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n8n

Definition

n8n is a workflow automation platform, self-hosted or cloud, that connects apps and APIs in visual workflows and supports custom code and AI agent steps.

Updated

How it works

A workflow starts from a trigger, such as a webhook, a schedule, a new row in a sheet or a new email, and passes data through nodes. Each node calls an app (HubSpot, Slack, Gmail, Postgres and hundreds more), reshapes data, branches, or runs your own JavaScript or Python in a Code node. AI steps are nodes too. The AI Agent node connects a model to tools and memory, so one step in an otherwise fixed workflow can read an email and decide what to do with it.

Two facts matter for buyers. n8n is source-available under its Sustainable Use License, which permits use for your own internal business purposes; enterprise features need a paid license (license text). And n8n Cloud prices by workflow executions, so a 30-step run counts the same as a 3-step run (n8n pricing).

How businesses use it

n8n suits teams that want control. Self-hosting keeps data inside your own infrastructure, and execution-based pricing keeps long, multi-step workflows affordable. Typical builds route inbound leads into a CRM with enrichment, sync orders between systems, run approval flows for invoices, and add AI steps that classify or draft. We compare it with the alternatives in n8n vs Make vs Zapier.

Every workflow we build runs on the client's own n8n instance or account, with an error workflow that alerts a named person when a run fails.

Where it goes wrong

Self-hosting costs staff time. Someone has to patch the server, run backups, upgrade n8n and watch failed executions. If nobody on your team will own that, use n8n Cloud or an automation care plan.

The other risk is sprawl: dozens of workflows built by different people with no naming, no error handling and one shared login. Document each workflow, set up error alerts, and keep secrets in n8n's credential store.

n8n is the wrong pick when the workflows are short and non-technical staff need to maintain them alone. Zapier is easier for that.

Related terms

  • Function calling

    Function calling lets a language model ask your software to run a named function, such as a CRM lookup, by returning the function name and arguments as JSON.

  • Model Context Protocol

    The Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI applications to outside tools and data, so a single integration works across compatible assistants and agents.

  • AI agent

    An AI agent is a language model that chooses and calls tools in a loop, reading each result, until it finishes a task or hands off to a person.

  • Human-in-the-loop

    Human-in-the-loop is a workflow design where a person reviews, corrects or approves an AI system's output at set points before it reaches a customer or a system of record.

  • Intelligent document processing

    Intelligent document processing uses OCR and AI models to read documents such as invoices, contracts and forms, extract the fields you need, check them and post them into your systems.

All 30 definitions are in the AI and search glossary.

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