Is n8n Safe?
n8n — Nerq Trust Score 78.0/100 (B+ grade). Based on analysis of 5 trust dimensions, it is generally safe but has some concerns. Last updated: 2026-05-12.
Yes, n8n is safe to use. n8n is a software tool with a Nerq Trust Score of 78.0/100 (B+), based on 5 independent data dimensions. Recommended for use. Security: 1/100. Maintenance: 1/100. Popularity: 1/100. Data sourced from multiple public sources including package registries, GitHub, NVD, OSV.dev, and OpenSSF Scorecard. Last updated: 2026-05-12. Machine-readable data (JSON).
Is n8n safe?
YES — n8n has a Nerq Trust Score of 78.0/100 (B+). It meets Nerq's trust threshold with strong signals across security, maintenance, and community adoption. Recommended for use — review the full report below for specific considerations.
What is n8n's trust score?
n8n has a Nerq Trust Score of 78.0/100, earning a B+ grade. This score is based on 5 independently measured dimensions including security, maintenance, and community adoption.
What are the key security findings for n8n?
n8n's strongest signal is compliance at 100/100. No known vulnerabilities have been detected. It meets the Nerq Verified threshold of 70+.
What is n8n and who maintains it?
| Author | n8n-io |
| Category | Infrastructure |
| Stars | 177,288 |
| Source | https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n |
| Protocols | mcp |
Regulatory Compliance
| EU AI Act Risk Class | MINIMAL |
| Compliance Score | 100/100 |
| Jurisdictions | Assessed across 52 jurisdictions |
Popular Alternatives in infrastructure
Deep Analysis: n8n-io/n8n
Executive Summary
n8n-io/n8n is a infrastructure tool with a Nerq Trust Score of 52.2/100 (C-). 4 known CVEs (3 CRITICAL). 177,288 GitHub stars. Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.
Security: 4 Known CVEs
| CVE ID | Severity | Description | Discovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-25631 | MEDIUM | Domain allowlist bypass enables credential exfiltration | 2026-03-12 |
| CVE-2026-25115 | CRITICAL | n8n has a Python sandbox escape | 2026-03-12 |
| CVE-2026-27494 | CRITICAL | Python Code Node Sandbox Escape | 2026-03-12 |
| CVE-2025-65964 | CRITICAL | Remote Code Execution via Git Node Custom Pre-Commit Hook | 2026-03-12 |
Maintenance Health
- GitHub stars: 177,288
- Activity score: 1/100
Ecosystem Position
- Compatible frameworks: groq, langchain, mcp-sdk, openai
Cost Analysis
- Pricing: usage_based — Free
- Free tier: Unlimited (self-hosted)
- Pricing: usage_based — $24.00/mo
- Pricing: usage_based — $60.00/mo
- Cost per code_review: $0.0300
- Cost per code_generation: $0.0450
- Cost per chat_response: $0.0075
- Cost per document_analysis: $0.0450
- Cost per data_extraction: $0.0225
Trust Score Breakdown
Strongest: Compliance (100/100). Weakest: Documentation (1/100).
How to Improve This Score
Frequently Asked Questions
Is n8n safe to use in production?
Caution advised. n8n has a Nerq Trust Score of 52.2/100 (C-). This is below the Nerq Verified threshold of 70. Consider alternatives or perform additional due diligence.
Does n8n have any known vulnerabilities?
As of May 2026, n8n has no known CVEs in the Nerq database.
What license does n8n use?
License information is not yet available in the Nerq database.
How does n8n compare to alternatives?
In the infrastructure category, n8n scores 52.2/100. Use the Nerq comparison API to compare directly: curl nerq.ai/v1/compare/n8n/vs/[alternative]
How often is n8n updated?
Check the maintenance health section above for the latest activity data. Nerq tracks commit frequency, release cadence, and issue response times.
What Is n8n?
n8n is a software tool in the infrastructure category: Fair-code workflow automation platform with native AI capabilities. Combine visual building with custom code, self-host or cloud, 400+ integrations.. It has 177,288 GitHub stars. Nerq Trust Score: 52/100 (C-).
Nerq independently analyzes every software tool, app, and extension across multiple trust signals including security vulnerabilities, maintenance activity, license compliance, and community adoption.
