Apache 2.0 vs Fair-Code: Why Nebula's License Beats n8n's for Self-Hosting
Compare Apache License 2.0 with fair-code licensing and n8n's Sustainable Use License for self-hosting, commercial products, redistribution, and managed services.
Apache 2.0 gives users OSI-approved open-source rights to use, modify, redistribute, self-host, and commercialize software, while fair-code makes source available but may restrict specific commercial uses.
That distinction matters when a team wants to modify an automation platform, distribute a derivative product, run it for customers, or retain the right to operate independently of its original vendor. Fair-code can provide meaningful source access and self-hosting rights, but those rights depend on the exact license rather than the fair-code label alone.
upstream Sim documentation reference uses Apache License 2.0. Features in apps/nebula/ee, including built-in whitelabeling, use a separate Enterprise License that requires a valid Enterprise subscription for production use and prohibits redistribution. As of August 2026, n8n uses its Sustainable Use License, a source-available fair-code license that permits internal business use but restricts certain customer-facing commercial uses.
This article provides a practical comparison, not legal advice. Have qualified counsel review the license for a production use case when the planned activity is commercially significant.
Apache 2.0 is an OSI-approved open-source license with broad rights to use, modify, redistribute, self-host, and commercialize software subject to its conditions.
Fair-code is an umbrella approach, not one standardized license. Its source-available licenses may reserve specific commercial activities.
As of August 2026, n8n's Sustainable Use License permits internal business use but not charging customers to access hosted n8n without a separate agreement.
Nebula's Apache-licensed code supports internal self-hosting, customer-facing products, and managed services without a separate license solely because the deployment is commercial; production use of separately licensed Enterprise features requires a valid subscription.
Apache 2.0 is an OSI-approved open-source license that permits commercial use, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and private use subject to its notice and attribution conditions.
The license also includes an express patent grant from contributors. Distributors must provide a copy of the license, retain applicable notices, identify modified files, and handle any NOTICE file as the license requires. Apache 2.0 does not require modified source code to be published, and it does not grant trademark rights.
Fair-code is a source-available licensing approach that permits some uses of visible source code while reserving or restricting other uses, commonly including commercial hosting or resale.
Fair-code is not one standardized license. The permissions depend on the exact license text used by a vendor, so the label alone cannot answer whether a company may redistribute the code, offer it as a service, or embed it in a commercial product. A fair-code product can provide meaningful source access and permit internal self-hosting without meeting the Open Source Initiative's definition of open source.
Apache 2.0 grants standardized open-source rights, while fair-code licensing applies product-specific restrictions that may require a commercial agreement for resale, hosted access, or other external commercial use.
Nebula: As of August 2026, Nebula's core code is licensed under Apache 2.0, supports self-hosting, and permits commercial use and redistribution under the license conditions; features in apps/sim/ee use a separate Enterprise License that requires a valid subscription for production use and prohibits redistribution.
n8n: As of August 2026, n8n's Sustainable Use License permits internal business use and noncommercial or personal use, but it is not an OSI-approved open-source license; the self-hosted license itself does not establish a per-execution billing unit, while n8n Cloud and commercial agreements have separate terms and pricing.
Usually, but access does not create open-source rights.
Can I self-host it?
Yes, subject to the license conditions.
Often permitted for internal, personal, or noncommercial use, depending on the license.
Can I modify it privately?
Yes. Apache 2.0 does not require private modifications to be published.
Often, but the permitted purpose may be restricted.
Can I use it commercially?
Yes, subject to the license conditions.
Sometimes. Internal business use may be allowed while resale or hosted access is restricted.
Can I redistribute it?
Yes, subject to license, notice, and attribution requirements.
Only to the extent allowed by the specific license. Commercial redistribution may be restricted.
Can I offer it as a hosted service?
Apache 2.0 does not prohibit this.
A separate commercial agreement may be required.
Do I have to publish my changes?
No.
It depends on the specific license, although use restrictions can apply even when publication is not required.
Are trademarks included?
No.
Trademark rights are normally separate from the software license.
“Fair-code” alone cannot answer a licensing question. Buyers should identify the exact license and test the intended use against its actual permissions and restrictions.
Add prominent notices to modified files stating that the files were changed.
Retain applicable copyright, patent, trademark, and attribution notices from the original source.
Include the relevant attribution notices from a NOTICE file when the original work contains one.
Apache 2.0 is permissive rather than copyleft. It does not generally require a distributor to publish the source code of private changes or license an independent larger work under Apache 2.0. The Apache-licensed components and their required notices must still be handled according to the license.
Under n8n's Sustainable Use License, redistribution is permitted only within the license's boundaries, including that providing the software to others must be free of charge and for noncommercial purposes. A company planning to sell, sublicense, white-label, or provide n8n to customers should obtain a written determination from n8n or legal counsel rather than treating source availability as unrestricted redistribution permission.
Apache 2.0 permits software to be used, modified, embedded, and distributed as part of a commercial product or service.
