n8n Automation · Quick Reference

Setting Up N8N: Cloud vs Self-Hosted Cheat Sheet

n8n Automation

In one line: There are three ways to get N8N running: the managed cloud service, self-hosting with Docker, or running it locally via npm. In this lesson you will set up N8N, explore all thre...

Key Ideas

1Option 1 — N8N Cloud (Fastest Start). N8N Cloud at n8n.cloud is the managed hosted version. You sign up, and N8N is ready within seconds — no server setup, no Docker, no port configuration. It comes with a...

2Option 2 — Self-Hosted with Docker. Docker is the most popular way to self-host N8N. It packages N8N with all its dependencies into a single container. Your data stays on your server, executions are unli...

3Option 3 — Self-Hosted with npm. If you have Node.js installed, you can run N8N directly via npm. This is the simplest approach for local development and testing.

4Interface Tour: The 4 Key Areas. Once N8N is running, you will see the main editor. It has four primary areas you need to understand before building your first workflow:

Code Examples

docker run -it --rm \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -v ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n \
  n8nio/n8n

npm install n8n -g

n8n start