Does the n8n license or the Node-RED license fit your use case?
If your team is regulated and shortlisting both tools, settle the licensing question before the technical one. n8n is licensed under the Sustainable Use License, which is not an OSI open source license. It permits use and modification only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use, and distribution only free of charge for non-commercial purposes. Files with .ee in their name or directory are outside that license and require a valid n8n Enterprise License. Node-RED is Apache-2.0 licensed and governed by the OpenJS Foundation, which generally lets you use, modify, embed and redistribute it under the terms of that license, subject to its notice and attribution conditions.
The answer depends on how you will use the tool. If you run n8n only inside your own organization for internal business workflows, the Sustainable Use License may fit, but you must confirm that every use case, including workflows built for a subsidiary, a managed service provider or an outsourced operations team, counts as internal. If you embed the tool in a product, resell it, or give access to third parties such as customers or partners, the license is likely to be a blocker rather than a configuration issue. Ask counsel to read the license text against your exact deployment model, and ask n8n in writing how it applies to yours.
Before you commit, make three checks. List every .ee component you would rely on and confirm which n8n Enterprise License terms cover it. Map each planned use to the internal, non-commercial or personal categories. Then compare that map with Node-RED's Apache-2.0 terms and document the attribution obligations you would carry. For a full feature-by-feature view, read the n8n vs Node-RED comparison only as a pricing reference; the licensing decision should rest on the license text itself, reviewed with your legal team.
How the licenses compare on the terms that matter
This table sets n8n's Sustainable Use License against Node-RED's Apache-2.0 license, row by row, on the uses that decide most shortlists. Read each row as the fact the license states, then confirm the edge cases with counsel before you commit.
| Term | n8n (Sustainable Use License) | Node-RED (Apache-2.0) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal business use | Permitted for your own internal business purposes, per the license text | Permitted; Apache-2.0 places no field-of-use limit on running the software |
| Modification | Permitted for internal business, non-commercial or personal use only | Permitted, including for distribution of modified versions under Apache-2.0 terms |
| Embedding in a product you sell | Not covered by the grant for commercial distribution; confirm with counsel before embedding | Permitted under Apache-2.0, subject to its notice and attribution conditions |
| Resale or hosting for customers | Not permitted as a commercial offering; confirm scope of any managed service with counsel | Permitted; Apache-2.0 does not restrict commercial hosting or resale |
| Distribution | Free of charge and only for non-commercial purposes | Permitted under Apache-2.0 with license text and notices included |
| Enterprise-only code | Files with .ee in the name or directory require a valid n8n Enterprise License | No separate enterprise license tier is stated in the supplied license facts; confirm with the FlowFuse or OpenJS sources |
| OSI open source status | Not OSI open source; it is fair-code under the Sustainable Use License | OSI-approved Apache-2.0; governed by the OpenJS Foundation |
What the Sustainable Use License allows inside your organization
The Sustainable Use License permits you to use and modify n8n for your own internal business purposes, or for non-commercial or personal use. For most organizations that run n8n to automate their own back office, that covers the core case. The limit that matters is distribution: the license allows you to distribute n8n only free of charge and only for non-commercial purposes. Selling a hosted n8n service, bundling it into a product you charge for, or offering automation as a managed service to outside customers falls outside that grant. Read the license text in the n8n LICENSE.md file before you assume any commercial use is covered.
The free Community edition is not a separate, more permissive license. It runs under the same Sustainable Use License as the rest of the repository, so the same internal-use boundary applies to it. Paid plans change what features and support you receive, and files with .ee in their name or directory require a valid n8n Enterprise License. Pricing pages describe commercial packaging, and they can change. The license text governs your legal position, so treat the pricing page as a summary and the LICENSE.md file as the controlling document when you write your internal policy.