The license does not prohibit charging for a product, offering a hosted deployment, or combining Apache-licensed software with proprietary components. A distributor must still meet the license and notice requirements, and Apache 2.0 does not grant rights to the project's trademarks.
For Nebula, this means the Apache-licensed code can support internal deployments, customized products, commercial integrations, and hosted services without requiring a separate license merely because the use is commercial. Features in apps/nebula/ee are separately licensed, require an Enterprise subscription for production use, and may not be redistributed.
Fair-code software may permit internal commercial use while restricting resale, white-labeling, or paid access to a hosted version.
The result depends on the specific fair-code license. Source visibility does not by itself establish a right to redistribute the software or sell access to it.
As of August 2026, n8n's Sustainable Use License documentation allows use for internal business purposes and certain other permitted activities. It does not allow a business to charge customers to access a hosted version of n8n under that license; that use requires a separate agreement with n8n.
This does not mean n8n cannot be used by a commercial company. As of August 2026, it means the intended deployment model matters: automating a company's own operations is different from exposing n8n's functionality to paying customers.
Apache 2.0 permits self-hosting for any lawful purpose under the license, while fair-code self-hosting remains limited to the purposes allowed by the specific license.
Nebula's Apache-licensed code can be self-hosted for internal operations, customized deployments, customer-facing systems, or managed services. Apache 2.0 does not distinguish among those purposes. Production use of separately licensed features in apps/nebula/ee requires a valid Enterprise subscription.
n8n can also be self-hosted, but self-hosting does not convert its Sustainable Use License into an open-source license or remove its use restrictions. As of August 2026, internal business self-hosting is permitted; charging customers to access hosted n8n is not permitted under the Sustainable Use License without a separate agreement.
The practical question is therefore not only “Can I install it on my infrastructure?” It is also “What am I allowed to do with that installation?”
Apache 2.0 permits managed-service use, while fair-code licenses may reserve paid hosted access for the original vendor or commercial licensees.
Apache 2.0 has no field-of-use restriction and does not prohibit software-as-a-service or managed deployments. Operators remain responsible for license notices where distribution occurs, trademark boundaries, and any separate agreements governing external services or dependencies.
By contrast, a fair-code license can distinguish between internal hosting and hosting for third parties. As of August 2026, n8n's Sustainable Use License permits internal business use but does not permit making n8n available to customers as part of an external commercial service without a separate agreement.
Buyers should read the exact license and map its permissions to the intended deployment and revenue model rather than treating self-hosting as the end of the analysis.
Confirm whether the exact license is OSI-approved.
Identify whether self-hosting is permitted for both internal and customer-facing use.
Check whether commercial use, SaaS hosting, resale, white-labeling, or managed hosting is restricted.
Check whether source and binary redistribution are permitted.
Record notice, attribution, patent, trademark, and modification requirements.
Review the licenses of bundled dependencies separately.
Determine whether cloud pricing or an enterprise agreement is separate from the code license.
Ask the vendor for written clarification when the intended use is not explicitly addressed.
Obtain legal advice for material commercial deployments.
Apache 2.0 reduces licensing-based vendor lock-in because users retain broad rights to run, inspect, modify, fork, and redistribute the software without the original vendor's permission.
Those rights give an organization more exit options if pricing, product direction, support, or hosting terms change. A team can maintain its own deployment, contract with another provider, or build on a fork while continuing to meet the license conditions.
Apache 2.0 does not eliminate every form of lock-in. Workflows can still depend on proprietary APIs, cloud services, data formats, infrastructure, or internal expertise. Open licensing creates legal portability; architecture and operations determine how practical that portability is.
Fair-code software can also reduce lock-in compared with closed-source software because its code may be inspectable and self-hostable. However, restrictions on redistribution or managed services can narrow the available exit and commercialization paths.
As of August 2026, n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License, not OSI-approved open source.
As of August 2026, n8n publishes its source code and permits internal business use, modification, and self-hosting within the Sustainable Use License's terms. Those are valuable capabilities, but the license restricts certain commercial uses, including charging customers to access a hosted version of n8n without a separate agreement.
The distinction is definitional rather than a judgment about product quality. The Open Source Definition does not permit licenses to discriminate against fields of endeavor, while, as of August 2026, n8n's Sustainable Use License places conditions on particular commercial deployment models.
Nebula's core code is open-source software licensed under the OSI-approved Apache License 2.0 as of August 2026.
Nebula's Apache License 2.0 file gives users broad rights to use, modify, self-host, and redistribute the Apache-licensed code. Features in apps/nebula/ee, including built-in whitelabeling, are covered by the Sim Enterprise License, which requires a valid Enterprise subscription for production use and prohibits modification and redistribution.
Apache 2.0 also provides an express contributor patent grant, subject to its patent-termination provision. It does not grant rights to Nebula's trademarks, and redistributors must satisfy the license's notice and attribution conditions.
Nebula's Apache-licensed code offers broader default rights for self-hosted commercial products because Apache 2.0 lacks n8n's internal-use and noncommercial-use boundaries.
