Working at n8n in 2026

A 4.5 Glassdoor rating is rare. Among the 70+ companies in our Culture Directory, only a handful score this high — putting n8n in the same tier as Linear and above companies like Anthropic (4.2), OpenAI (4.5), and Stripe (4.0). For a Berlin-founded, open-source workflow automation company, that's a remarkable signal. It tells you something real about what it feels like to work there.

n8n was founded in 2019 by Jan Oberhauser with a clear thesis: workflow automation shouldn't require you to hand your data to a third-party cloud service you can't inspect or modify. The result is an open-source platform that lets developers and technical teams build complex automations visually — like Zapier, but self-hostable, code-extensible, and transparent. The product has since accumulated over 70,000 GitHub stars, a massive community, and $40M in annual recurring revenue. We dug into Glassdoor reviews, employee feedback, and the company's public-facing culture to give you an honest picture of what working at n8n is actually like in 2026.

n8n at a Glance

n8n sits in a distinctive position. It's not an AI frontier lab burning through billions in compute. It's not a VC-fueled hypergrowth blitz-scaler. It's a Berlin-born, open-source-first company that has grown deliberately, built a genuine community, and achieved one of the highest employee satisfaction scores we've ever tracked. That combination is unusual, and worth understanding.

The Open-Source Advantage: 70,000+ Stars and a Community That Ships

n8n's open-source identity isn't a marketing tactic — it's the foundation of the entire business. The platform's source code is publicly available on GitHub, where it has amassed over 70,000 stars. That makes it one of the most popular open-source projects in the automation space, and it creates a flywheel that's genuinely hard to replicate.

The model is what n8n calls "fair-code" — the source code is visible and self-hostable, but commercial use above certain thresholds requires a license. This approach threads the needle between the community trust of pure open source and the revenue sustainability of a commercial product. It works: n8n's community has contributed hundreds of integrations (the platform supports 400+ integrations), filed thousands of issues, and built entire ecosystems of custom nodes. The community doesn't just use n8n — they actively shape the product.

For engineers, this creates a working environment that's fundamentally different from closed-source companies. Your code is public. Your contributions are visible. The community is watching, testing, and giving feedback in real time. If you care about building in the open and seeing your work adopted by thousands of developers and teams, n8n offers something that proprietary companies simply cannot. Companies like Supabase and PostHog share this DNA, and it's no coincidence that all three score among the highest in employee satisfaction in our directory.

Async-First, Remote-First: How n8n Actually Works

Many companies claim to be "remote-friendly." n8n is remote-first in a way that goes beyond having a distributed team. The company was built from the beginning around async communication, meaning the default mode of collaboration is written, documented, and asynchronous. Meetings are the exception, not the norm. When meetings do happen, they're structured and purposeful, not the sprawling calendar-fillers that plague most organizations.

This matters because genuine async culture is one of the hardest things for companies to get right. Being remote without being async just means you've replaced in-person meetings with Zoom meetings. n8n has internalized the lesson that true remote work requires a fundamentally different communication architecture: write things down, make decisions in documents and threads, give people the autonomy to work on their own schedule, and trust them to deliver without real-time oversight.

For employees, the practical impact is significant. There's no expectation to be "online" during specific hours (beyond reasonable overlap for collaboration). Work is measured by output, not presence. The team spans multiple time zones, and the async-first approach means an engineer in Berlin and a marketing lead in the Americas can collaborate effectively without either one losing their mornings to synchronous calls.

The remote infrastructure includes the essentials: home office stipends, coworking space budgets, and annual company offsites where the distributed team gathers in person. But the real differentiator isn't the perks — it's the operating system. n8n has built processes, tooling, and cultural norms that make async remote work actually function. If you've been burned by a "remote-friendly" company that turned out to mean "constantly on Slack," n8n represents the other end of the spectrum.

The Flat Org: What "No Managers" Means at 300 People

n8n's flat hierarchy is one of its most distinctive cultural features — and the most likely to draw skepticism. Every experienced professional has heard a startup claim to be "flat" only to discover that "flat" really means "we haven't built the org chart yet." So what does flat actually mean at n8n with ~300 employees?

At n8n, flat means minimal management layers, high individual autonomy, and direct access to decision-makers. Engineers don't go through three layers of approval to ship a feature. Ideas can come from anywhere in the organization, and the quality of the idea matters more than the seniority of the person proposing it. Jan Oberhauser and the leadership team are accessible, and transparent communication means context flows freely rather than being hoarded at the top.

This works at ~300 people precisely because n8n pairs it with strong async documentation and clear ownership. When everyone can read the reasoning behind decisions, when priorities are visible, and when individuals own specific areas of the product, you don't need managers to act as information routers. The many-hats mentality means people naturally take on responsibility beyond their job title, which further reduces the need for top-down coordination.

