n8n: A free and open source automation tool that is simpler than dify and more powerful than Make!

Let me start by saying a few words

Have you ever encountered these problems?

• Spend a lot of money on Zapier , only to end up exceeding your monthly task limit and seeing your bills pile up?
• I was discouraged by the complex interface of Make . I spent a lot of time connecting but it still doesn’t work?‍?
• Want to use AI automation , but the API call fee of Dify is too expensive?

Good news!  Now there is a  completely free, open source, Chinese-supported  automation tool - n8n , which allows you to:

✅Build   cross-platform workflows with zero code (Gmail → Form → Notification in one go)

✅ **100% cheaper than Zapier** (no need to pay for the "fee-per-task" scheme)

✅More  intuitive than Make (drag-and-drop design, you can get started in 5 minutes)

✅Can  even connect to AI (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, play as you like)

This tutorial will teach you step by step :

1️⃣  Install n8n in 10 minutes (two beginner-friendly solutions, even the commands are written for you)

2️⃣  Actual case demonstration (grab data from Gmail → automatically save to Google Sheets → trigger Telegram notification)

3️⃣Avoidance  Guide (Solving the Permission Problems That 90% of Newbies Get Stuck With)

Why you should try n8n

?  Search popularity surges : Developers around the world are frantically recommending this "Zapier killer" (Google Trends shows that n8n search volume has increased by 300% in one year!) ?  Zhihu/Reddit hot discussion : "Finally found a free alternative to Zapier!"

Even Tesla's IT team is using it for internal automation...

Read on and you will find : ? How to use n8n to reduce repetitive tasks to 1 minute? Why it is said that "learning n8n = saving $1000 in SaaS fees every year" ? Advanced gameplay: connect AI models to create intelligent customer service (with nanny-level code)

Unlock enterprise-level automation capabilities immediately without spending a penny!  ?

(Tip: This article contains multiple practical operation diagrams + complete node configurations. It is recommended to save them and practice while reading!)

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Here is a comparison picture I found online for you to see.

Focus on it

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There are roughly 3 ways to use it, and the comparison details are given below.

 1. Free trial on the official website (14-day quick experience)

Suitable for people : Newbies who want to try out whether n8n is suitable for them

Step 1: Register for a trial account

1. Visit  n8n official website  → click  "Try for Free"

   
   

   
   

2. Register with email (no credit card required)

Step 2: Experience Automation Now

✅Official  preset templates :

• Gmail → Slack automatic forwarding
• Twitter → Google Sheets Data Collection
• Telegram robot auto reply

⚠️Note  : After 14 days , you need to switch to self-built deployment (will teach you below)

Server Deployment

Detailed construction method

The official website provides roughly 3 ways to build:

• Use node to build
• Use docker to run directly
• Using docker-compose (recommended)

Document address

docker-compose.yml implementation

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Because the docker-compose provided by the official website is relatively simple to build, I will give the detailed yml here, you can just copy and use it

version: '3.8' 

services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n 
    container_name: n8n 
    restart: unless-stopped 
    ports:
      - "5678:5678" 
    environment:
      # Database Configuration
      - DB_TYPE=postgresdb 
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE=n8n_db 
      -DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST =postgres 
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT=5432 
      -DB_POSTGRESDB_USER =n8n_user 
      - DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD=UyuqZNwxgU 
      # Time zone configuration (key settings)
      - TZ=Asia/Hong_Kong # Set the container time zone to Hong Kong time (UTC+8)   
      - N8N_TIMZONE=Asia/Hong_Kong # Ensure that n8n internal logs use Hong Kong time   

      # Security Authentication
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_ACTIVE=true 
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_USER=admin 
      - N8N_BASIC_AUTH_PASSWORD=UyuqZNwxgU 
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n 
      # Mount the local time zone file (alternative solution)
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro 
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro 
    depends_on:
      - postgres 
    networks:
     acowbo_network:
      name: acowbo_network 
      driver: bridge 

⚠️Note  : If you don’t understand the above docker-compose.yml configuration, you can check my previous blog. The pgsql here is not exposed to the outside. If necessary, you can map the port yourself

Verify access

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Direct access will first ask you to initialize the user. Of course, this step should also be configurable in docker-compose.

Main interface display

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It has a lot of functions, you can explore it yourself. Later I will release an example like the one above. When the mailbox receives a message, the message will be sent directly to one of my own channels in the telegram. It has been implemented. I can show you the final display picture.

Forgot password solution

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This is what really happened to me. I forgot my password after registering . Here are some solutions

1. You should be able to retrieve your password by configuring your email address at startup (I haven't tried it)
2. Direct Executiondocker-compose downThen rebuild
3. Because pgsql is used, the password can be changed directly through pgsql (recommended)

#Step  1: Enter the container
docker exec -it container name/container ID bash
#Step  2: Enter the pgsql cli
psql -U n8n_user -d n8n_db
#Step  3: View users
SELECT * FROM "user";
#Step  4: Change the password (the password encryption generation implementation is given below)
UPDATE "user" SET password = '$2a$10$ newly generated bcrypt hash value' WHERE email = 'admin@example.com';

⚠️Note  : This password is encrypted. You need to generate one according to the script. The script is also provided to everyone

import  bcrypt
password =  "your_new_password" .encode( 'utf-8' )   # Replace with your new password
hashed = bcrypt.hashpw(password, bcrypt.gensalt())
print(hashed.decode( 'utf-8' ))   # Output the new hash value

Ultimate summary: an all-powerful automation tool

You think that automation tools can only send emails, but the power of n8n is far beyond your imagination!

Basic gameplay (no code required)

✅File  management : Automatically organize computer files → Archive them by rules

✅Cross  -App linkage : receive attachment in Gmail → transfer to Google Drive → notify you on WeChat

✅  Scheduled tasks : Get weather information at 8:00 am every day → Send SMS for today’s forecast

Advanced gameplay (AI + streaming)

AI information robot : 1.  Subscribe to technology blogs  → 2.  Summarize key points using ChatGPT  → 3.  Schedule push notifications to Feishu/WeChat groups

⚡Smart  customer service : 1.  Monitor emails  → 2.  AI automatically classifies urgency  → 3.  Slack@corresponding person in charge

 Why n8n is the ultimate solution

Free and open source : no more being ripped off by Zapier/Make

Unlimited expansion : Can connect Python code + any AI model (GPT/Claude/local large model)

Enterprise-level reliability : NASA, Tesla and other teams are using similar solutions