How to run n8n without your own server
n8n is an automation builder: connect your mail to a spreadsheet, call someone else's service on a schedule, put together a chain with an AI model. There is a cloud version, but many people want to keep n8n on their own side — your own scenarios do not run into an execution limit and the data stays close at hand. And then the part that makes people put it off usually begins: renting a server, installing Docker, a proxy in front of the service, a certificate for the secure connection, and watching that everything comes back up on its own after a reboot.
All of that can be skipped. Netrun can bring up projects described by a docker-compose file, and that is exactly how n8n is usually started. You bring a short description file, we run it on our servers and give you a public address with HTTPS. Below is what to put in the archive and what to watch out for.
Put together a folder with the service description
Create an empty folder and place a docker-compose.yml in it that describes a single service using the official n8n image. There is nothing to build: n8n ships as a ready-made image, and apart from that file the archive may contain nothing at all.
Set up permanent storage for your scenarios
In the service description, add a named volume and attach it to the folder where n8n keeps its data. This is the key step: without it, scenarios and connections live inside the container and disappear on the very first update. With a named volume they survive restarts and republishing — we only remove such data when you delete the project yourself.
Upload the folder to Netrun
Zip the folder and upload it, or import a repository containing that file from GitHub, including a private one. Netrun sees the service description and brings the project up from it — you do not need to write a Dockerfile. A single project can hold up to five connected services, so you can bring up a database next to n8n if you want.
Provide settings as secrets
n8n reads its settings from environment variables: the login and password for signing in, the time zone, the public address for receiving incoming requests. Enter them during project setup — they go into environment variables encrypted and are not stored in the archive with your code. The public address becomes known after the first publish, so it is convenient to fill it in on a second pass and update the project.
Switch to the Pro plan if you need scheduled scenarios
On the free plan a website falls asleep when nobody uses it for a while and wakes up when someone opens the link. For the n8n interface that is fine: you open the address, it wakes up, the first response is a little slower. But a scenario that has to fire on its own at three in the morning, while nobody is visiting, will not run on a sleeping project. If your automations need to run on their own on a schedule, you need the Pro plan — on it the project does not sleep.
The result: a working n8n at its own HTTPS address, without renting a server, installing Docker or handling a certificate by hand. Scenarios and connections live in permanent storage and survive updates, and startup logs are visible in your dashboard. If you need automations around the clock, switch to Pro. Try Netrun.
Common questions
Will my scenarios survive a project update?
Yes, if you attached a named volume to the n8n data folder. Then scenarios, connections and run history survive restarts and republishing. Without a volume the data sits inside the container and disappears on the first update, so this step cannot be skipped.
Will scheduled scenarios run on the free plan?
No. On the free plan a project falls asleep when it is not used for a while and wakes up when the link is opened. You can open the interface and build a scenario that way, but a sleeping project cannot fire on its own at night. Schedules need the Pro plan, where the project runs without idle downtime.
Do I have to install Docker and set up a proxy myself?
No. Docker, the proxy in front of the service and the certificate for the secure connection are on our side. All we need from you is the service description file, and the public HTTPS address is issued automatically.
Can I put a database next to it?
Yes. A single project can bring up to five connected services, so you can describe, say, PostgreSQL next to n8n and keep the data there. It needs a named volume too, otherwise the database is wiped on update.
Can I use my own domain?
Yes, on the Pro plan you can attach your own domain to a project, and we set up the secure connection for it ourselves. That is handy when other services send incoming requests to your n8n address.
Can I run several services at once?
Yes. With docker-compose you can bring up to five connected services in one project — for example, an app together with a database.
Is my data kept when I update the code?
Yes. Your database and project files survive a code update and a restart, and the project link stays the same too.
Where do I set tokens and other secret values?
In the project settings there is a section for values from your code — for example, the token from BotFather. We store them encrypted.