The $5/Month AI Automation Stack: n8n + GPT-4o-mini + VPS

The $5/Month AI Automation Stack: n8n + GPT-4o-mini + VPS You do not need expensive SaaS subscriptions to automate your business with AI. Here is the exact stack I run for under $5/month that handles social media, lead generation, email outreach, and content repurposing — all automated. The Stack Component Cost Purpose Hetzner CX22 VPS $4.35/month Hosts everything n8n (self-hosted) $0 Workflow automation engine GPT-4o-mini API ~$0.50/month AI processing Caddy (reverse proxy) $0 HTTPS + routing Total ~$4.85/month Compare this to Zapier Pro ($49) + ChatGPT Plus ($20) + Make.com ($9) = $78/month for less functionality. What This Stack Automates Social Media (5 workflows) Auto-post to Twitter/X from RSS feeds Repurpose blog posts into LinkedIn carousels Schedule Instagram content from a Google Sheet Monitor Reddit for brand mentions Generate engagement replies with AI Lead Generation (5 workflows) Scrape Google Maps for local businesses Enrich leads with company data Auto-qualify leads wit