We use n8n every single day. Not for demos. Not for toy workflows.
For real client automations that break if something goes wrong.
Over the last year, our agency built and maintained hundreds of n8n workflows across SEO, lead generation, customer support, data sync, and AI pipelines. Like most people, we started with the excitement of self-hosting and quickly learned that running n8n in production is less about workflows and more about infrastructure discipline.
This is a short, honest guide on what actually worked for us.
We initially ran n8n the classic way:
- VPS
- Docker
- PostgreSQL
- Nginx
- Manual backups
- Manual updates
On paper, this is the recommended setup. In reality, this meant:
- Disk filling up because of execution history
- Databases growing silently
- One failed update breaking credentials
- Random 2am workflow failures with no alerting
- Too much time spent maintaining the tool instead of building automations
n8n itself was never the problem.
Operating it reliably was.
Once clients rely on it, n8n becomes production infrastructure. That means:
- Persistent storage
- Proper database configuration
- Predictable backups
- Controlled updates
- Monitoring
If any of these are missing, the system will eventually fail.
Most n8n issues we debugged were not logic bugs. They were:
- Execution logs filling disks
- SQLite or Postgres misconfiguration
- WAL files growing endlessly
- Corrupted volumes after forced restarts
If you do not actively manage storage and retention, it will catch up with you.
Self-hosting gives full control, but it also means:
- You are the SRE
- You are on-call
- You own downtime
For internal experiments, that is fine.
For client-facing automations, it becomes risky fast.
After a few painful incidents, we wrote down what we actually needed:
- n8n ready out of the box
- Proper database already configured
- Backups handled automatically
- No server access required for daily operations
- Ability to scale workflows without touching infra
- Zero setup time for new projects
In short: we wanted to build automations, not babysit servers.
Today, when we need n8n production-ready fast, we use OpenHosst.
Not because it is flashy, but because it removes all the infrastructure friction:
- n8n comes fully deployed
- Database is already configured correctly
- Backups and storage are handled
- No Docker, no VPS tuning, no SSH
- We can onboard a new automation project in minutes
This lets our team focus entirely on workflow design, logic, and reliability instead of ops.
We still self-host n8n in some cases:
- Heavy internal experimentation
- Temporary R&D systems
- Highly customized environments
But for anything client-facing or revenue-critical, we no longer reinvent the wheel.
n8n is an incredibly powerful automation engine.
Most production failures around it are not n8n problems, but infrastructure problems.
If you enjoy managing servers, self-hosting is a great learning experience.
If your goal is to deliver reliable automation to clients, reducing operational complexity is often the smarter move.
Hopefully this saves someone a few late nights.
Written by the team at Domin8x Digital
We design and operate production-grade automation systems.