webhook latency low for European services. US and Asian locations exist too if your stack lives there.
Can I install n8n without Docker?▾
Yes. You can install n8n via npm on Node.js, and Hostinger also offers a VPS template with n8n pre-installed — zero terminal work at the same VPS price. Docker remains our recommendation because updates, restarts, and migrating to a bigger server are one command each.
Is self-hosted n8n really unlimited?▾
Yes — no task counts, no per-execution fees, no user limits. The practical constraint is your VPS resources: hundreds of executions per day run fine on 2 GB RAM. If you outgrow it, resizing a Hostinger VPS to a bigger plan takes minutes and your Docker volume moves with you.
Stop paying per task.
Own your automation.
VPS from €5/mo. n8n is free and open-source.