Hey everyone, I am practising building more and more complex systems with n8n but need some ideas from others about what kind of projects to build to practice on that have real-world value for businesses or individuals. If anyone has any that they wouldn't mind sharing, that would be greatly appreciated.

Hi guys, I am using SerpAPI to do a Google Maps search in n8n for companies on the internet, and I am wondering if there is a way to only search for companies that have a website, instead of searching for loads of companies and then filtering through the ones that have a website, as this uses more executions?

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

Mixing it up is important when learning a new skill. And applying core concepts in a new direction can help solidify fundamentals. This weekend I challenge anyone who is learning python to try a new project and apply their core skills to it. I will start by trying to create my own chat bot in python. It will be a hybrid that can work both when the AI server is up and down. Happy learning!!🚀🚀

My n8n instance showed it was a version behind so I tried redeploying the n8n dockploy template as the docker compose file states image: n8nio/n8n:latest The assumption I made was that by redeploying it, it would pull the latest n8n version. This is not the case. After deployment and heading back to the Domains Tab, validating DNS, clicking the A name pointer I created to access my n8n instance, there is no update. Thankfully my very 1st workflow with Chatbot connected to OpenAI still works When I review the deployment log, I see no evidence of n8n being updated. Additionally, When I try access the terminal from dkploy, I am presented with an error My best guess it is some configuration issue, but what is weird, is that I launch n8n from that image and it is functional Any ideas?