Hi,
We (Thaïs) are developing a PMS (Property Management System) for the hotel industry.
We are already connected to Zapier but we are looking for a more open workflow automation
(trigger / webhook) solution.
I came across n8n and I wonder if this solution would be suitable for connecting 500 hotels?
Do I have to set up one server per client or can I put our 500 clients on a server by adding specific workers to each?
Thank you for your answers.
Hi Aurelien,
Welcome to the community @Aurelien_Vionnet
There are a few aspects to this question, but generally n8n could be a candidate for your usecase:
n8n can be setup for scale, there are a few dimensions to what can “scale”. Here’s more on that in our docs: Scaling n8n | Docs . To answer, “can n8n support my 500 hotels” really depends on the number of executions per client, the size of data for each execution (i.e. is it a small JSON payload, or binary data like PDFs?), and your requirements for logging (i.e. are you storing all executions? Only failing executions? How long is your retention requirement for logs?). Beyond this, we’ve also seen users setup an additional simple buffer/ webhook queue service infront of their n8n instance if they have scenarios where they expect very large spikes in traffic.
In terms of operationally organizing all your clients’ workflows/ data; this one really depends on whether you have 500 individual clients, or if they are grouped (i.e. these 25 hotels run the same workflows, are one client). Today, n8n might not be ideal to administrate 500 individual hotels. However, we have two important features in the pipeline to alleviate this. Workflow tagging is currently being developed and should be out within a few weeks, and User Management is a big priority for us this quarter and actively being designed (would be amazing to get your needs for a UM feature here: User and Privilege Management [GOT CREATED] - #10).
In short, if you need to roll out to 500 hotels today - you might need to manage multiple n8n instances. If instead you have a longer timeline where you’d do a POC, then progressively roll out to more customers; I think n8n is a competitive candidate! We’ve also seen some users who are currently on Zapier do a slower transition - where they first prioritize the 1-2 workflows (Zaps) that run most often to reduce their bill and go from there.
Hope this helps!
Hi and welcome, @Aurelien_Vionnet!
We could give you a more specific answer if you give us some more info on how you see this working.
Hi,
Thank you for your quick answers.
I am in the POC phase and the increase of load will be gradual. We can try to put some users in for now.
But, how to do it properly from the start ?
My idea is to provide for each hotel a way to create / use workflows ?
The needs are pretty straightforward for now.
Examples:
Why not share workflows for them (library Thais without credentials) in a second time ?
I have a few ideas, but the purpose of a tool like this is that my clients have more than me ;-).
How would you go about setting up a POC like this?
Dedicated server ? A docker container per customer with a subdomain on each?
How do I put this together to keep it simple and usable? What about authentication?
Thank you for your help.
" would be amazing to get your needs for a UM feature here: User and Privilege Management" => with pleasure
Hi,
Does each hotel need its own account, or could they all have different workflows mixed in the same account?
each hotel need its own account
Will the hotels be using the service, or just you?
Directly the hotel (Even if we share some Zaps pre-build)
Would you be integrating n8n into your own product, or installing it separately?
I don’t know. Depends of possibilité et user experience. I don’t have a definitive answer about that.
Thanks for the clarification, @Aurelien_Vionnet. Sounds like a great idea, and something that could be valuable for your users.
What you’re looking to do is possible today, if you create a new instance of n8n for each of your hotels. Those instances would have basic auth (single user name and password).
We are currently working on more advanced user management (which would enable you to have a single instance with different, segregated accounts), but it will be a few months before it’s ready.
It’s worth pointing out that if you’re integrating n8n into your own product, you may need a license. If that’s the case, we try to structure things fairly so that there’s no up-front cost before you know that n8n is valuable for your product. I’ll send you a direct message to discuss further.
Ok, so I’ll start by coding my Node and setting up some instances for beta testers.
I validate the usability of the tool by non techie (hoteliers).
And I’m waiting for you on the multi-user ;-).
I’ll keep you inform on the progress of this.
See you soon,
Sounds like a plan. Would love to hear any feedback that you collect regarding usability — this stuff is gold for improving n8n 
Are there any updates for this topic?