I am writing to seek a formal licensing clarification regarding our use of n8n as a support component of a new commercial automation product we have developed.
Our Current Architecture:
We have built an automation platform that integrates with chat interfaces (Microsoft Teams and Slack). Currently, n8n serves as our orchestration middle layer. Its primary role is to act as a data relay, transferring information via API calls between the chat triggers and our backend.
Key Technical Details:
-
Credential Handling: We do not store or pass individual end-user credentials through n8n.
-
Data Usage: We only pass user email addresses to facilitate responses to their specific queries.
-
Deployment: The automation is currently utilized for our internal organization, but we are now ready to commercialize this product.
Our Commercial Goal:
We intend to market and sell this automation product to external clients as a subscription-based or licensed service. Since we are moving beyond internal business use and into a “Software-as-a-Service” (SaaS) or “Embedded” model, we would like to confirm the following:
-
License Compliance: Does our approach of using n8n as a commercial middle-layer relay require a formal Commercial/OEM Agreement, or does the Sustainable Use License cover this use case given that we are not storing third-party credentials?
-
Commercial Pricing: If a commercial agreement is required, could you provide the pricing structure for an OEM/Embed model? We are interested in understanding how the costs scale as we onboard new clients.
-
Next Steps: What is the standard process for transitioning from a self-hosted community version to a commercially licensed partnership?
We are big fans of the n8n ecosystem and want to ensure we are fully compliant before our public launch. We are happy to hop on a brief call to demo the architecture if that helps your team determine the correct tier.
Looking forward to your guidance.