I Built an Auto-Reply Workflow in n8n Without Paying for an AI API

A developer built an n8n automation workflow that sends personalized client-onboarding confirmation emails, routing form submissions through a locally hosted Ollama model via its OpenAI-compatible API to avoid paid API costs. The workflow chains a form trigger, the chat model, a 10-second Wait node, and Gmail, and ran end to end in testing. The developer noted it remains a practice build lacking email validation, error handling, and human review of AI-drafted emails.

A few days ago, I built my first n8n workflow: a manual trigger that sent an email through Gmail. It worked, but it was very basic. For Day 6, I wanted to build something that feels closer to a real business use case. I imagined I'm running an AI solutions consulting business. Whenever someone wants help, the first step is filling out an onboarding form. I didn't want to send a confirmation email manually every single time, so I automated it. The form is simple, with only three fields: On Form Submission → OpenAI Chat Model → Wait → Gmail When I set up the chat model, the API option I tried first required payment. For a practice exercise, I didn't want to spend money. So I looked for an alternative and found Ollama , a tool that lets you run AI models locally on your own computer. I connected it to n8n using its OpenAI-compatible API by setting the base URL and choosing a compatible model add the model you used here . If you're a student practicing AI workflows, Ollama is worth trying. The only catch: your computer needs to be able to run the model you choose. During testing, the email went out the moment I clicked submit. I wanted a small gap between drafting and sending, so I added a Wait node set to 10 seconds between the chat model and Gmail. This is a practice workflow, not a production one. It doesn't yet validate the email address, handle errors, or have a human check the AI-drafted email before it's sent. After my Day 3 lessons about AI making unverified claims, that last one is high on my list to fix. The workflow worked end to end. Submitting the form triggered a personalized email that greeted the person by name, repeated their details for confirmation, and explained the next step. It wasn't perfect, though: Tools used: n8n, Ollama, Gmail Experiment: Automated client onboarding confirmation email If you've built workflows in n8n, or found a free way to practice with AI models, what do you recommend?