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Self-Hosting n8n on AWS: A Comprehensive Guide

Self-Hosting n8n on AWS: A Comprehensive Guide

Daisuke Masuda's photo
Daisuke Masuda
Oct 28, 2025·

7 min read

Table of contents

n8n is an open‑source workflow automation platform that lets you build complex automations by connecting APIs, databases and services through a visual, node‑based editor (Setting up n8n for free using AWS). It runs on Node.js and TypeScript, uses a fair‑code license and supports both a managed cloud service and self‑hosting (Setting up n8n for free using AWS). Self‑hosting gives engineers full control over data, security and customisation and often reduces operating costs compared with SaaS subscriptions. This guide uses a set of slides on hosting n8n on AWS as a starting point and expands it with deeper explanations, examples and references.

https://speakerdeck.com/x5gtrn/n8n-self-hosting-on-aws

Why self‑host on AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a flexible platform for deploying self‑hosted applications. According to the official n8n hosting guide, AWS offers several options for running n8n, including EC2 (virtual machines) and EKS (Kubernetes) (Hosting n8n on Amazon Web Services). EKS adds complexity but provides the best path to horizontal scalability (Hosting n8n on Amazon Web Services).

However, the documentation also warns that self‑hosting requires knowledge of servers, containers, scaling and security; mistakes can lead to data loss or downtime (n8n Hosting Documentation and Guides).
Before choosing AWS, evaluate whether the flexibility of self‑hosting outweighs the simplicity of n8n’s cloud offering for your use case.

Benefits of self‑hosting

  • Data control: All workflows and credentials remain within your AWS account.

  • Customisation: You can run custom nodes, integrate on‑prem systems and adjust environment variables not available in the cloud edition.

  • Cost optimisation: For low‑volume use cases the free tier of AWS EC2 may be cheaper than subscription fees.

  • Scalability: With EKS or autoscaling EC2 groups you can scale workers based on the load.

Considerations and prerequisites

  • Experience with Linux server administration, Docker and networking.

  • An AWS account with permissions to launch instances or create clusters.

  • A domain name and SSL certificates if you plan to expose your instance publicly.

  • Understanding of n8n’s environment variables (e.g., N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER, N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD, DB_TYPE, DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST etc.) for secure configuration.

Deployment options on AWS

1. EC2 + Docker Compose

This is the simplest approach and works well for small to medium workloads. You launch a virtual machine, install Docker & Docker Compose, then run n8n in a container.

Steps:

  1. Launch an EC2 instance – choose an Ubuntu LTS AMI (t3.micro qualifies for the free tier). Open ports 22 (SSH) and 5678 (n8n) in the security group. Assign an Elastic IP if you need a stable address.

  2. SSH into the instance and install Docker and Docker Compose:

     sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose  
 sudo systemctl enable --now docker

  3. Create a working directory and a docker-compose.yml file. Here is an example using SQLite (for production use, switch to Postgres):

     version: '3.7'  
 services:  
   n8n:  
     image: n8nio/n8n:latest  
     ports:  
       - '5678:5678'  
     environment:  
       - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true  
       - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=<yourUser>  
       - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=<yourPassword>  
       - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=Asia/Tokyo  
     volumes:  
       - ./n8n-data:/home/node/.n8n

    Replace <yourUser> and <yourPassword> with strong credentials. The volumes entry stores workflows persistently on the host.

  4. Start n8n: run docker-compose up -d to launch the service. Use docker-compose logs -f n8n to view logs.

  5. Access the web UI: navigate to http://<ElasticIP>:5678 in your browser. The first run will prompt you to create an owner account.

  6. Configure HTTPS (recommended): use a reverse proxy such as Caddy or Nginx with Let’s Encrypt certificates. The Medium article that provides an AWS CloudFormation template uses Caddy to serve n8n behind a custom domain (Self-hosting the workflow automation tool n8n on AWS EC2).

Pros: straightforward to set up; easy to understand; works on the free tier.
Cons: single point of failure; manual scaling; you manage OS updates yourself.

2. EKS (Kubernetes)

For production workloads or teams that need high availability and autoscaling, running n8n on Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is recommended. The official hosting guide shows how to deploy n8n with Postgres on Kubernetes (Hosting n8n on Amazon Web Services).

Architecture overview:

  • PostgreSQL database: run a managed RDS instance or a stateful set in the cluster.

  • n8n pods: container images running n8n; you can configure horizontal pod autoscaling based on CPU or queue depth.

