Many of our daily tasks involve moving information between different apps. You might copy customer details from a form into a spreadsheet, then manually send a welcome message in a chat app. Each step is simple, but together they add up to a lot of repetitive work.

n8n (pronounced "n-eight-n") is a tool designed to eliminate this kind of manual effort. It acts like a digital switchboard operator, automatically connecting your different applications and services. You tell it what to do once, and it handles the task for you every time.

This process is called workflow automation. Instead of you manually copying and pasting, n8n creates a seamless, automated flow of information between your tools.

You build these automations in a visual editor, often called a canvas. You don't write traditional code. Instead, you connect pre-made blocks called nodes. Each node represents a single step in your process, like "Read from a spreadsheet" or "Send an email."

A workflow always starts with a trigger node. This is the event that kicks everything off. It could be a new email arriving, a form being submitted, or just a set time of day. From there, you add action nodes that perform the tasks you need.

You connect these nodes to create a sequence of events. The output of one node becomes the input for the next, letting you pass data along the chain. This simple drag-and-drop system makes it possible to build complex automations without needing to be a programmer.

n8n comes with a huge library of pre-built integrations for hundreds of popular apps and services. This means you can easily connect to tools like Google Drive, Slack, Stripe, or Notion right out of the box.

But what if you need to connect to a service that isn't on the list, or perform a very specific task? This is where n8n's flexibility shines. For more technical users, it's possible to write custom JavaScript or Python code directly inside a workflow. This opens the door to automating almost any process you can imagine, even if a pre-built node doesn't exist for it.

You have two main options for using n8n: self-hosting or using their cloud service.

Self-hosting means you install and run the n8n software on your own server. This gives you complete control over your data and how the platform is configured. It's a great option if you have strict data privacy requirements or want to customize the setup extensively.

n8n Cloud is the managed, paid version. They handle all the setup, maintenance, and updates for you. This is the easiest way to get started, as you can just sign up and begin building workflows immediately without worrying about server management.

n8n operates on what's called a "fair-code" license. This means the source code is available for anyone to see and use. You can self-host and modify it freely for internal use. However, the license includes some restrictions on offering n8n commercially as a standalone product. This model supports the open-source community while allowing the company to build a sustainable business.