Free automation in a product: check licences and running costs

Identify what the free label covers

Free can describe a software licence, workspace subscription or initial model allowance. Identify the layer before estimating servers, external services and maintenance. Without task-usage records, a complete workflow cannot be claimed to cost nothing.

n8n’s installation documentation describes free self-hosted Community software. Its licence page calls it source-available / fair-code and explicitly does not claim OSI open source. Readable source is not unrestricted commercial permission.[1][2]

Article sources[1][2][4][5]

n8n: establish whether customers can configure workflows

The official licence FAQ describes operator-built automations that customers can trigger or connect their accounts to, while customers creating or changing workflow logic is a different use. Hiding the n8n interface does not turn a customer-configurable automation product into internal use.[3]

The FAQ applies the same test to customer workflow configuration through a custom UI, API, MCP or an AI agent acting for the customer. Hosting n8n for customer workflow building, offering it as-is after removing branding, or using Enterprise features requiring a key is not authorized by the free Community-software description.[3]

• List the rules, nodes, steps and connections customers can change.
• Distinguish triggering an operator’s prebuilt workflow from creating automation logic.
• Record whether automation supports a separate product or is the main capability sold.
• Compare the actual architecture with current licence terms and keep unclear scope pending.

These are design checks organized from official information. No customer accounts, workflows or product-specific commercial agreement were configured or obtained.

Dify: review tenancy and frontend notices separately

The saved Dify LICENSE adds conditions to Apache 2.0. It describes commercial backend and enterprise-development-platform uses, while multi-tenant operation requires written authorization; one workspace is defined as one tenant. Review the deployed version and actual workspace structure rather than relying on the words commercial use.[4]

Using Dify’s frontend brings separate conditions on removing or changing its Logo and copyright information. Uses that do not involve that frontend are outside that particular frontend-notice restriction. Other conditions do not become satisfied automatically, and removing a brand mark does not establish watermark-free generated output.[4]

• Identify whether the product uses Dify’s frontend and which components are deployed.
• Map workspaces to customers.
• Check whether written permission covers the actual multi-tenant structure.
• Keep software licensing separate from input, model and output-material terms.

Dify Sandbox: one-time credits are not a recurring task budget

The saved Billing documentation describes the Sandbox-level model allowance as 200 one-time credits without a monthly refill. Credits measure model use, not completed workflows or customer tasks. The model, number of calls and workflow structure affect actual consumption.[5][6]

Model-provider documentation describes configuring your own provider accounts and keys, with charges going to that provider account. Your own key changes the access and billing path; it does not make inference automatically free. Cloud Sandbox conditions do not apply automatically to self-hosted Community.[6]

• Record the current model’s billing unit for each call.
• Count model calls and auxiliary services used by one complete task.
• Separate initial credits, recurring allowances and provider invoices.
• Keep estimates separate from actual bills; remaining credits do not prove ongoing free use.

Keep a check record for the actual product

• Software: which version, deployment form and licence file apply?
• Customers: can they only trigger existing workflows or create and change logic?
• Tenants: how do customers map to workspaces, and what written permission is needed?
• Notices: is the original frontend used, and how are Logo and copyright retained?
• Costs: who pays for servers, models, third-party services and maintenance?
• Outputs: what evidence covers input data, model terms and generated-result rights?
• Evidence: what is confirmed and what still needs current terms or actual-use records?

This is an original source-based explainer, not an installation tutorial, legal ruling, approved commercial architecture or hands-on task test. Software permission, model costs and output rights need separate evidence; conditions from different plans cannot be combined into a qualified recommendation. No deployment, provider-key setup or model call occurred. Complete plan reviews and task tests remain unfinished.