# What is n8n

> The tool we use to connect existing systems and automate the steps in between.

- Kategorie: Tools
- Autor: Robert Schröder
- Letzte Prüfung: 2026-09-20
- Basis: SAITS-Eigentext · Robert Schröder ist n8n Ambassador Schweiz
- URL: https://saits.ai/wissen/was-ist-n8n

## 01 What n8n is

n8n is an open tool in which a workflow is built as a chain of steps: a trigger, the steps in between, a result.

## 02 Why we work with it

The workflow stays visible and checkable — you can see which step did what, instead of a black box.

## 03 What it connects

ERP, CRM, document storage, e-mail, calendar and specialist systems talk to each other through n8n, without any of them being replaced.

## 04 Where the AI sits in the workflow

A language model takes exactly the one step that has to understand text or documents — the rest of the workflow stays ordinary, traceable logic.

## 05 Self-hosted or managed

n8n runs on your own servers in Switzerland or Europe where [data residency](/wissen/ki-modelle-und-datenstandort) decides it, or as a hosted service where it does not.

## 06 An example from practice

An invoice arrives by e-mail, is recognised, matched to the project data, put forward for approval and filed — five steps in one workflow. What such a workflow costs and saves is worked through in [What a workflow costs and what it saves](/wissen/was-ein-workflow-kostet).

## 07 What n8n is not

Not a replacement for an ERP, a CRM or a document store, but the connection between them.

## 08 What it costs and what it asks for

The licence is the smaller part; the larger one is describing the workflow properly once and having someone who looks after it.

## 09 Our role

Robert Schröder is n8n Ambassador Switzerland and has developed several n8n community nodes, among them one for Abacus ERP.