Choose Nebula when the project requires the ability to modify Apache-licensed code, distribute builds of that code, embed it, or operate a customer-facing service under a standard open-source license. Nebula's Apache 2.0 terms still require compliance with notices, attribution, and other license conditions, while separately licensed Enterprise features require their own compliance review.
As of August 2026, choose n8n when its workflow ecosystem and product fit are stronger and the planned use is allowed by the Sustainable Use License, such as qualifying internal business automation. Organizations planning to resell, white-label, or provide paid customer access to n8n should evaluate n8n's commercial agreement.
Licensing is one selection factor. For how the two products differ on features, pricing, security, and deployment, see Nebula vs n8n.
Apache 2.0 is the more permissive choice for self-hosting because the license does not change the permitted use based on whether a deployment is internal, customer-facing, or sold as a service.
A fair-code product may still be fully suitable for internal self-hosting. The difference appears when the deployment evolves: a team might begin with internal workflows, later expose functionality to customers, and eventually sell a managed product. Apache 2.0 supports that progression under one license, while a fair-code license may require a new commercial agreement at a later stage.
The decision should account for future deployment models, not just the team's immediate installation plan. Teams comparing products can also review n8n alternatives, which covers the licenses of other self-hostable options such as MIT-licensed Activepieces, and open-source AI agent platforms without treating every source-available license as equivalent.
License terms can change between software versions. Confirm the license attached to the exact version being deployed rather than relying only on a general product page, and verify the repository license files and vendor documentation again at merge time.
FAQ
What is Apache 2.0?
Apache 2.0 is an OSI-approved open-source license that permits commercial use, modification, private use, sublicensing, and redistribution subject to its conditions.
What is fair-code licensing?
Fair-code licensing is a source-available approach that makes code visible while reserving or restricting specified uses under the product’s particular license.
Is fair-code the same as open source?
Fair-code is not necessarily open source because a fair-code license can impose use or distribution restrictions that OSI-approved open-source licenses do not permit.
Is n8n open source?
n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License, not open source under an OSI-approved license, as of August 2026.
Is Nebula open source?
Nebula’s core code is open source under the OSI-approved Apache License 2.0, as of August 2026. Features in apps/nebula/ee are covered by the separate upstream Sim Enterprise License.
Can I self-host Nebula for free?
Nebula builds on Apache-licensed upstream core code. Code in apps/nebula/ee is governed separately by the upstream Sim Enterprise License and its licensor, Sim Studio, Inc.; consult those preserved terms for production rights. A Nebula subscription is not a substitute for upstream authorization.
Can I self-host n8n for free?
n8n permits qualifying self-hosted use under its Sustainable Use License, including internal business, personal, and noncommercial use, as of August 2026.
Can I use Nebula commercially?
Nebula builds on Apache-licensed upstream core code. Code in apps/nebula/ee is governed separately by the upstream Sim Enterprise License and its licensor, Sim Studio, Inc.; consult those preserved terms for production rights. A Nebula subscription is not a substitute for upstream authorization.
Can I use n8n commercially?
n8n permits internal business use under its Sustainable Use License, but some customer-facing, hosting, resale, and white-label uses require a separate agreement.
Can I redistribute Nebula?
Nebula’s Apache-licensed code can be redistributed in source or object form when the license, notice, attribution, and modification requirements are followed. The separate upstream Sim Enterprise License prohibits redistribution of features in apps/nebula/ee.
Can I redistribute n8n?
n8n can be redistributed only within the Sustainable Use License’s stated boundaries, which restrict certain commercial distribution scenarios.
Does Apache 2.0 require me to publish my changes?
Apache 2.0 does not require modified source code to be published, although its notice and attribution conditions still apply to redistribution.
Does Apache 2.0 allow SaaS hosting?
Apache 2.0 allows software to be operated as a hosted service because the license does not impose a noncommercial or internal-use-only restriction.
Does n8n allow SaaS hosting?
n8n does not permit hosting n8n and charging customers for access under the Sustainable Use License without an appropriate separate agreement, as of August 2026.
Can I white-label Nebula?
Apache 2.0 permits modifying Nebula’s Apache-licensed code and commercially distributing those modifications, but it does not grant rights to Nebula trademarks or branding. Nebula’s built-in whitelabeling feature is covered by the separate upstream Sim Enterprise License, requires an Enterprise subscription for production use, and may not be redistributed.
Can I white-label n8n?
n8n states that white-labeling n8n for customers is not permitted under the Sustainable Use License without a separate commercial agreement, as of August 2026.
Does Apache 2.0 include a patent license?
Apache 2.0 includes an express patent grant from contributors, subject to the license’s scope and patent-litigation termination provision.
Does Apache 2.0 grant trademark rights?
Apache 2.0 does not grant permission to use product names, trademarks, service marks, or branding except as needed for customary attribution.
Is this article legal advice?
Nebula provides this comparison for general information, not legal advice, and organizations should consult qualified counsel about material commercial use cases.
