Self-Hosted Automation Hub
A 30-person agency was paying for six SaaS automation tools that barely talked to each other. We replaced them all with a single self-hosted n8n instance — owned infrastructure, zero per-task fees.
The challenge
The agency was running Zapier, Make, Integromat, a custom Node script on a fragile VPS, and two vendor-specific automation tools. Monthly costs were climbing, task limits were being hit in busy months, and when anything broke it was unclear which tool was responsible. The team had no visibility into what was running.
The approach
Infrastructure setup
Provisioned an AWS EC2 instance (t3.medium), deployed n8n via Docker Compose with PostgreSQL for persistence and Redis for queue mode. Configured Nginx reverse proxy with SSL, daily backups to S3 and CloudWatch alerting.
Workflow migration
Audited all 60+ existing automations across six tools. Categorised by complexity and dependency. Migrated in three sprints — simple webhooks first, then multi-step sequences, finally the custom Node scripts rewritten as n8n Code nodes.
Error handling & observability
Built a global error handler workflow that catches failures, logs to PostgreSQL and posts a structured Slack alert with the workflow name, node that failed and the last 3 execution inputs. Every workflow has retry logic configured.
Documentation & handover
Tagged every workflow by team and purpose. Wrote an internal runbook covering deployment, backup/restore, credential management and how to build new workflows. Ran a 2-hour training session with the ops team.
The outcome
- 62 workflows running on a single owned platform — no per-task billing.
- Monthly automation costs reduced by ~73% versus the previous tool stack.
- 99.9% uptime over the first 90 days with zero data-loss incidents.
- Team can now build, debug and monitor automations without external vendor support.
"We went from "which tool broke this time?" to having one place to look. The visibility alone was worth it.
Lifecycle Automation Suite
Ready to build something like this?
Tell me where the friction is. I'll map the system, automate the busywork, and hand it back clean.