How to migrate n8n from n8n Cloud to a Hostinger VPS

This article explains how to migrate your workflows from the hosted n8n Cloud to a self-managed instance on a Hostinger VPS. By moving to a VPS, you gain direct access to your file system, command-line interface, and database, giving you full control over your n8n environment.

Before you start

Migrating from n8n Cloud to a self-managed VPS has important limitations compared to migrating between two self-managed instances. Review these differences before proceeding.

Because n8n Cloud encrypts exported credentials with a key you do not have access to, you cannot import them directly into a self-managed VPS. You must recreate all credentials manually after the migration.

Export workflows from n8n Cloud

Download your existing workflows from the n8n Cloud browser interface.

1. Log in to your n8n Cloud dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings ❯ Import/Export.
3. Select the export option to download all workflows.
4. Save the generated workflows.json file to your local computer.

Document your credentials

Since n8n Cloud credentials cannot be imported directly into a self-managed instance, you must record them manually before decommissioning your Cloud environment.

1. In your n8n Cloud dashboard, navigate to Settings ❯ Credentials.
2. Review all active connections.
3. Manually record the API keys, passwords, and authentication details for each connected service. Keep this information secure.

Import workflows to your Hostinger VPS

Once your n8n instance is running on your Hostinger VPS, import your saved workflows.

1. Log in to hPanel and navigate to VPS ❯ Docker Manager.
2. Locate your n8n project, and click Open to access the n8n interface.
3. Navigate to three dots in the upper right, click to show more options and scroll down to Import from file.
4. Upload the workflows.json file you exported from n8n Cloud.

Reconnect credentials and environment variables

After importing your workflows, recreate and link all credentials to your workflows.

1. In the n8n interface, navigate to Credentials.
2. Add and configure each credential using the details you recorded earlier.
3. Open each imported workflow and select the connection nodes that require credentials.
4. Choose the newly created credential from the dropdown menu for each node.
5. If any workflows rely on system-level environment variables, add them via VPS ❯ Docker Manager ❯ Manage ❯ Environment variables.

Test the migration

Test your imported workflows to confirm they function correctly in the new environment.

1. Open a workflow and click Execute workflow to trigger a manual test run.
2. Check the execution output of each node for errors. Webhook URLs will likely point to your old n8n Cloud domain – update the target URLs in your connected third-party services to match your new Hostinger VPS IP address or domain.
3. After confirming the execution log shows a success state for all nodes, set the workflow toggle to Active.

NOTE

• Do not activate workflows in bulk. Enable them one at a time and monitor the execution log for each before proceeding.

Your n8n Cloud workflows are now running on your self-managed Hostinger VPS.

Additional resources

• • Official n8n CLI commands documentation
  • How to migrate n8n workflows between Hostinger VPS instances
  • How to use the Hostinger VPS browser terminal