Requirement for Embed License in SaaS Usage

Questions
1

Hi all!

I’m investigating the possibility of using n8n as an Integration Platform for a SaaS product in my company. A typical process will be streamlining all integrations through n8n, and have them triggered through our backend, examples can be:

  • User registers through a form in frontend → POST /api/user/register → User is stored in backend, n8n workflow is triggered to sent the user a registration email through our email provider,
  • User requests a profile review → POST request to API Layer → Backend triggers n8n workflow, which uses OpenAI to do a profile review,
  • User wants to import data from one of our integration partners → POST request to our API Layer → Backend triggers n8n workflow with the user info, which requests the information from our partners system (for example “populate profile based on LinkedIn”)

I’m unsure if using n8n as a foundation for integrations breaches license and would require the Embed license, and have had trouble finding similar cases out there to draw answers from.

It’s important to note we have no intention of allowing users and customers to built workflows themselves, it’s purely to empower our own features and integration setup.

Anyone with any specialized info for a case like this?

2

Potential conflict:
Although end users don’t build or access n8n, your product’s backend triggers automated flows through n8n as critical infrastructure for the SaaS product. This could be considered a case of indirect embedding, especially if the service functionally depends on n8n.

The intended use is not what is licensed, but the actual architecture of the product.

Your use case likely falls under the category of use requiring an Embed License because: Your SaaS product depends on n8n in production. Customers pay for functionality that runs through n8n flows. Although you don’t directly expose n8n to the customer, it acts as a central orchestration engine for your SaaS.

3

Unfortunate, but makes sense. We were hoping our use case could make us stay within Enterprise limits.

I’ve reached out to their sales team for a definite answer, but all things points towards us looking for alternatives.

Thank you for a quick response!