How Nerq Assesses n8n's Safety
Nerq's Trust Score is calculated from 13+ independent signals aggregated into five dimensions. Here is how n8n performs in each:
- Security (1/100): n8n's security posture is poor. This score factors in known CVEs, dependency vulnerabilities, security policy presence, and code signing practices.
- Maintenance (1/100): n8n is potentially abandoned. We track commit frequency, release cadence, issue response times, and PR merge rates.
- Documentation (1/100): Documentation quality is insufficient. This includes README completeness, API documentation, usage examples, and contribution guidelines.
- Compliance (100/100): n8n is broadly compliant. Assessed against regulations in 52 jurisdictions including the EU AI Act, CCPA, and GDPR.
- Community (1/100): Community adoption is limited. Based on GitHub stars, forks, download counts, and ecosystem integrations.
The overall Trust Score of 52.2/100 (C-) reflects the weighted combination of these signals. This is below the Nerq Verified threshold of 70. We recommend additional due diligence before production deployment.
Who Should Use n8n?
n8n is designed for:
- Developers and teams working with infrastructure tools
- Organizations evaluating AI tools for their stack
- Researchers exploring AI capabilities in this domain
Risk guidance: n8n is suitable for development and testing environments. Before production deployment, conduct a thorough review of its security posture, review the specific trust signals above, and consider whether a higher-scored alternative meets your requirements.
How to Verify n8n's Safety Yourself
While Nerq provides automated trust analysis, we recommend these additional steps before adopting any software tool:
- Check the source code — Review the repository's security policy, open issues, and recent commits for signs of active maintenance.
- Scan dependencies — Use tools like
npm audit,pip-audit, orsnykto check for known vulnerabilities in n8n's dependency tree. - Review permissions — Understand what access n8n requires. Software tools should follow the principle of least privilege.
- Test in isolation — Run n8n in a sandboxed environment before granting access to production data or systems.
- Monitor continuously — Use Nerq's API to set up automated trust checks:
GET nerq.ai/v1/preflight?target=n8n-io/n8n - Review the license — Confirm that n8n's license is compatible with your intended use case. Pay attention to restrictions on commercial use, redistribution, and derivative works. Some AI tools use dual licensing or have separate terms for enterprise customers that differ from the open-source license.
- Check community signals — Look at the project's issue tracker, discussion forums, and social media presence. A healthy community actively reports bugs, contributes fixes, and discusses security concerns openly. Low community engagement may indicate limited peer review of the codebase.
Common Safety Concerns with n8n
When evaluating whether n8n is safe, consider these category-specific risks:
Understand how n8n processes, stores, and transmits your data. Review the tool's privacy policy and data retention practices, especially for sensitive or proprietary information.
Check n8n's dependency tree for known vulnerabilities. Tools with outdated or unmaintained dependencies pose a higher security risk.
Regularly check for updates to n8n. Security patches and bug fixes are only effective if you're running the latest version.
If n8n connects to external APIs or services, each integration point is a potential attack surface. Audit all third-party connections, verify that data shared with external services is minimized, and ensure that integration credentials are rotated regularly.
Verify that n8n's license is compatible with your intended use case. Some AI tools have restrictive licenses that limit commercial use, redistribution, or derivative works. Using n8n in violation of its license can expose your organization to legal liability.
n8n and the EU AI Act
n8n is classified as Minimal Risk under the EU AI Act. This is the lowest risk category, meaning it faces minimal regulatory requirements. However, transparency obligations still apply.
Nerq's compliance assessment covers 52 jurisdictions worldwide. For organizations deploying AI tools in regulated environments, understanding these classifications is essential for legal compliance.
Best Practices for Using n8n Safely
Whether you're an individual developer or an enterprise team, these practices will help you get the most from n8n while minimizing risk:
Periodically review how n8n is used in your workflow. Check for unexpected behavior, permissions drift, and compliance with your security policies.
Ensure n8n and all its dependencies are running the latest stable versions to benefit from security patches.
Grant n8n only the minimum permissions it needs to function. Avoid granting admin or root access.
Subscribe to n8n's security advisories and vulnerability disclosures. Use Nerq's API to get automated trust score updates.
Create and maintain a clear policy for how n8n is used within your organization, including data handling guidelines and acceptable use cases.
When Should You Avoid n8n?