  • Reverse proxy & ingress controller: Nginx Ingress or AWS ALB Ingress to terminate TLS and route traffic.

  • Queue mode (optional): for scale‑out execution, n8n supports queue mode with separate webhook and worker processes using a message broker like Redis (Setting up n8n for free using AWS).

High‑level steps:

  1. Create an EKS cluster via the AWS console or eksctl. Configure node groups or Fargate profiles.

  2. Provision a PostgreSQL database (Amazon RDS or Aurora) and ensure the security group allows inbound connections from the cluster.

  3. Deploy n8n using a Helm chart or custom manifests. Set environment variables for database connection (e.g., DB_TYPE=postgresdb, DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST, DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT, DB_POSTGRESDB_USER, DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD and N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY).

  4. Install an ingress controller and configure a TLS certificate via AWS Certificate Manager.

  5. Optionally, enable queue mode and autoscaling.

Pros: resilient, scalable and cloud‑native; integrates with other AWS services; can roll out updates with zero downtime.
Cons: more complex to set up; incurs EKS control plane costs; requires Kubernetes expertise.

Securing your n8n instance

Self‑hosting brings responsibility for security. Here are key practices:

  • Enable basic authentication by setting N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true and specifying a strong user/password to prevent unauthorised access.

  • Use HTTPS via a reverse proxy with TLS certificates; never expose the admin interface on plain HTTP over the public internet.

  • Rotate credentials and encryption keys regularly. Use AWS Secrets Manager or Parameter Store to manage secrets.

  • Limit network exposure: restrict inbound firewall rules to only required ports and IP addresses; use private subnets or VPN if necessary.

  • Keep dependencies up to date: regularly update Docker images (n8nio/n8n:latest) and underlying OS packages to patch vulnerabilities.

  • Monitor and log: integrate with CloudWatch or Prometheus to monitor resource usage and workflow metrics; configure alerts for failures.

Example workflow: server downtime notification

To illustrate the power of n8n, consider a simple workflow that monitors a web server and notifies you on Slack or email if it goes down. This example is inspired by a DigitalOcean tutorial that demonstrates starting n8n and creating your first workflow (How to Set Up n8n: A Step-by-Step Guide for Self-Hosted …).

  1. HTTP Request node – configure it to send a GET request to your server’s health endpoint every minute. Set Continue On Fail to false so that failures propagate.

  2. If node – branch based on the status code returned by the HTTP Request node. If the status is not 200, trigger an alert.

  3. Slack node (or Email node) – send a message to a channel or email address informing you that the server is down. You can include the timestamp, error details and a link to the server logs.

  4. Delay node (optional) – wait for a defined period before rechecking to avoid spamming.

This simple workflow exemplifies how n8n can orchestrate checks and notifications without writing custom code.

Tips for running n8n at scale

  • Use Postgres instead of SQLite for any production workload. Postgres supports concurrent connections and can be scaled separately.

  • Enable queue mode with Redis or BullMQ when running multiple worker replicas. This distributes jobs across workers and prevents race conditions.

  • Leverage AWS services such as S3 (for file storage), SES (for sending emails) and SNS (for notifications) to extend your workflows.

  • Backup regularly: schedule snapshots of your database and volume data.

  • Test updates in staging: n8n releases new versions frequently; use a staging environment to test before upgrading production.

Conclusion

Self‑hosting n8n on AWS gives engineers a powerful automation platform with full control over infrastructure and data. AWS offers flexible deployment models—from lightweight EC2 instances to robust EKS clusters—allowing you to start small and scale as your needs grow (Hosting n8n on Amazon Web Services). Remember that self‑hosting demands expertise in server management and security; if you prefer a hands‑off experience, n8n’s managed cloud might be a better fit (n8n Hosting Documentation and Guides). For those willing to take the reins, this guide provides the foundation to deploy n8n on AWS with confidence, customise it to your workflow, and harness the full potential of open‑source automation.

References: Official n8n hosting documentation (Hosting n8n on Amazon Web Services, n8n Hosting Documentation and Guides), n8n technology overview (Setting up n8n for free using AWS), DigitalOcean step‑by‑step guide (How to Set Up n8n: A Step-by-Step Guide for Self-Hosted …), Medium AWS template article (Self-hosting the workflow automation tool n8n on AWS EC2).

n8nAWSSelfHostingWorkflow AutomationOpen Source