Automating the Future with n8n: My Self-Hosted Setup at Buildloop.ai

At Buildloop.ai, I’m experimenting with building 12 AI products in 12 months—solo, fast, and as lean as possible. That means I can’t afford to manually repeat things like posting updates, processing events, or analysing feedback. So I built an automation engine using n8n—but not the cloud version.

I self-hosted n8n on an EC2 instance, and it’s been one of the most practical decisions in this journey. Here’s why I chose to roll my own setup, what I’m automating, and how it helps me stay focused on building.

🔧 What is n8n (and Why I Use It)?

n8n (“node to node”) is an open-source automation platform like Zapier or Make.com—but with dev-first flexibility. You can:

  • Connect APIs
  • Process incoming webhooks
  • Schedule workflows
  • Call GPT or Claude
  • Interact directly with databases or queues

It gives me the kind of programmable automation I need to stitch together AI agents, internal tools, and platform workflows.

🚀 Why I Chose Self-Hosting Over n8n Cloud

1. Cost at Scale

Zapier and n8n Cloud both get expensive fast. I’m running 10+ active workflows that would blow past most SaaS limits.

Self-hosted on EC2 costs me less than ₹1,200/month and gives me full control.

2. Custom Credentials + Native Code

I needed:

  • Google + Linkedin + OpenAI + Postgres integration
  • JWT token headers
  • Signature verification for Nudges Webhooks
  • Custom function nodes

Only possible if I self-host.

3. Privacy + Control

Some workflows deal with user data (habit logs, feedback). I prefer to keep that on my own infra rather than depend on a third-party cloud.

4. No Platform Limits

n8n Cloud is great—but doesn’t let me:

  • Mount volumes
  • Run local scripts
  • Use a custom DB

Self-hosting unlocked all of that.

⚙️ How I Deployed n8n on EC2

  • Instance: t3.micro (2vCPU, 1GB RAM)
  • Deployed via docker-compose
  • Custom domain: n8n.buildloop.ai/agents/
  • Nginx reverse proxy + Let’s Encrypt SSL
  • PostgreSQL used as external DB (shared across my apps)

It’s simple, reliable, and easy to maintain.

🔄 Real Workflows I’ve Built with n8n

1. Daily AI News Scrapper

  • Cron → Google News RSS → Pick latest story
  • Summarize with GPT
  • Send to my personal Slack as an Alert to take a look for me. (Saves my browsing time)

2. Sharing my Linkedin POST

  • Run at random time (cron + random wait)
  • Pick the post from google sheets
  • Validate the Linkedin Credential and Post

3. User Feedback Analyzer

  • Form submission → Summarize with GPT
  • Add to Slack digest

💡 Why This Works for Me

As I am working full-time at Applied Materials as a Technical Lead. Buildloop is my self-learning playground. I can’t afford to waste time on repetitive tasks.

Self-hosted n8n gives me the freedom to:

  • Automate everything I repeat
  • Experiment fast without platform limits
  • Save money and run ops on my terms

It feels like having a personal engineer quietly executing routines in the background.

🤔 Thinking of Trying It?

If you’re building solo or on a tight budget—and you’re comfortable with basic infra—self-hosting n8n is worth it. If you’re non-technical, start with n8n Cloud, then move to EC2 later.

Want the same setup? I’m happy to share config files, workflows, and lessons from breaking it 5 times. 😅

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