Internal use gets harder to judge once affiliates, contractors and customers enter the picture. Ask counsel to decide whether a subsidiary's staff, an outsourced integration partner operating n8n on your behalf, or a customer who receives output from a workflow falls within your organization's internal business purposes. Put that answer in writing before you build client-facing automations on n8n. Compare that review with the Apache-2.0 terms of Node-RED, which carry a different set of permissions and obligations and should be reviewed on their own merits.
Which n8n features sit behind .ee files and an Enterprise license
n8n's licensing boundary is not only a license question. Some capabilities sit behind files marked .ee, some behind the Business or Enterprise plans, and some behind the Enterprise license alone. Check each item against your own n8n version before you assume a feature is free to self-host.
Files marked with .ee
Files or directories with .ee in their name are not covered by the Sustainable Use License. Using them requires a valid n8n Enterprise License, regardless of whether you run the software internally. For a Node-RED comparison, this is the point where n8n's source tree stops being usable under the same terms as an Apache-2.0 project. Before you build a self-hosted design on n8n, list which .ee paths your chosen release contains and map each feature you need to one of them. Ask n8n in writing which .ee components are needed for your use case.
Enterprise license requirement
Any .ee code you run needs a valid n8n Enterprise License. Node-RED under Apache-2.0 carries no equivalent gate for its core runtime and editor, so the licensing comparison changes here. Confirm with n8n what happens to your deployment if a license key expires or is not renewed, and whether features already in use stop working. Also confirm whether license terms cover every environment you plan to run, such as staging and disaster recovery.
Multi-main high availability
Running several main instances for high availability is restricted to Enterprise self-hosted deployments. It is not available in the Community edition or on n8n Cloud. Queue mode alone, with one main instance, Redis and workers, is a different setup and does not provide multi-main failover. Teams that need main-instance redundancy should size this as an Enterprise purchase before choosing n8n, and should compare against the Node-RED path, where high availability is an architecture you design yourself.
SSO, LDAP and Git environments
The pricing page lists SSO and LDAP, environments with Git, and log streaming as included only in the Business and Enterprise plans. SAML single sign-on is available on those two plans, with setup guides for Okta Workforce Identity and Azure AD. Note that the Business plan is self-hosted only, so teams that want these features on n8n Cloud must look at Enterprise. Check your identity provider and directory needs against the plan that includes them.
Log streaming and governance features
Log streaming sits in the paid tiers alongside Git-based environments, so audit and monitoring pipelines depend on the edition you buy. Enterprise also adds dedicated support with an SLA, which Community users do not receive from n8n. If your security monitoring, change control or evidence collection depends on exporting n8n logs, confirm which edition delivers that export and whether it covers the events your auditors will ask about. Node-RED has no equivalent licensed tier, so these controls are built by your team or by a services partner.
Confirm the .ee inventory in your version
The .ee boundary is defined by file and directory names in the repository, and the set can change between releases. n8n's current stable line is 2.x, with 1.x still receiving releases, so a version you deploy today may differ from the one in a shortlist document. Before signing a license, run a search for .ee paths in the exact release you plan to deploy and record the result. Repeat the check at each upgrade, since a new feature can arrive in an .ee file.
What Node-RED's Apache 2.0 license permits instead
Apache-2.0 is a permissive license, and that is the main reason it changes the shortlist conversation. Node-RED is licensed under Apache-2.0 and is governed by the OpenJS Foundation, so an internal team can run it for business purposes, modify it, embed the runtime in a product, redistribute it and sell a commercial product built on it without asking the project for a separate commercial grant. The license does not carry the internal-use limit that shapes the Sustainable Use License, and it has no .ee file carve-out that requires a paid key to use a given feature. Confirm the exact terms in the license text in the Node-RED repository before you rely on them in a contract, and have counsel review what you ship alongside it.
The license still carries obligations you must plan for. Apache-2.0 asks you to keep copyright and license notices, to state changes you make to modified files, and to include the license when you redistribute. It also contains a patent grant and a patent termination clause, which matter if your legal team tracks patent exposure for embedded or redistributed software. For a self-hosted deployment inside your own network, these are mostly documentation tasks. For a product you ship to customers, they belong in your release checklist and your third-party notices file, and they should be assigned to a named owner before the first release.
