Custom n8n integration development
Appfront builds and hosts n8n workflows that automate your marketing, operations and sales processes. The same capabilities as Zapier or Make, but self-hosted on your own infrastructure, with no per-execution costs and with code nodes for custom logic.
What is n8n?
n8n is an open-source workflow automation platform in which you connect nodes (actions or triggers) together in a visual editor. With over 400 built-in nodes for SaaS tools, databases and APIs, it's a flexible alternative to Zapier and Make.
The difference lies in three choices n8n makes: self-hosting, a fair-code licence that means you don't pay per execution, and code nodes that let you run JavaScript or Python within a flow. That makes n8n suitable for many use cases that push the limits of Zapier, such as flows running thousands of executions a day or flows that must not send data outside your own infrastructure.
Visual flow editor
A drag-and-drop workflow builder where every node is a trigger or an action. Includes conditional nodes (IF, Switch), data transformation (Set, Function) and parallel paths for complex scenarios.
400+ built-in nodes
For popular SaaS tools (Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion, Google Sheets), databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL), message queues (RabbitMQ, Kafka, Redis) and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
Code nodes for custom logic
When no standard node fits, use a JavaScript or Python node to write custom code. Useful for data transformations, custom authentication or business logic that can't be expressed in a standard node.
How we set up your n8n environment
Running n8n in production takes more than starting a Docker container. Our approach has four phases, with a working platform after each step.
Process inventory
We map out which processes you want to automate, which triggers start them (webhook, schedule, event) and which systems they touch. The result: a prioritised list of flows and an estimate of executions per month.
Hosting and infrastructure
Self-hosted n8n on Docker or Kubernetes, with PostgreSQL as the execution store, Redis for queue mode and a reverse proxy with SSL. Credentials encryption keys are managed through a secret manager. Backups and monitoring from day one.
Workflows & custom nodes
We build the priority flows in two-week iterations. For systems that cannot be reached through standard nodes, we write custom community nodes. Flows undergo code review and version control runs through Git.
Operations & knowledge transfer
We deliver documentation, runbooks for the most common incidents, and sessions in which we train your operations team to build and modify flows themselves. Ongoing hosting maintenance is available as an option.
What can you automate with n8n?
n8n's strength lies in bridging systems that would otherwise not communicate with each other, whether internal or with SaaS vendors.
Lead routing & sales flows
Receive a webhook from your form, look up the contact in your CRM, fill in missing fields via an enrichment API, create a ticket in your helpdesk and send a notification to the right account manager.
Order fulfilment
Sync orders from your webshop to accounting, update stock, generate warehouse instructions and send delivery status back to the customer by email or SMS.
HR onboarding & offboarding
New employee uploaded to your HR system? Automatically create accounts in your tools, manage access via your SSO provider, order a welcome pack and send the schedule by email.
Data sync between systems
Two-way synchronisation between ERP and webshop, between support tool and CRM, and between marketing suite and data warehouse. With conflict resolution based on a timestamp or version field.
Reporting & alerts
Collect daily figures from various sources, summarise them in a dashboard or email, and send threshold alerts to Slack or Teams when KPIs fall out of line.
AI workflows
Classify incoming email or tickets via an LLM call, write the structured output back to a database, and trigger downstream actions based on it. Useful for AI marketing automation and operations flows.
For which businesses do we work with n8n?
n8n is suitable once your workflows become complex enough to outgrow Zapier or Make, or once your data may not simply leave your own infrastructure.
Scale-ups with a growing SaaS stack
More than ten SaaS tools that need to share data, too many events for Zapier's per-task pricing, and a need for flexibility in team-specific flows.
E-commerce and online shops
Order flows from webshop to ERP, marketing suite, fulfilment partner and review platform. Often including returns flows and subscription logic that is fragile in standard automation tools.
SaaS companies with data sensitivity
GDPR-sensitive flows or customer data that may not pass through a US-based cloud automation service. Self-hosting within EU infrastructure solves this in one go.
Financial service providers
Connections between administration, e-signing, KYC tools and CRM that cannot go through a hosted automation provider for compliance reasons.
Our technical approach
A production-grade n8n installation (alongside separate API integrations where needed) requires attention to scalability, data retention, credentials security and monitoring.
We host n8n in queue mode (a main instance plus n workers via Redis), so horizontal scaling during peak volumes is straightforward. PostgreSQL serves as the execution database with a retention policy: successful executions are kept for a shorter period than failed ones. The credentials encryption key is held in a secret manager, not in environment variables that could leak through a snapshot.
Monitoring runs through the Prometheus metrics that n8n exports natively, with alerts on queue depth (workers falling behind), error rate per workflow and hosting resources. For flow development we use Git together with the n8n API to version workflows as code, which is essential for teams of three or more developers working on flows in parallel.
Tech stack
Why Appfront for your n8n project?
Setting up an n8n instance can be done in a day. Making it production-ready, scalable and maintainable takes a lot more. We deliver both.
- Self-hosted on your own infrastructure, with EU data residency
- Queue-mode setup for scalability during peak volumes
- Custom community nodes for proprietary systems
- Git-based flow versioning for team development
- Prometheus monitoring with alerts on queues and errors
- Knowledge transfer so your operations team can build flows themselves
- Maintenance contracts for ongoing support
n8n Cloud or self-hosted?
Alongside self-hosting, n8n also offers n8n Cloud. Both have their place. The right choice depends on your data requirements, execution volume and internal hosting capacity.
n8n Cloud gets you live faster (no hosting work), but you pay per execution tier and your flows run on n8n's infrastructure. It suits teams without DevOps capacity and flows without strict data requirements. Self-hosting gives you EU data residency, predictable costs at high volumes, and the ability to install custom nodes that aren't possible in the cloud.
We handle both kinds of project. A typical recommendation: start on n8n Cloud for quick validation, then migrate to self-hosted once your execution volume or data requirements justify it. We migrate flows and credentials with no downtime via the n8n API.
- Self-hosted on your own infrastructure or Kubernetes
- n8n Cloud for quick starts
- Migration between both options
- Hybrid setups (cloud for development, self-hosted for production)
- Backup strategy for each setup
- Uniform monitoring across both options
Frequently asked questions about n8n integrations
Open-source workflow automation platform with a visual editor and 400+ built-in nodes. Self-hostable, code nodes for custom logic, fair-code licence with no per-execution fees.
Self-hosting for data residency, predictable costs at large volumes, code nodes for custom logic, and custom community nodes for proprietary systems.
Docker or Kubernetes with a PostgreSQL execution store, Redis for queue mode, a secret manager for credential encryption, and a reverse proxy with SSL.
Reusable building blocks written in TypeScript following the n8n nodes API. Used for internal APIs or specific logic that a generic HTTP node can't handle.
n8n has an encrypted credentials store. The encryption key sits outside the container in a secret manager, and OAuth callbacks run on your own host.
Webhooks, schedule (cron-style) and polling triggers in specific nodes, plus message queue triggers via dedicated nodes.
Queue mode with a main instance plus n workers via Redis. Horizontally scalable to tens of thousands of executions per hour.
A first setup with a handful of flows takes one to three weeks. A complex Kubernetes setup with custom nodes and 30+ flows takes six to twelve weeks, delivered in two-week iterations.
Ready to automate processes with n8n?
Book a no-obligation consultation. We'll map out your key processes, estimate execution volumes and, within a week, deliver a concrete approach and indicative price for your n8n project.