---
title: "Self-host n8n on Edge | Workflow automation without per-execution bills"
description: "Run n8n on Edge — Node.js + Postgres on real VMs, queue mode for scale, S3-compatible storage for binary data. The Zapier alternative without per-execution bills."
url: https://edge.network/solutions/n8n/
---

# Self-host n8n on Edge | Workflow automation without per-execution bills

For n8n

# n8n on Edge, no per-execution bill

Self-host the workflow automation platform on a real VM with
S3-compatible storage and a global CDN. Run unlimited
executions, keep your credentials on your network.

[Start free](https://edge.network/account) [Pair with local AI](https://edge.network/solutions/ollama)

# docker-compose.yml — n8n + Postgres

services:

n8n:

image: n8nio/n8n:latest

environment:

DB_TYPE: postgresdb

N8N_HOST: n8n.example.com

N8N_PROTOCOL: https

N8N_BINARY_DATA_MODE: s3

N8N_AVAILABLE_BINARY_DATA_MODES: filesystem,s3

postgres: { image: postgres:16 }

# Front the editor with the CDN

$ edge cdn create n8n.example.com ...

## Why teams self-host n8n

Run automation at scale without a per-execution metre running.

### Hundreds of integrations

Connect to 400+ services out of the box. Custom HTTP, webhook triggers, AI nodes — n8n does what Zapier and Make do, on your infrastructure.

### Node.js + Postgres on a VM

A small VM runs the editor, scheduler and worker. Scale to queue mode (Redis + worker VMs) when execution volume grows.

### Binary data to S3

Configure n8n to push binary data (file attachments, exports, generated PDFs) to Edge Storage instead of local disk. Workflows stay portable.

### Credentials stay on your network

API keys for Stripe, OpenAI, Salesforce, Slack — they all live in your VM's encrypted credential store. Nothing transits a third-party cloud.

### Webhooks behind the CDN

Let inbound webhooks hit the Edge CDN, which forwards to your n8n VM. Caching is bypassed for webhook URLs but you get DDoS protection for free.

### No per-execution bills

n8n Cloud charges per workflow execution. Self-hosted on Edge is one fixed monthly bill — run a million executions if you like.

Reference architecture

## How n8n maps to Edge

Single VM for low-volume teams, queue mode (Redis + worker VMs) for high-volume — all over private networking.

Compute n8n (Node.js) + Postgres on a VM, optional Redis + workers for scale

Storage S3-compatible bucket for workflow binary data and backups

CDN Optional: webhook ingestion behind the CDN for DDoS protection

DNS Anycast DNS for `n8n.example.com`

# Queue mode for scale

EXECUTIONS_MODE=queue

QUEUE_BULL_REDIS_HOST=cache.private.edge.network

# Spin up worker VMs

$ edge compute create --plan small \

--count 3 --script ./n8n-worker.sh

✓ Main + 3 workers, scaling horizontally

## Common questions

### How does this compare to n8n Cloud / Zapier?

n8n Cloud is per-execution; Zapier is per-task. Self-hosted on Edge is flat-fee. The trade-off is one VM to maintain — but the credential security and unlimited execution count usually justify it for any serious automation use.

### How does it scale?

Single-VM "main mode" handles thousands of executions per day. For more, switch to queue mode: main process triggers, Redis queue, worker VMs execute. All Edge VMs over private networking.

### What about workflow backups?

Workflows live in Postgres. Nightly `pg_dump` to Edge Storage covers them, plus n8n's built-in version-control feature can sync them to a git repo.

### Can I use AI nodes?

Yes — n8n has first-class nodes for OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, etc. Pair with our Ollama or vLLM stack pages to keep the inference on Edge too.

By Stack

## Other stacks on Edge

[View all stacks →](https://edge.network/solutions/stacks)
[Vaultwarden Bitwarden-compatible password manager](https://edge.network/solutions/vaultwarden)[Ollama Run open LLMs on your own GPUs](https://edge.network/solutions/ollama)[vLLM Production-grade LLM serving](https://edge.network/solutions/vllm)[llama.cpp Quantised LLM inference, CPU or GPU](https://edge.network/solutions/llama-cpp)

## Run n8n on your terms

Start free. Move off Zapier or Make and unlimited the executions.

[Start free](https://edge.network/account) [Talk to an engineer](https://edge.network/contact)