Clarification on License Compliance for My Automation Service

Questions
1

Hi n8n team,

I hope you’re doing well.

I’m building a commercial service that uses n8n as an automation engine, and I want to make sure my business model is fully compliant with the Sustainable Use License. I prefer to confirm this with you directly to avoid any misunderstanding.

Here is exactly how my model works:

1. Client hosts their own n8n instance

  • Each client will create either:

    • an n8n Cloud workspace (preferred), or

    • a self-hosted n8n instance in their cloud/VPS.

  • I do not host n8n for clients.

  • Clients do not access any n8n instance that I host.

  • Clients do not use my n8n UI.

2. I only build workflows on the client’s instance

  • I install and maintain workflows inside their own n8n instance.

  • They own and control the instance.

  • This is comparable to “consulting + setup + maintenance”.

3. I host my own backend (“brain”) that the client n8n calls

  • My service has its own API (not n8n).

  • The client’s n8n workflows make HTTP requests to my API to:

    • get scoring results

    • generate templates

    • run business logic

    • log events for analytics

    • check license status

  • My backend does not give access to n8n in any form.

4. My clients only interact with my service

  • They only see my dashboards (Metabase) and the outcomes of the workflows.

  • They do not log into n8n or use it directly unless they want to.

My questions

Based on the above, can you please confirm:

  1. This model respects the Sustainable Use License, since clients host their own n8n instance and I do not provide n8n access as a commercial offering.

  2. Hosting my own API/backend that their n8n workflows call is allowed (since it’s not hosting n8n for them).

  3. Encouraging clients to use n8n Cloud is fully compliant and even preferred.

  4. No embed license is required as long as n8n is hosted by the client and I am only offering a consulting/automation service that uses their instance.

If any adjustments are needed, I’m happy to adapt.
My goal is to operate 100% within your licensing guidelines.

Thank you very much in advance for your help — I appreciate your time!

Best regards,
Yoan

2

Hey @yoan
I don’t work for n8n or represent them in anyway so this is completely my opinion on the matter but having been through a few similar posts over the past year, I’d say yes, you are in the green.
Best of luck!