FlowFuse is a separate company. Nick O'Leary co-created Node-RED and founded FlowFuse, Inc. in 2021 to develop Node-RED for enterprise and industrial use, according to the Node-RED about page. Its commercial offerings are a separate contract with a separate vendor and do not change the Apache-2.0 terms of the open-source project. Ask any vendor, FlowFuse included, which features and support terms are theirs, which come from the open-source project, and what you would keep if you stopped paying. That question separates a license decision from a support decision, and it keeps the two from being treated as one line item.
How the license decides the choice in four common scenarios
Running n8n to automate your own company's processes is the case the Sustainable Use License was written to allow. The license permits use and modification for your own internal business purposes, so an operations team that connects its CRM, ticketing and finance tools on a self-hosted instance stays within the grant. Node-RED also permits this use under Apache-2.0, so for internal automation the license rarely separates the two tools. The license question here usually comes down to which features you need and whether they sit behind the .ee files that require an n8n Enterprise License.
- Internal use is explicitly covered: Using n8n for your own business processes falls within the stated purpose, provided the work is internal rather than delivered to outside parties.
- Node-RED has no use restriction: Apache-2.0 permits internal use without a field-of-use condition, so no commercial purpose needs separate reading.
- Enterprise features are a separate matter: Files with .ee in their name need an n8n Enterprise License, regardless of whether the use is internal.
- Support and SSO are not license terms: SSO and Git environments are plan features in n8n's pricing, which is a commercial question rather than a licensing one.
- Illustrative case: A bank's internal operations team automating its own reconciliation tasks would likely find both tools license-compatible.
Before committing, check with counsel that every planned n8n feature is outside the .ee files, and confirm the current license text in the repository.
Embedding means shipping automation inside your own commercial software, such as a SaaS product that runs n8n workflows behind its features. The Sustainable Use License does not grant rights for this, because it limits use to your own internal business, non-commercial or personal purposes and permits distribution only free of charge for non-commercial purposes. A commercial product that bundles n8n sits outside those terms, so the vendor must negotiate a different license. Node-RED under Apache-2.0 is a permissive license that generally allows redistribution and embedding in commercial products, subject to its attribution and notice conditions.
- Commercial embedding falls outside the grant: The Sustainable Use License does not cover distribution for commercial purposes.
- Apache-2.0 permits redistribution: Node-RED can be bundled into commercial products subject to license notices.
- Enterprise code adds a second condition: Any embedded .ee files also require an n8n Enterprise License.
- Product roadmap matters: A feature that embeds n8n today may need a different license once it is sold to customers.
- Illustrative case: An industrial software vendor shipping an automation module to paying customers would have to resolve the n8n terms before release, while the same module built on Node-RED would turn on attribution and notice requirements.
Have counsel review the embedding model and the notice obligations of Apache-2.0 before any build or release decision.
A managed service provider that runs automation for clients, or resells a hosted automation offering, is the case where the Sustainable Use License is most restrictive. Operating n8n for a client's benefit is not the client's own internal business use in the sense the license grants, and distribution is limited to free, non-commercial use. Node-RED's Apache-2.0 license imposes no such field-of-use limit, so a provider can operate and resell Node-RED-based services under its terms. The provider must still meet the notice and attribution duties of the license and confirm how its own service terms are drafted.
- Managed operation is the key risk: Running n8n for clients is a different use from running it for your own business, so the grant may not reach it.
- Resale is not covered: Charging clients for automation built on the Sustainable Use License needs a separate commercial arrangement.
- Node-RED has no field-of-use limit: Apache-2.0 allows commercial operation and resale, subject to notice requirements.
- Support obligations differ: n8n's dedicated support and SLA sit in the Enterprise plan, while Node-RED support depends on the operator or a vendor such as FlowFuse.
