17d • n8n or Coding Help
🚀 How to Self-Host n8n for FREE on Render (No Credit Card)
People usually don’t believe me when I say this:
“I’m using all the features of n8n completely for free.”
The first reaction is always the same 👇
“n8n Cloud is expensive.”
“It won’t scale.”
“You’ll hit limits.”
And honestly… I believed that too for a long time.
Until I tested it myself.
I wanted an automation engine for AI agents and workflows, but I didn’t want:
Zapier limits
paid plans
usage caps
vendor lock-in
So I tried something simple.
What if I self-host n8n instead of paying for the cloud?
Turns out — it works. And it works really well.
🔹 Why this setup actually makes sense
Once you see it clearly, it’s obvious:
n8n → the automation brain
Self-hosted → no artificial limits
Render → free infrastructure
Put together, you get a production-ready automation engine for $0.
Perfect for:
AI agents
SaaS MVPs
DM automation
internal tools
No Zapier.
No paid plans.
No friction.
🛠 How I set it up (step by step)
Step 1: Create a Render account
Go to 👉 render.com
Create an account (GitHub login works best).
Once inside the dashboard:
Click New
Select Web Service
Step 2: Deploy n8n using Docker
On the “Deploy a Web Service” screen:
Choose Docker
In the Image URL, paste:
docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n
This pulls the official n8n Docker image.
Step 3: Keep the config simple
You don’t need anything fancy:
Environment: Docker
Instance type: Free
Service name: anything you like
Then hit Deploy 🚀
Step 4: Open your n8n instance
Wait ~2–3 minutes.
Render gives you a live URL.
Open it → you’ll see the n8n setup screen.
This is usually the moment people realize:
“Okay… this is actually real.”
Step 5: Activate n8n
Create your n8n account
You’ll be asked for an activation key
n8n generates it automatically
Paste it in → done.
🎉 You now have n8n running for free.
⚙️ What this unlocks
With this setup, you can build:
AI agents (RAG, DM bots, assistants)
Lead qualification workflows
DM / email automation
Internal company tools
SaaS MVP backends
Webhook-based systems
This becomes the automation backbone for a lot of serious projects.
I’m using this setup to build:
agentic AI workflows
sales & ops automation
FastAPI + n8n systems
If you’re building with AI or automation, this is worth knowing.
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🚀 How to Self-Host n8n for FREE on Render (No Credit Card)
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