What You'll Need

n8n Cloud or self-hosted n8n for workflow automation

Hetzner VPS or Contabo VPS for hosting PostgreSQL instances

DigitalOcean as an alternative cloud provider

Namecheap for domain registration (optional)

SQLite (built-in to most systems) or PostgreSQL (free, open-source)

Table of Contents

Understanding the Fundamentals

SQLite: Lightweight and Local

PostgreSQL: Scalable and Powerful

Head-to-Head Comparison

Migration Strategies

Real-World Use Cases

Getting Started

Understanding the Fundamentals

I've spent the last five years building small projects that started simple and ended up needing serious database muscle. The SQLite vs PostgreSQL decision isn't academic—it's the difference between shipping fast today and refactoring in panic mode six months from now.

SQLite is a file-based relational database that lives on your machine. No server, no network calls, no complexity.…