N8n as a SaaS backend — How much does the license allow?

[solomon]

These questions pop up very often in my private community and during conversations with tech founders.

So I hope this topic will serve to clarify this for future users.

Let’s say I want to build a SaaS where n8n will be used as the backend orchestration layer (effectively the “API” behind my product). End users interact only with my SaaS UI and my API; they will not log into n8n or see the n8n editor.

I’m trying to understand how the Sustainable Use License / commercial options apply in the scenarios below:

1. If n8n is powering my SaaS backend (receiving requests from my app, running workflows, returning results), and n8n uses only my company’s own third-party credentials (service accounts / app-level keys) — is this considered permitted “internal business use” under the SUL?

2. If users can log in to my SaaS with Google or Apple (OIDC / “Sign in with Google/Apple”) only for authentication (identity scopes like openid/email/profile), does that have any licensing implication for n8n?

3. If, during login or later, the user grants OAuth scopes that allow my backend to access the user’s Google data (e.g., Drive/Sheets/Gmail/Calendar), does that automatically move the use case outside SUL even if users never access the n8n UI?

4. If I store users’ temporary OAuth tokens in my own database (not inside n8n’s credential store) and then my backend passes those tokens to n8n at runtime (e.g., via HTTP headers) so n8n can call Google APIs on behalf of the user — is this treated the same as “using users’ own credentials” under the license, or does it matter that credentials aren’t stored in n8n?

5. Is there any difference in licensing expectations between an MVP (small number of users/customers, low volume) vs a scaled SaaS (many users/tenants), assuming the architecture is the same (n8n as backend workflows/API)? If there is no difference, what is the key factor that determines licensing requirements in this backend/API scenario?

6. If my SaaS must access each user’s third-party accounts via OAuth (Google/Meta/etc.) to fetch or update that user’s data, but users never interact with n8n, is an Enterprise license sufficient, or is an Embed/commercial agreement required? More generally: would an Enterprise license be sufficient for any use of n8n as a SaaS backend (API/orchestration engine) as long as n8n itself is not the product being sold and the n8n UI is not exposed to customers?

[Parintele_Damaskin]

@solomon

If, during login or later, the user grants OAuth scopes that allow my backend to access the user’s Google data

Hey @solomon !

I think from this point (3) wheer user grants (doesn’t matter how) scopes with your n8n.

If not even from point 1… Is permitted, but i think if all the “benefits” comes totally from n8n…

This is a tiny border with the license (even a small step can break it).

Hope I am not wrong, and trying to understand myself!

Cheers!

[jan]

Yes, I am very sorry. We really have to get better at communicating what is allowed and what is not. It is something we want to simplify.

1. n8n as backend → Totally OK
2. How users log into your SaaS does not make a difference → Totally OK
3. As connecting to user’s account and not an own one → Needs Embed (assuming you then connect via n8n to the users account. If your SaaS does it somewhere else, then obviously totally OK. It matters what you use n8n for, and not what other external code does.)
4. Does not matter where they are stored → Needs Embed
5. You can for sure create an MVP and test it. But if you launch it to the public and make it accessible for external people, it normally needs an embed license. We should, however, probably consider adding something in the future to allow smaller deployments, no matter what.
6. That is something we are working on right now to simplify. The switch will happen in Q1. So that users with an Enterprise license can do that.

I hope that is helpful.

[solomon]

Thanks so much for the clarification, Jan!

I’ll keep sharing this topic with everyone that asks me about the license details!

UPDATE: We’ve published a video based on Jan’s response to explain it visually: