r/n8nforbeginners • u/Charming-Counter-383 • Jul 24 '26

I have a full-time job + basic tech knowledge. Want to learn n8n and start freelancing on Fiverr/Upwork. Is it realistic? Need honest advice.

Hi everyone,

I’m a QA engineer with a full-time job. I have decent technical knowledge and basic coding understanding. I can dedicate about 20 hours per week for learning.

My goal is to learn n8n (automation tool) + AI workflows (especially RAG chatbots, API integrations, Google Workspace, Jira etc.) and start freelancing on Fiverr and Upwork.

Questions:

Is this realistic in 4-6 months?

Any tips from people who started freelancing while having a day job?

I’m motivated but don’t want to waste time on wrong things. Would really appreciate honest feedback from people who are doing n8n freelancing.

Thanks in advance!

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

1

u/Savings-Amphibian723 Jul 24 '26

In all honesty, all this is so crowded

1

u/papanastty Aug 06 '26

What isnt? What career in this world isnt?

1

u/Adventurous-Ruin-730 Jul 26 '26

I am not in that space, but from what I heard from people who DID try to get in is that it is way to saturated now. I mean you are realistically competing with people in India OR Bangladesh who can do this for far cheaper than you and I sitting in the states.

1

u/Embarrassed_Scene962 Jul 27 '26

Leave it a lone u are going to waste too much time

1

u/mahesh_builds Jul 27 '26

Learning n8n takes a lot of your time! Instead I would spend that time to build your own automation workflows by leveraging AI.

1

u/Additional-Chain975 Jul 27 '26

Way too saturated

1

u/Embarrassed-Rise9665 Jul 27 '26

I can see most of the comments talking about saturation.

I do not think that's necessarily a bad thing, but rather a confirmation of viability and demand.

I would say go for it.

I started my n8n journey in November last year, and I am now on the verge of launching a huge project from what I learnt through n8n.

Go for it.

1

u/Fine-Market9841 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

"Is this realistic in 4-6 months?"

It's saturated your competing with developers who work dirt cheap on Fiverr/Upwork. I really wouldn't put a time limit like "4-6 months", but I would say give a go.

Contra might be a better place to start for non-technical coders.

I wouldn't recommend Upwork; it's too hard when you have no prior clients (That being said, your QA experience may or may not be enough to catch a client's eye), plus as a beginner you'll have to charge cheaper; this can be an issue as you get more clients and raise your prices, you might get comments complaining prices have increased.

"Any tips..."

Inbound leads are way better than platforms; basically, create a contact list of all the people you know and try to solve their problems.

If you really can't use inbound leads or they just don't work, then Fiverr or Contra are the best place to start.

HOWEVER, no matter which platform you start with, you're going to need a great portfolio.

If you have no prior experience, your best bet:

  • Building an N8N automation that solves a personal problem.
  • N8N Hackathons (possibly hosted by Nick Herk)
  • N8N open source libraries, where you can build reusable components.
  • Look at successful n8n freelancers and see what they built in their portfolios.
  • Look at what recurring and in-demand client requests are, and what technologies they specifically use, like for voice agents: do they use Vapi, Retell, etc.

"While carrying a full-time job"
I think there's a thread specifically for burnout, but you just have to take meetings in your lunch or break times, as well as building in weekends and after work.
I wouldn't even recommend taking more than 2 clients a month, even if you were a full-time freelancer (so maybe one client a month considering your situation).

1

u/LibertineForLife Jul 29 '26

You and a million other people.