The Sustainable Use License in two sentences
The Sustainable Use License is the license under which n8n distributes its source code since version 0.214.0. It permits use, modification and self-hosting for your own internal purposes. It explicitly prohibits providing n8n or a derivative as a service to third parties without a commercial agreement with n8n GmbH.
The license text is public on the official repository: github.com/n8n-io/n8n/blob/master/LICENSE.md. The key restriction appears in the "Limitations" section: the licence limits use of the software to your own internal purposes; any provision to third parties — whether as a hosted service, managed tool, or component of a commercial offering — requires a commercial agreement with the publisher. This restriction redefines the legal scope for any agency that automates client processes.
Permitted use cases vs commercial agreement required
Scroll the table
| Scenario | SUL permits | Commercial agreement required |
|---|---|---|
| Automating your own internal processes (marketing, billing, CRM) | Yes — internal use without restriction | No |
| Deploying n8n on your VPS for internal needs | Yes — root access, no restriction | No |
| Building and maintaining your own n8n workflows | Yes — internal modification and fork included | No |
| Providing n8n hosted to a client as a managed service | No — explicit SUL restriction | Yes |
| Selling ready-to-use n8n workflows with access to your n8n instance | No — third-party access to instance | Yes |
| Integrating n8n into a SaaS product resold to third parties | No — provision to third parties | Yes |
| Using n8n internally to automate deliverables you invoice to clients | Yes — it is your production tool | No |
The objection "n8n calls itself open-source": why it does not hold
The confusion is understandable: n8n's code is public on GitHub, modifiable and self-hostable. But open-source under the OSI definition means the license grants without restriction the four fundamental freedoms — including commercial use, redistribution and provision to third parties.
The SUL is not an OSI-certified license. It is classified as fair-code (a term defined at faircode.io), an intermediate category between open-source and proprietary: the code is visible and modifiable, but commercial exploitation for third parties is conditional. n8n itself positions this choice as a way to fund development while keeping the code public.
The difference is contractually decisive: publishing the code does not create commercial usage rights. An agency that relies solely on the availability of code on GitHub to infer it can resell an n8n instance to clients is taking a real legal risk.
SAP's investment in n8n and the evolution of the commercial model
SAP announced an investment in n8n in 2023. This investment did not change the license in force, but it signals a trajectory: n8n is positioning itself in the enterprise automation market, in direct competition with Zapier, Make or Boomi.
This context matters for agencies on two counts. First, a company backed by SAP has the resources to enforce its intellectual property rights. Second, the terms of commercial agreements (Enterprise or reseller partnership) are likely to evolve — something an agency that has built its offering on n8n without a contractual agreement will discover at renewal or during an audit.
Prudence calls for treating the SUL as what it is: an enforceable contract, not a formality.
n8n Community Edition vs Enterprise: what each covers
n8n distributes two editions. The Community Edition is the one published under the SUL: it covers all automation nodes, workflows, webhooks and the API. It is suitable for internal use without significant functional limitations.
The Enterprise Edition adds features aimed at multi-team organizations: SSO (SAML/OIDC), audit logs, per-environment variable management, granular role-based access control (RBAC), and priority support. These features are not available in the Community Edition.
For an agency that wants to legally operate an n8n instance for its clients, neither the Community Edition nor the Enterprise Edition alone is sufficient: a reseller or OEM partnership agreement with n8n GmbH is also required, which carries the rights to provide the software to third parties. The Enterprise Edition alone, without a reseller agreement, does not lift the SUL restriction on provision to third parties.
The MIT-licensed alternative for agencies that resell: Activepieces
Activepieces is a no-code automation tool published under the MIT license — verifiable on its official repository: github.com/activepieces/activepieces/blob/main/LICENSE. The MIT license is OSI-certified and imposes no restriction on provision to third parties, redistribution or commercial use.
This makes it a directly usable alternative for agencies that want to offer automations to their clients without entering into a commercial relationship with a software vendor. Activepieces offers connectors to the main SaaS tools, a visual interface comparable to n8n, and a Docker-based deployment model on VPS.
Activepieces' functional maturity is lower than n8n's on certain advanced connectors, and its community node ecosystem is more limited. The choice depends on actual use: for an agency automating common processes (CRM, email, webhooks, data synchronization), Activepieces covers the majority of cases without license constraints. For complex technical integrations or specific n8n nodes, the n8n commercial agreement or an architecture that separates internal use from client service remains the right path.
If you must stay on n8n: the commercial agreement procedure
n8n offers two contractual paths for agencies and service providers.
First path: the direct Enterprise agreement. It covers multi-team use with SSO, audit log and RBAC, but does not automatically carry the rights to provide the software to third parties. Before signing, verify that the contract explicitly includes the right to provide n8n as a service to clients — this is not always the case in standard Enterprise contracts.
Second path: the reseller or OEM partnership. It is aimed at agencies that want to integrate n8n into their service offering. The terms (royalties, minimum volume, white label) are negotiated directly with n8n GmbH. The contact point is n8n.io/partners.
In both cases, no verbal agreement or mention of the Community Edition is sufficient: the SUL restriction only falls with a signed contractual document from n8n GmbH.
Structuring your service contract to stay within internal use
The boundary between "internal tool" and "service provided to a third party" is not always obvious in the daily work of an agency. Some practical rules to stay within the internal use permitted by the SUL.
What is internal: you use n8n to produce deliverables — reports, exported data, notifications — that you then transmit to your clients. n8n remains an internal production tool, like your code editor or project management tool.
What goes outside the internal scope: you give clients access to your n8n interface (even read-only), you host a dedicated n8n instance for each client, or you invoice for access to the automation functionality itself.
If in doubt about a current client contract, the analysis should focus on who accesses the n8n instance, not on what n8n produces.
Frequently asked questions about the n8n license
Can I host n8n on my VPS for my agency and automate my own operations without a commercial agreement?
Yes. Internal use is explicitly permitted by the SUL, without volume or node limits. You can automate your billing, CRM, internal reports, and production workflows without a commercial agreement.
Can my clients access my n8n instance as part of a project?
This is the scenario that falls outside the internal scope. As soon as a third party accesses the instance, the SUL restriction applies. The recommended separation: you automate and deliver results, not access to the tool.
Does the Enterprise agreement cover resale to clients?
Not automatically. The Enterprise Edition carries additional features, not third-party provision rights. Check the contract before signing.
Does Activepieces support the same connectors as n8n?
Activepieces covers common connectors (Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, HubSpot, generic webhooks). The n8n community node ecosystem is broader, particularly for advanced technical integrations. For common agency automations, both tools are comparable.
Does the SUL apply to self-hosted and n8n Cloud versions?
Yes. The SUL restriction applies to the software regardless of deployment mode (self-hosted, n8n Cloud). Purchasing an n8n Cloud plan does not create resale rights to third parties.
What this changes in your cost analysis
The promise of savings on automation costs compared to Zapier or Make is based on the absence of per-task pricing. It remains true for internal use.
But if your model includes providing n8n automations to your clients — whether as a managed service, packaged offering or SaaS component — the cost of the commercial agreement with n8n GmbH enters the equation. This cost is not public; it is negotiated.
The relevant comparison for an agency is therefore not n8n Community vs Zapier, but n8n Enterprise + reseller agreement vs Activepieces (MIT) vs pay-per-use solutions. The result depends on your automation volume and client portfolio.
A ServOrbit VPS with root access allows you to host n8n for your own internal use without SUL constraints, or Activepieces for your client offerings. The architecture decision precedes the license decision.
