What is n8n?
n8n automates business processes through a visual workflow editor and can run on your own servers. Why its licence is not open source, how its billing unit differs, and where it wins.
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n8n is a platform that connects and automates repeating business processes in a visual workflow editor. It does the same job as Zapier and Make, and differs in three ways: it can run on your own servers, it bills per execution rather than per step, and it ships a native AI agent node. It carries more than 2,000 prebuilt integrations, and code nodes accept JavaScript or Python where the prebuilt ones fall short.
The licence: source-available, not open source
This distinction is misreported often enough to be worth stating plainly: n8n is not open source. It is licensed under the Sustainable Use License, a fair-code model. In practice:
- You may read the code, modify it, and run it for your own business without limit.
- Installing it on your own infrastructure for internal use is unrestricted.
- Packaging n8n as a service and reselling it is restricted.
n8n explains the difference in its own documentation, referring to the OSI definition of open source. For most organisations this has no practical consequence — but recorded as "open source" in a procurement or legal process, it becomes something that has to be corrected later.
What sets it apart
| Capability | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Self-hosting | Data never leaves your infrastructure — the decisive feature under GDPR and KVKK |
| Per-execution billing | Multi-step flows cost less than on tools that charge per step |
| 2,000+ integrations | Salesforce, HubSpot, SAP, Slack, email and more, prebuilt |
| Code nodes | JavaScript or Python where a prebuilt node cannot reach |
| Native AI agent node | Model and tool layers live inside the flow, no separate service required |
The billing row is the one most often miscalculated. A three-step flow running thousands of times a day may be cheaper on a per-step tool; at forty steps the arithmetic reverses. The break-even sits at roughly five to six steps, and we worked that through against all three vendors' current prices in the n8n vs Make vs Zapier comparison.
Where it fits
Typical uses are order and invoice flows, email and support triage, CRM and ERP integration, content pipelines and lead generation. Some of these are classic automation; others need a decision layer in the middle, which is what we mean by AI workflow automation.
When n8n is the wrong tool
If you intend to resell automation as a product to your own customers, the licence does not permit it; you need a different tool or a commercial arrangement with n8n. For very short, very high-volume flows a per-step tool can come out cheaper. And if you need one niche SaaS integration, starting with whichever tool ships it prebuilt is the fastest route.
Disclosure
humaix's founder, Onur Polat, holds official n8n Ambassador status. That gives you reason to read what we write about n8n as partial, which is why the cases where n8n is the wrong choice are set out above, and why the price comparison is drawn from the three vendors' own pages with the retrieval date shown.
Scope, timelines and price bands are on the n8n automation page.
Frequently asked
- Is n8n open source?
- The source is public, but it is not open source. n8n is licensed under the Sustainable Use License, a fair-code model: you may read, modify and run the code for your own business, but reselling n8n as a service is restricted. n8n states this in its own documentation with reference to the OSI definition.
- Can I run n8n on my own server?
- Yes, and for GDPR and KVKK purposes that is the decisive feature. Self-hosted, business data never leaves your infrastructure. n8n Cloud is the alternative — faster to start, less operational load — and the choice follows your regulatory requirements.
- How do I choose between n8n, Zapier and Make?
- The billing unit decides it. n8n charges per execution, Make and Zapier charge per step, and the break-even sits at roughly five to six steps. Short, high-volume flows favour Make; multi-step flows favour n8n. We keep a detailed comparison with sourced figures on a separate page.
- Does using n8n require writing code?
- Not for most flows — connecting prebuilt nodes in the visual editor is enough. But being able to drop into JavaScript or Python in a code node when needed is what separates n8n from fully no-code tools; complex transformations and bespoke integrations go through that door.
More insights
- What is AI workflow automation?Adding a decision layer to classic automation. How it differs from rule-based flows, the architecture it usually takes, and the processes where it does and does not pay.
- What is an AI agent?An AI agent decides for itself which tool to use and when, in service of a goal. How it differs from a chatbot and from rule-based automation, when it earns its cost and when it does not.
- What is RAG?RAG has a language model retrieve relevant documents from your own sources before it answers. How it works, when it beats fine-tuning, and where it breaks in production.
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