How to Migrate Your Self-Hosted n8n to the Cloud Without Losing a Single Workflow
You have spent time building your n8n setup — workflows, credentials, schedules. Moving to a new instance feels risky. What if something breaks? What if you lose your credentials and have to reconnect everything?
The good news is that for most people, the migration is much simpler than expected. Here is exactly what happens depending on where you are coming from.
What Gets Migrated
Regardless of where you are migrating from, all of your workflows come across fully — every node, every connection, every setting, active and inactive.
What happens with credentials depends on whether we can access your server directly.
Migrating from Self-Hosted n8n
If you are running your own VPS or dedicated server, this is the smoothest migration possible.
We SSH into your server, locate the n8n encryption key, and use it to export your credentials in a way that can be imported directly into your new instance. Everything comes across — API keys, OAuth tokens, database connections, and any other saved credentials.
What you need to do: Give us SSH access to your server. That is it. We handle the rest.
What you end up with: A fully working instance with all your workflows and credentials intact. You do not need to reconnect anything.
Migrating from n8n Cloud or Another Managed Provider
If you are on n8n Cloud, Elest.io, Railway, or any other managed provider that does not give you server access, the situation is slightly different.
These platforms encrypt your credentials and store the encryption key internally — you never have access to it, and neither do we. That means credentials cannot be exported or migrated directly.
What we migrate: All your workflows, fully intact.
What you will need to do: Reconnect your credentials on the new instance. This means going through each credential in n8n and re-entering the API keys or re-authenticating the OAuth connections. It is the only manual step in the entire process.
For most people, this takes 15 to 30 minutes depending on how many integrations they use. Once credentials are reconnected, everything works exactly as before.
Tip: Before migrating from a cloud provider, export your workflows from n8n (Settings → Import/Export → Export all). This makes the workflow migration instant on our end.
How the Process Works
DM us or sign up at n8nautomation.cloud. Let us know where you are migrating from — self-hosted or a managed provider — and roughly how many workflows you have.
We import every workflow into your new instance. For self-hosted users, we also migrate credentials via SSH access to your server.
You log in, verify everything looks correct. If you came from a cloud provider, this is when you reconnect your credentials — the only manual step.
Your new managed instance is live. Your old instance stays intact until you confirm everything is working.
Common Questions
Will my active workflows stop running during the migration?
No. Your old instance keeps running throughout. We only switch over once you have confirmed the new one is working correctly.
I have a lot of credentials. How long does reconnecting take?
It depends on how many integrations you use, but most people finish in under 30 minutes. API key credentials are a simple copy-paste. OAuth connections take a few clicks each. We stay on hand during this step in case you need help.
What if something does not work after the migration?
Your original instance stays untouched until you give us the go-ahead to decommission it. If anything is not right, you can roll back immediately.
I have over 100 workflows. Is that a problem?
Not at all. The number of workflows does not affect the migration process.
Ready to migrate?
Free for all users. DM us or sign up and we will take it from there.
Get Started →