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Projects / LAB-04

Pi Automation Box

Self-hosted n8n on a Raspberry Pi 5, with TLS, a firewall, private search and backups.

Part no.
LAB-04
Status
working
Platform
Raspberry Pi 5
Year
2026
Stack
Docker Composenginxn8nPostgresSearXNG
03 — Back of the napkin
Back of the napkinRough · not a forecast

Self-hosting instead of paying for cloud automation.

  1. Hosted automation plan (typical)≈ €20/mo
  2. ×Months12
  3. =Avoided per year≈ €240
  4. −Raspberry Pi 5 + SSD (one-off)≈ €130
  5. −Electricity (≈ 5 W around the clock)≈ €10/yr
  6. =Payback≈ 7 months
Running costs
Electricity
≈ €10/yr
Domain + TLS
≈ €10/yr, certs free
At 10× / 100×

One Pi runs dozens of workflows. Its limits are RAM and SD/SSD wear, not cost. Backups are the part that matters.

Verdict

Pays for itself in under a year, and it’s mine.

04 — How it works
Diagram · Stack
  1. 01nginx + TLSLet’s Encrypt certificates renewed by certbot.
  2. 02n8nWorkflow automation backed by Postgres.
  3. 03SearXNGPrivate meta-search for agents and for me.
  4. 04BackupsScripted dumps, with the ufw firewall locked down.