n8n Commercial Use: What the License Allows and What It Does Not

This article summarizes the license and terms on n8n's official pages as checked on October 2, 2026. It is not legal advice. Licenses and terms may change. If you are unsure whether your use case applies, check with the n8n contacts listed at the end of this article.

The first thing to check for n8n commercial use is which edition you use. The edition you run on your own server and the cloud version operated by n8n follow different conditions.

Overview of n8n's licenses

n8n uses two licenses: the Sustainable Use License and the n8n Enterprise License. The official documentation explains that both are based on a concept called fair-code. The source code is public, but the conditions differ from typical open source licenses.

• Sustainable Use License: applies to most of the source code in the main GitHub repository. It covers the edition you run on your own server (Community edition)
• n8n Enterprise License: applies to enterprise features, such as source files with .ee. in their names
• Cloud version: a paid subscription governed by its own terms. The license FAQ does not apply to the cloud version

Until March 17, 2022, n8n used Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause added. The official documentation explains that the current license was created to remove restrictions on consulting and support services.

What the Sustainable Use License allows

LICENSE.md sets three restrictions. First, you may use or modify the software only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use. Second, you may distribute or make it available to others only for non-commercial purposes and at no charge. Third, you must not alter or remove license or copyright notices.

How far do internal business purposes extend? The license FAQ explains that they include cases where people outside your company receive or see the results of a workflow. It says you can use it without a license fee as long as only you or people in your company build or change the workflows. The FAQ gives the following examples of allowed uses.

• Using it to run your own business
• Using it for personal projects, learning and research
• Building automations for clients on your own instance, in a way clients cannot create or edit them
• Charging clients for building, configuring and maintaining workflows
• Charging clients for training or consulting
• Using n8n behind your own product so users run automations you built. Users may connect their own accounts
• Running several Community edition instances

The FAQ explains that the deciding factor is not whose credentials are used but who decides what the workflows contain. It says triggering existing workflows through the API or webhooks is fine.

Examples of uses that need permission

The license FAQ lists the following as things you cannot do under the Community terms.

• Hosting n8n as a service and letting clients build workflows
• Letting external users build or configure their own workflows through your product. This is the same whether it goes through your own interface, the n8n API, MCP or an AI agent acting for the user
• Forking the n8n code to release your own automation product
• Removing n8n's branding and offering it as is
• Using enterprise features that require a license key without an Enterprise License

The FAQ says that putting your own interface on top does not change the answer. If users decide what their automations contain, and the ability to build workflows is the core value of the product, it is not allowed. To build this kind of product, sign a separate commercial agreement with n8n.

When you sell or deliver workflows you built

The license FAQ explains how you may use n8n itself. It does not directly address buying and selling the workflow files themselves. When you sell, check for each delivery format whose n8n the workflows run on.

For products where n8n is installed on the client's server and the client enters their own credentials, the FAQ says this is allowed but can become a gray area. Because clients have hands-on access, it is hard to stop them from building workflows. If you sell in this form, the FAQ asks you to confirm your setup with n8n before release.

Publishing templates is another route. On the n8n Creator hub, you can publish paid templates once you have 3 approved templates. A comparison of sales channels is in How to Sell AI Agents You Built.

Enterprise and cloud terms

Enterprise License

Software covered by the Enterprise License requires a valid Enterprise license that matches your use in order to run in production. For development and testing, you may copy and modify it without a subscription. Copying, publishing, distributing, sublicensing or selling it for any other purpose is not allowed.

Cloud version

Paid self-serve plans are governed by the n8n Self-Serve Terms. These terms limit use of the cloud service to internal business purposes. You may not transfer, sell, distribute, lease or sublicense it to third parties. Enterprise customers have separate Master Enterprise Terms.

Under the terms, the workflows you build are your content. You keep the rights, and they are private by default. However, workflows you share publicly, such as on the forum, become available for other users to use and modify in their own projects. Decide how to handle workflows you plan to sell before you post them anywhere public.

Where to ask when unsure

The official documentation advises that if you are unsure whether your use counts as an internal business purpose, check the FAQ or contact the license team (license@n8n.io). For commercial license inquiries, contact sales (sales@n8n.io). The documentation also says a partner program for managing n8n across multiple client environments is in preparation.

Employee Store is a marketplace where companies adopt AI agents built by developers, through a one-time purchase or a monthly plan. n8n workflows can be listed too. There is no listing fee and no upfront cost. The commission is 20% of the deal amount and applies only when a deal closes. In your listing, explain how you deliver and which n8n edition the buyer will run it on. This makes it easier for buyers to decide. How to write it is explained in How to Write an AI Agent Listing.