- Illustrative case: A consultancy building client workflows on its own hosted n8n would need a license arrangement with n8n before it could bill for the service.
Ask counsel to confirm whether a commercial agreement with n8n is required for your managed service model.
Plant floor and edge deployments usually run on hardware the operator owns, connect to sensors, PLCs and local dashboards, and often have no outside customer relationship. Node-RED is designed for this work, runs on a Node.js runtime, and is licensed under Apache-2.0 with no restriction on industrial use. The Node-RED 5.0 release requires a 64-bit operating system and Node.js 22.9.0 or later, with Node.js 24 recommended, so older Raspberry Pi models are excluded for hardware reasons rather than license reasons. n8n's license would only be an issue if the plant operator's use fell outside internal business purposes, such as supplying the automation to another company.
- Node-RED fits edge use without license conditions: Apache-2.0 places no industry restriction on operating flows on plant hardware.
- Hardware requirements are the real gate: Node-RED 5.0 requires a 64-bit OS, so confirm your device base before planning.
- Editor security needs attention: The Node-RED editor is not secured by default, so access controls matter more on plant networks.
- Supplying automation to others changes the picture: If a plant operator installs the system for a partner, the n8n terms apply to that distribution.
- Illustrative case: A manufacturer running flows on its own line controllers' gateways faces no licensing question with Node-RED, while the same flows on n8n would still be covered for internal use.
Confirm the license terms with counsel if the automation will be handed to a third party or installed at customer sites.
How to confirm the license fit in your own environment
This sequence turns a licensing question into a written record: each intended use mapped to the license terms, each n8n feature checked against the .ee rule, and a counsel decision you can file with the shortlist.
List every intended use of each tool
Name each way the platform will be used: internal business automation, embedding inside a product, resale or reselling a managed service, and any customer-facing workflow. Assign an owner for each use, usually the platform lead with input from product and sales. The step is done when every use has a written description, a named owner and a note on whether end customers will ever touch the workflows or the editor. Without this list, the license comparison has nothing to test against.
Map n8n files and features to the .ee rule
For the n8n target version, have the engineering lead list the features you plan to use and check which ones depend on files with .ee in their name or directory. Under n8n's LICENSE.md, those files are not covered by the Sustainable Use License and need a valid n8n Enterprise License. Record the version you tested, the feature, the owning file path and whether the feature is needed for launch. The output is a feature-to-license table that a reviewer can re-run when you upgrade across the 2.x line or stay on 1.x.
Check LICENSE.md and the current pricing page
Read the n8n LICENSE.md file in the version you will deploy, then compare its permitted purposes with the intended uses from step one. Check the n8n pricing page on the day of review, because it lists which plans include SSO, Git environments and log streaming, and which plans are self-hosted only. Ask n8n in writing to confirm how the license applies to your specific embedding or resale model. The output is a dated screenshot or saved copy of both documents plus the vendor's written answer.
Review Node-RED Apache-2.0 notice obligations
Node-RED is licensed under Apache-2.0 and governed by the OpenJS Foundation, which permits commercial use, embedding and redistribution, subject to the license's notice and attribution terms. Have the engineering lead inventory every bundled node package, flow library item and third-party dependency that will ship with your deployment, and confirm each one's license separately, since the flow library contains over 5,000 community-contributed nodes. The output is a license inventory with a notice file for the distributed build, and a list of nodes whose license terms need legal review before use.
Check the Node-RED version and runtime requirements
Confirm the Node-RED release line you plan to run and its runtime requirements. Node-RED 5.0 requires Node.js 22.9.0 or later with Node.js 24 recommended, and needs a 64-bit operating system, so older Raspberry Pi models are not supported. Record which release line you will track and where its security fixes are published, using the Node-RED releases page. The output is a version record that connects the license review to the operating platform, so the approval does not rest on a version you will not run.
