1024 MB RAMamd64 / arm64TypeScriptMediumLicenseRef-n8n-Sustainable-Use-1.0Version 2.42.6
Instead of a subscription
Self-hosted alternatives to Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate connects Microsoft services and third-party APIs into flows, licensed per user or per flow. A self-hosted automation platform does the same wiring with its own connectors, on infrastructure you already pay for.
Catalog
Recipes that cover it
Requirements
Side by side
| Application | Minimum RAM | Disk estimate | Database | Installation difficulty | Backup | Recipe verification | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n8n | 1024 MB RAM | 5 GB | PostgreSQL | Medium | Yes · Restore tested | Fully verifiedRecheck overdue · 0 dCheck is current | LicenseRef-n8n-Sustainable-Use-1.0 |
The bill
The subscription against a server
Both figures are editable, because only you know which of them you actually pay. The server is sized from the figure the recipe recommends — the same one the catalog calls a comfortable fit on your profile — and not from the cheapest row of a price list.
n8n asks for 2 GB of RAM, 2 vCPU and 5 GB of disk — $18 a month on DigitalOcean Basic.
The difference
- Per month
- $3
- Per year
- $36
- Over three years
- $108
The subscription wins on price by $36 a year. What hosting it buys you here is the data, not the money.
Not counted: your own time, a domain, and a backup kept anywhere other than that same server. A machine you already run costs nothing extra — set the server to zero.
Microsoft Power Automate · Premium, billed annually, price checked 2026-09-21Server prices: DigitalOcean Basic, checked 2026-09-10
Migration
What changes when you host it yourself
The data stops leaving your network, and so does the responsibility for it: backups, the restore you have actually tested, and the disk it all sits on.
Feature parity is never exact. Read what each recipe states about limitations and the smoke test before planning a migration.
The bill turns into work: updates, certificates and an eye on the release notes. The catalog shows how much of that each recipe asks for.