We bring automation, projects, knowledge pages, test management and time tracking together in one product. Permissions, roles, audit and notifications come from the platform, and workflows run on an instance in Switzerland or on your own infrastructure.
We build and run Collabase at Infometis AG in Zurich. The Automation Engine covers what companies use n8n for today: workflows built from triggers, conditions and actions, code steps, webhooks, schedules and connections to third-party systems. It is one of seven apps and shares permissions, audit and workspaces with tasks, pages and registry.
n8n can also be run on your own infrastructure. The difference lies in scope: Collabase is the work platform, and automation is built into it. It runs as a dedicated instance in a Swiss data centre or entirely on your infrastructure, with us as the sole contracting party.
Three occasions come up again and again in the conversations we have. Each one hangs on a requirement or a number. If you only connect third-party systems to each other and are not looking for a work platform, a change is rarely the right question.
The n8n cloud is hosted in Frankfurt. Self-hosted, you decide the location yourself and also carry installation, updates, backup and recovery. If a requirement calls for Switzerland and for a contracting party for operations, that is where the examination starts.
Workflows that read and write internal data need clear permissions and a trail. With n8n, SSO, Git version control and several environments belong to the Business and Enterprise plans. In Collabase, roles, version history and audit per workspace come from the platform.
The Sustainable Use License of n8n permits internal use, not commercial provision to third parties. A requirement from your legal department on the form of licence is a sound reason to open the examination.
The table describes each feature in one sentence. Where Collabase does not cover something, we write that into the cell the same way we write the other side.
| Feature | n8n | Collabase |
|---|---|---|
Operations and data | ||
| Operating models | n8n cloud or self-hosted. The Community edition can be installed yourself, the Business plan runs self-hosted only. | Dedicated instance in a Swiss data centre or on your infrastructure, also without internet access. |
| Data location | Cloud plans in Frankfurt. Self-hosted, wherever you operate. | Switzerland, in both operating models and regardless of plan. |
| Licence | Sustainable Use License: internal use and modification permitted, commercial provision to third parties not. Enterprise features need an Enterprise licence. | Proprietary. The Community Edition is free for up to 10 users. |
| Vendor | n8n GmbH, Berlin. | Infometis AG, Zurich. |
| Billing | Per workflow execution, regardless of complexity. In the cloud 2,500 (Starter), 10,000 (Pro) and 40,000 (Business) executions per month. | Per user and month. No billing per execution. |
Permissions and operations | ||
| Sign-in and permissions | SSO and LDAP from the Business plan, custom roles on the Enterprise plan. | Roles admin, editor and viewer per workspace, plus a service user per workspace. |
| Versioning | Git version control and several environments from the Business plan. | Version history with restore. Git sync from development to production, with diff, releases and rollback. |
| Load and concurrency | Queue mode from the Business plan. | Parallel runs per workspace can be limited. A flow that keeps failing switches itself off after 10 errors and tells the admins. |
| Retention of runs | Log retention of 7 days (Starter), 30 days (Pro), unlimited (Enterprise). | Retention of run data adjustable from 1 to 365 days. |
| Support | Forum on the Starter, Pro and Business plans, dedicated support with an SLA on the Enterprise plan. | Infometis AG as the point of contact, with support in the contract. |
Scope | ||
| Work platform | Standalone automation tool. | One of seven apps. Workflows react to events from tasks, projects, pages, registry, meetings, test management and time tracking. Collabase Automation does not exist without the platform. |
| Integrations | All integrations on every plan. | 1000+ connectors, plus an HTTP plug for any REST API and webhooks. |
| AI | AI assistant with credits per plan, 1,600 per month on the Starter plan. | Agent step with knowledge search, other flows, plug actions and external MCP servers, with approval on request. Collabase AI drafts flows, never published. |
Getting started | ||
| Pricing | Cloud from €20 per month (Starter), Business €667 per month (self-hosted), Enterprise on request. Prices with yearly billing. | 20 CHF (Isolated Cloud) or 16 CHF (Self-Hosted) per user and month, with all seven apps. |
| Before the decision | Community edition to install yourself. | Proof of concept on your own content, with one bounded use case. |
The statements about Collabase reflect our current position. The statements about n8n follow n8n's pricing page and licence text, as of October 2026. For the licence, n8n's wording governs. If something changes, we change this table.
In Collabase each workspace has its own service user. It sees and changes only where it is a member, inherits nothing from public spaces or groups and cannot sign in. Stored credentials can no longer be read and are redacted in run data, and on request they sit in HashiCorp Vault or Azure Key Vault. Third-party plugs run isolated in a sandbox service, without access to the database or to internal systems. In sensitive workspaces a second admin approves before a workflow goes live.
n8n can also be run on your own infrastructure, and its scope is tiered by plan: SSO, LDAP, Git version control, several environments and queue mode from Business, custom roles from Enterprise. In Collabase, workspaces, roles, audit and notifications are part of the platform the workflows run on.
Three decisions came before the first building block, and the rest is aligned to them.
Workflows react to tasks, projects, pages, registry entries, meetings, comments, time tracking and time. Webhooks, schedules with cron and time zone, and a public chat page for a flow come on top.
Each workspace has its own service user. It sees and changes only where it is a member, inherits nothing from public spaces or groups and cannot sign in. The roles in a workspace are admin, editor and viewer.
Every completed step is saved, and after a crash a run resumes at the first unfinished step. We repeat runs from the failing step, and pauses wait for time, a webhook callback or a person's approval.
With webhooks and the HTTP plug we connect Collabase to existing services, including those that keep running in n8n while workflows move across. We rebuild one of your existing workflows in the proof of concept. Which ones are suitable, we establish in the stocktake.
For workflows between Collabase and third-party systems, yes: triggers, branches with AND and OR rules, loops, sub-flows, a code step in TypeScript, webhooks and schedules are there, along with agent steps using AI. Collabase Automation exists only together with the platform, not as a standalone tool. The feature table shows row by row where the boundary runs.
Both can be run on your own infrastructure. The difference lies in scope: Collabase is the work platform, and automation is one app within it. Permissions, roles, audit and notifications come from the same system as tasks and pages, and we are the contracting party for software and support.
In Switzerland, in both operating models. Either as a dedicated instance in a Swiss data centre or entirely on your own infrastructure, including in networks without internet access. The data location does not depend on the plan you choose.
Each workspace has a service user that sees and changes only where it is a member. Stored credentials can no longer be read and are redacted in run data, and on request they sit in HashiCorp Vault or Azure Key Vault. Every change to a workflow can be traced per workspace.
No. Collabase is proprietary and is developed and operated by Infometis AG. The Community Edition is free for up to 10 users. Before a licence decision comes a proof of concept on your own content.
Isolated Cloud costs 20 CHF per user and month, billed monthly. Self-Hosted costs 16 CHF per user and month, billed yearly. All seven apps are included, and there is no billing per execution. The quote states the total amount.
We rebuild one of your workflows in Collabase in the proof of concept, on your own systems and with your real connections. Which ones are suitable, we establish in the stocktake before the start.
One bounded use case, a real team, a few weeks of runtime. We rebuild one of your weekly or monthly processes as a workflow, on your own systems.