Ask each vendor for written confirmations
Send each vendor a short written request. From n8n, ask whether your intended embedding, customer-facing or resale use falls within the Sustainable Use License, which .ee files your features depend on, and what Enterprise License terms cover them. From the Node-RED side, ask the OpenJS Foundation or your legal team to confirm the notice requirements for your distribution model. Request the response in writing and record who gave it and when. The output is a dated vendor response file that counsel can rely on or challenge.
Obtain written counsel sign-off
Give counsel the intended-use list, the .ee feature table, the license inventory, the version record and the vendor responses. Ask counsel for a written opinion on each intended use, separately for n8n and Node-RED, and for any use that falls outside the internal, non-commercial or personal purposes the Sustainable Use License covers. Ask them to name the conditions attached to approval and the trigger events that require a new review, such as a new customer-facing feature or a change in pricing terms. The step is complete when the signed opinion is filed with the shortlist and the owner of each condition is named.
Licensing questions buyers ask before hiring help
Can we embed n8n inside a commercial product we sell?
Not under the Sustainable Use License alone. The license permits use and modification only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use, and distribution only free of charge for non-commercial purposes. Embedding n8n in a product you sell to customers falls outside that grant, so the question becomes a commercial licensing conversation with n8n rather than a configuration choice. Before you design around embedding, have counsel read the n8n license text against your product model, and confirm in writing with n8n what terms, if any, apply to your use. Also check that no .ee files end up in the deployment unless you hold an Enterprise License.
What does an n8n Enterprise license cost and how is it quoted?
n8n lists Enterprise at custom pricing for self-hosted or cloud, so there is no published figure to plan against. The quote depends on the deployment model, the features you need, and the support scope, and n8n's pricing page states that Enterprise adds dedicated support with an SLA. Ask for the price in writing, the license term, what happens at renewal, and which features are gated, including log streaming, external secrets and multi-main high availability. Also ask whether a license is required for every environment, such as staging and disaster recovery, because that changes the count. Compare the quote with the Business plan, which the pricing page lists at 667 euros per month billed annually and which is self-hosted only, and with the free Community edition if SSO and Git are not required.
Does Node-RED require a license fee for commercial use?
No license fee is set by the Node-RED project itself. Node-RED is Apache-2.0 licensed and governed by the OpenJS Foundation, which means you can use, modify and redistribute it under that permissive license, subject to its notice and attribution terms. Your real costs sit elsewhere: the engineering effort to build and maintain flows, hosting, and any commercial support you choose to buy. If you want enterprise tooling, FlowFuse, Inc., founded in 2021 by Node-RED co-creator Nick O'Leary, develops Node-RED for enterprise and industrial use, and its terms are a separate matter. Confirm with your legal team that any third-party nodes you install carry licenses compatible with your distribution model, because the flow library contains over 5,000 community-contributed nodes with their own terms.
How long does a licensing review take for n8n or Node-RED?
No supplied fact gives a duration, so treat any number you hear as a claim to verify. The timeline depends on how many use cases you have, whether you plan to embed or resell, whether n8n's commercial terms must be negotiated, and how quickly your legal team can review the license against your product and customer contracts. A narrow internal-use question, such as running n8n for your own staff, is usually shorter than a review covering customer-facing distribution. Ask any firm you hire for a written timeline tied to a defined scope, listing the license documents reviewed, the questions answered, and the decisions that remain with your counsel.
Can our team review n8n and Node-RED licensing without outside help?
Yes, for a bounded question, your own legal and engineering staff can read the primary texts and map them to your use. Start with the Sustainable Use License in the n8n repository, the rule that .ee files need an Enterprise License, and the Apache-2.0 terms that cover Node-RED. Build a short matrix of your use cases: internal operations, customer-facing embedding, resale, and internal tools that touch customer data. Outside help becomes useful when the answer determines a commercial contract or a product architecture, because interpretation of license scope in those cases carries legal risk that a checklist cannot settle. Your counsel makes the legal call; an implementation partner can document the technical controls, such as which editions and features are in use.
What does a licensing review need from legal and engineering?
