If you’re technically adept , you can follow the following 3 steps and get over with it :

• Setup n8n instance in a free-tier Render.com account : Pull via docker
• Create a SupaBase account , Create a DB
• Connect pgSQL DB from SupaBase with your Render.com instance by adding appropriate .env variables for persistent storage
• Setup a remote pinging service to keep the service active
  Render.com would reduce resource allocation if the instance has been inactive for over 15 minutes ( uptimerobot.com )
  

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Detailed Walkthrough

Create a Render.com account

Things to have in mind :
– Choose region closest to you : If you’re from Asia , pl. stick with Singapore since some providers do not offer Mumbai / other closer regions to host from .
– You’ll have to keep the instance active by following instructions given in this post
– If you’ll be sharing these accounts , DO NOT create account

• Go to Render.com

Select ‘ Get Started for Free ‘ button

Once you create an account – Sign Up using Email , PWD if you plan on sharing this account with anyone else .

• If you’re absolutely sure you will not share this account , then you can use Sign Up options like GitHub or Google for ease of access .

Choose ‘ Web Services ‘ .

Choose ‘ Existing Image ‘ .

Type ‘ n8nio/n8n ‘ in the ‘ Image URL ‘ field and select ‘ Connect ‘ button at bottom right .

Under ‘ Region ‘ , select your closest region .

• Remember this region and when setting up your SupaBase instance , choose the same region , instead of choosing something more closer .

Choose ‘ Free ‘ under instance type .

You can leave these empty . We will come back to configure these once we setup our SupaBase instance and DEPLOY your web service !

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Set Up Your Supabase Project for Persistent Data

To ensure your data isn’t lost , you’ll now create a free database with Supabase .

1. Create a free account on Supabase .
2. Create a new project . Give it a name and generate a secure password .
3. Once your project is created , press the ‘ Connect ‘ button at the top to find connection details (host , port , user , and password) . You will need these for the next step – use details from option : ‘ Transaction Pooler ‘ .

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Configure Environment Variables in Render

Now you need to connect your n8n instance on Render to your Supabase database by adding environment variables .

1. In your Render web service dashboard , go to the ” Environment ” tab .
2. Add the following environment variables , using the details from your Supabase project:
   ( instead of filling every field , copy everything below and paste as .venv file contents to save time – you can then edit )
   
   • DB_TYPE: postgresdb
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_HOST: Your Supabase host
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_PORT: Your Supabase port
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_DATABASE: postgres
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_USER: postgres
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_POOL_MODE: transaction
   • DB_POSTGRESDB_PASSWORD: The password you created for your Supabase project
   • N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY: A unique key you generate for your n8n instance
     ( Generate a key using https://generate-random.org/encryption-key-generator and keep this key safe somewhere )
   • N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL: Link to access Deployment ‘ as highlighted in the screenshot in next step below
   • WEBHOOK_URL: Same as ‘ N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL ‘
   • N8N_HOST: Same as ‘ N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL ‘ but without ‘ https:// ‘
   • N8N_PORT: 443
   • N8N_PROTOCOL: https
   • NDB_POSTGRES_SCHEMA: public
   • TZ: Asia/Kolkata
     ( Enter your respective timezone that’s recognised by n8n ).
     
3. If you want to access your n8n instance on Render through a custom domain , simply add another environment variable as the following :
   
   

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Redeploy and Verify

With the environment variables in place , you need to redeploy your Render instance .

1. Go back to your Render dashboard and manually trigger a new deployment by pressing ‘ Manual Deploy ‘ button at right top corner .
2. Once the deployment is complete , your n8n instance will be running and connected to your Supabase database .

• To verify that everything is working , you can create a test workflow in n8n and then redeploy the instance again . Your workflow should still be there , confirming that your data is now persistent !

• Also check if credentials created are not getting lost on re-deploying .
  

You can also check your Supabase project to see the n8n table structure and data 🙂

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Keeping your n8n Instance Active

Go to uptimerobot.com , create an account and schedule twice to ping your deployment address every 5 minutes .

Congrats

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Like what you read ? You’re welcome

Let me know what problems you’re trying to solve – perhaps I could help !

t.me/fredrikparker

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