Even promising tools aren't right for every situation. Consider avoiding n8n in these scenarios:
- Production environments handling sensitive customer data
- Regulated industries (healthcare, finance, government) without additional compliance review
- Mission-critical systems where downtime has significant business impact
For each scenario, evaluate whether n8n's trust score of 52.2/100 meets your organization's risk tolerance. We recommend running a manual security assessment alongside the automated Nerq score.
How n8n Compares to Industry Standards
Nerq indexes over 6 million software tools, apps, and packages across dozens of categories. Among infrastructure tools, the average Trust Score is 62/100. n8n's score of 52.2/100 is near the category average of 62/100.
This places n8n in line with the typical infrastructure tool tool. It meets baseline expectations but does not distinguish itself from peers on trust metrics.
Industry benchmarks matter because they contextualize a tool's safety profile. A score that looks moderate in isolation may actually represent strong performance within a challenging category — or vice versa. Nerq's category-relative analysis helps teams make informed decisions by showing not just absolute quality, but how a tool ranks against its direct peers.
Trust Score History
Nerq continuously monitors n8n and recalculates its Trust Score as new data becomes available. Our scoring engine ingests real-time signals from source repositories, vulnerability databases (NVD, OSV.dev), package registries, and community metrics. When a new CVE is published, a major release ships, or maintenance patterns change, n8n's score is updated within 24 hours.
Historical trust trends reveal whether a tool is improving, stable, or declining over time. A tool that consistently maintains or improves its score demonstrates ongoing commitment to security and quality. Conversely, a downward trend may signal reduced maintenance, growing technical debt, or unresolved vulnerabilities. To track n8n's score over time, use the Nerq API: GET nerq.ai/v1/preflight?target=n8n-io/n8n&include=history
Nerq retains trust score snapshots at regular intervals, enabling trend analysis across weeks and months. Enterprise users can access detailed historical reports showing how each dimension — security, maintenance, documentation, compliance, and community — has evolved independently, providing granular visibility into which aspects of n8n are strengthening or weakening over time.
n8n vs Alternatives
In the infrastructure category, n8n scores 52.2/100. There are higher-scoring alternatives available. For a detailed comparison, see:
- n8n vs langflow — Trust Score: 66.1/100
- n8n vs dify — Trust Score: 65.5/100
- n8n vs open-webui — Trust Score: 61.2/100
Key Takeaways
- n8n has a Trust Score of 52.2/100 (C-) and is not yet Nerq Verified.
- n8n shows moderate trust signals. Conduct thorough due diligence before deploying to production environments.
- Among infrastructure tools, n8n scores near the category average of 62/100, suggesting room for improvement relative to peers.
- Always verify safety independently — use Nerq's Preflight API for automated, up-to-date trust checks before integration.
Detailed Score Analysis
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Security | 1/100 |
| Maintenance | 1/100 |
| Popularity | 1/100 |
Based on 3 dimensions. Data from multiple public sources including package registries, GitHub, NVD, OSV.dev, and OpenSSF Scorecard.
What data does n8n collect?
Privacy assessment for n8n is not yet available. See our methodology for how Nerq measures privacy, or the public privacy review for any community-contributed notes.
Is n8n secure?
Security score: 1/100. Review security practices and consider alternatives with higher security scores for sensitive use cases.
Nerq monitors this entity against NVD, OSV.dev, and registry-specific vulnerability databases for ongoing security assessment.
Full analysis: n8n Security Report
How we calculated this score
n8n's trust score of 78.0/100 (B+) is computed from multiple public sources including package registries, GitHub, NVD, OSV.dev, and OpenSSF Scorecard. The score reflects 3 independent dimensions: security (1/100), maintenance (1/100), popularity (1/100). Each dimension is weighted equally to produce the composite trust score.
Nerq analyzes over 7.5 million entities across 26 registries using the same methodology, enabling direct cross-entity comparison. Scores are updated continuously as new data becomes available.
This page was last reviewed on May 12, 2026. Data version: 1.0.
Full methodology documentation · Machine-readable data (JSON API)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is n8n Safe?
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What are safer alternatives to n8n?
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Can I use n8n in a regulated environment?
See Also
Disclaimer: Nerq trust scores are automated assessments based on publicly available signals. They are not endorsements or guarantees. Always conduct your own due diligence.