🛡️ RISK BADGE: 🔴 RESTRICTIVE (Source Available)
Executive Summary: What is it?
The Sustainable Use License (often associated with the "Fair Code" movement) is a "Source Available" license, not a strictly Open Source license (OSI definition). It grants you broad rights to view, modify, and use the software for free—with one critical restriction.
The Restriction: The "Anti-Amazon" Clause
You cannot use the software to build a competing product where the software is the service.
- Allowed: Hosting n8n internally to automate your marketing emails.
- Allowed: Hosting n8n to automate a client's specific workload (consulting).
- Forbidden: Setting up "MyAutoFlow.com" where you charge users $10/month to use a hosted instance of n8n.
CFO / Business Impact: What does it cost/risk?
Safe for Internal Use. For 99% of enterprise use cases (using the software to run your business), it functions exactly like Open Source. You pay nothing. The risk only exists if your business model involves re-selling the software itself as a cloud service.
Technical Reality: How does it work?
The code is open on GitHub. You can fork it, fix bugs, and deploy it via Docker. The only technical difference is often a mandatory telemetry ping or specific features locked behind a commercial key (Enterprise Edition), depending on the specific vendor's implementation.