Question about Sustainable Use License

Questions
1

Thank you for providing such an outstanding service.

We are an early-stage startup and would like to accelerate validation of our own application by leveraging n8n.

Please tell us whether each of the four scenarios below—where workflows built in n8n are embedded in our app’s backend—would be permitted (OK) or not permitted (NG) under the license.

Common conditions (apply to every scenario)

  • We use the Self-hosted Community plan and run n8n on a server owned and operated by our company.
  • End customers never access n8n directly and do not build workflows themselves.
  • The workflows replace part of our application’s backend processing.
  • All customer credentials are stored in our own database; nothing is stored inside n8n.

Scenario ①

  • The workflow does not use customer credentials (all credential-based operations occur entirely in our application).
  • The application is offered free of charge as a beta version.

Scenario ②

  • The workflow does not use customer credentials (all credential-based operations occur entirely in our application).
  • The application is offered for a fee as a beta version.

Scenario ③

  • The workflow uses customer credentials retrieved from our database.
  • The application is offered free of charge as a beta version.

Scenario ④

  • The workflow uses customer credentials retrieved from our database.
  • The application is offered for a fee as a beta version.

We appreciate your guidance. Thank you very much!

2

Hi,

For 3 and 4 you need a license. You do not need embed, but you do need enterprise. There is a startup plan available, which is probably perfect for your usecase.

3

Thank you for your response.

Just to confirm—under the Self-hosted Enterprise or Startup plan, would it be permitted to use workflows involving customer credentials as part of our product’s backend?

Of course, end users will never access n8n directly. The core value of our product does not lie in workflow creation via n8n, but rather in the automation solution we deliver through our own application.

4

Yes, that is correct.

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