Legal owns the interpretation, and engineering owns the facts the interpretation depends on. Legal needs the use cases, the customer and distribution model, any plans to embed or resell, and the contracts that govern hosted or internal use. Engineering needs an inventory of every n8n and Node-RED deployment, the editions and features in use, whether any .ee components are present, which third-party nodes or custom code are installed, and where encryption keys and credentials are stored. Ask the reviewer for a list of open questions that only the vendor can answer, and get those answers in writing before you rely on them.
What should we ask for in a licensing quote?
Ask for a fixed written scope before any work starts, listing the platforms, the use cases, the editions in play, and the deliverables. A useful quote separates one-time work, such as the license inventory and the written decision memo, from recurring items, such as a renewal review after n8n or Node-RED releases change terms. Ask who is paid for what, whether the vendor's fee excludes legal advice, and how changes to scope are priced. Also request the assumptions behind the estimate and the exclusions, because most cost differences trace back to whether embedding, resale or multiple environments were included.
What switching later costs if the license changes
Switching costs depend on how far a team has built on each tool, so the first step is an inventory, not a price. List every production workflow in n8n, every Node-RED flow, the credentials each one uses, and every community or third-party node each one depends on. A team with a dozen simple workflows that call standard APIs faces a very different rebuild than a team with flows wired into custom code, internal databases and scheduled jobs. The inventory tells you whether a move is a few weeks of rework or a re-architecture that should be scoped as a separate project with its own written plan.
Moving flows between the two tools is not a file copy. n8n workflows are exported as JSON, and Node-RED flows are also stored as JSON, but the node types, parameters and credential references do not map one to one, so each flow must be rebuilt and tested against the target tool. Credentials are the largest hidden item. n8n encrypts stored credentials with the instance encryption key, and Node-RED keeps its credentials in a separate encrypted file tied to its own settings, so secrets need to be re-entered and rotated rather than carried across. Confirm the export path, including whether credentials can be exported at all, in the exact n8n and Node-RED versions you run, because export behavior has changed between releases.
The licensing question matters most if you already ship a product that embeds either tool. Under the Sustainable Use License, n8n permits use for your own internal business purposes and does not permit distributing it as part of a commercial offering, so a product built on n8n for paying customers needs a legal review against the license text and, where it applies, an n8n Enterprise License for any .ee files. Node-RED under Apache-2.0 allows commercial redistribution with attribution and license notices, which is why a switch can be driven by a product decision rather than a usage limit. Have counsel confirm the obligations for your specific distribution model before committing to a rebuild.
How DeployOpen works on this
DeployOpen helps teams turn the n8n versus Node-RED licensing question into a written scope: which use cases fall under the Sustainable Use License, which .ee features would need an n8n Enterprise License, and what Apache-2.0 permits for Node-RED. We then build, document and hand over the chosen platform inside your own infrastructure.
How we scope
- Engagements are fixed-scope, with deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts.
- The written scope maps each planned use case, including internal use, embedding and any resale, to the license that governs it.
- We list which .ee features and n8n edition tiers your requirements would depend on, so the license decision is documented.
How we build
- We deploy the chosen platform in your cloud account, data center or air-gapped network, not on a DeployOpen-hosted service.
- Where n8n is selected, we configure queue mode components, Redis and PostgreSQL to the agreed design and document the encryption key handling.
- Where Node-RED is selected, we secure the editor and admin API with the authentication method your security team approves.
How we hand over
- You receive written documentation of the license analysis, the architecture, and the configuration choices made during the rollout.
- We provide a list of open questions for your legal counsel and vendor, such as edition terms and redistribution rights, to confirm before go-live.
- Knowledge transfer covers operating the platform, backups and upgrade steps, so your team can run it without us.
How we support
- Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as a retainer agreed separately from the initial scope.
- When n8n or Node-RED releases a new line, we can assess the upgrade path and the impact on your documented license position.
- Any change to planned use, such as adding a resale model, triggers a scope update in writing before new work begins.