The trade-off is real, though. Flat organizations require people who can self-direct. If you need a manager to set your priorities, give you regular feedback, and chart your career path, a flat structure will feel disorienting. n8n's culture assumes you're a professional who knows how to manage yourself — and in return, it gives you the freedom to do your best work without bureaucratic friction.

Why 4.5 Glassdoor Is Exceptional

To appreciate what a 4.5 Glassdoor rating means, you need context. Most well-run tech companies land between 3.8 and 4.2. Getting above 4.3 consistently is extremely difficult because it requires near-universal employee satisfaction — a few disgruntled reviews can drag the average down quickly. n8n's 4.5 puts it in genuinely elite territory.

The standout is Culture & Values at 4.5 — employees genuinely feel that n8n's stated values (remote, open-source, flat, transparent) reflect how the company actually operates. The WLB score of 4.0 is strong and healthy, especially for a growing startup. It reflects a company that expects commitment but respects boundaries — a rare balance.

The relative weak point is Compensation & Benefits at 3.8. This is common for European-headquartered companies competing against Silicon Valley compensation packages. n8n pays well by European standards, but candidates coming from US-based FAANG or frontier AI labs will notice the gap. More on compensation below.

Compensation & European Startup Equity

Compensation is the area where n8n's European roots show most clearly. The 3.8 Glassdoor comp score is solid but not exceptional, and it reflects a fundamental reality of the European tech market: base salaries are generally lower than Silicon Valley equivalents. An n8n engineer in Berlin or working remotely from Europe will earn competitive European tech compensation, but it won't match what Anthropic, OpenAI, or Stripe pay their US-based engineers.

That said, the compensation picture at n8n is more nuanced than raw salary numbers suggest:

• Equity participation. As a venture-backed company with $40M ARR and clear growth trajectory, n8n's equity carries real potential upside. Early and current employees stand to benefit meaningfully if the company continues its trajectory or reaches a liquidity event.
• Remote-first with global reach. For employees in markets where European tech salaries represent strong purchasing power, n8n's compensation is genuinely competitive. A Berlin-calibrated salary goes considerably further in many parts of Europe and the world.
• Benefits package. Home office stipends, coworking budgets, professional development allowances, and the standard benefits you'd expect from a well-funded European tech company.
• The non-monetary value. Working on open-source software with a global community, genuine async flexibility, and a 4.0 WLB score has real quality-of-life value that doesn't show up in comp comparisons.

The honest assessment: if maximizing total cash compensation is your primary criterion, n8n is probably not the right fit. If you value the full package — compensation that's competitive for Europe, meaningful equity, genuine remote flexibility, healthy work-life balance, and the intrinsic motivation of open-source work — the equation looks very different.

The Honest Pros and Cons

Based on Glassdoor reviews and employee feedback, here's what people consistently praise and what they flag as areas for improvement.

What employees love

What could be better

The pattern is telling: the cons are almost entirely about the natural growing pains of a scaling startup, not about cultural dysfunction. Shifting priorities, occasional strategic ambiguity, and comp that lags Silicon Valley are real trade-offs but they're the kind of trade-offs that come with joining a company at an exciting stage of growth, not the kind that signal deeper problems.

Who Thrives at n8n (and Who Doesn't)

n8n's combination of values — remote, open-source, flat, async, transparent, many-hats — creates a very specific kind of working environment. Based on the culture signals and employee feedback, here's who tends to do well:

• Self-directed builders. n8n's flat, async structure means nobody is going to tell you exactly what to do every morning. If you thrive with autonomy, set your own priorities effectively, and communicate proactively through written channels, you'll love it. If you need daily standups and a manager checking in, you'll feel lost.
• Open-source believers. Working on a product with 70k+ GitHub stars means your code is visible to the world. If that excites you — if you care about developer community, public code review, and building tools that empower other builders — n8n is one of the best places to do it.
• People who value balance alongside growth. The 4.0 WLB score means n8n has figured out how to grow a startup without destroying its employees. If you want to build something meaningful at an energizing pace but also want evenings and weekends, this is the right kind of company.
• Strong writers. Async-first means writing-first. Your ability to communicate clearly in documents, issues, and threads directly determines your effectiveness. If you're a verbal-first communicator who prefers talking through problems on calls, you'll find the async model frustrating.
• Generalists who like wearing many hats. At ~300 people with a broad product surface, roles at n8n tend to be wide rather than deep. If you enjoy jumping between different types of problems and taking ownership of areas outside your strict job description, you'll thrive. If you want narrow specialization, a larger company is a better fit.

n8n is not ideal for people who prioritize maximum compensation above all else (look at US-based frontier AI labs instead), who need highly structured career ladders with regular promotions, or who prefer synchronous, meeting-heavy collaboration styles. It's also not the right fit if you need the brand cachet of a household-name employer — n8n is well-known in the developer community but not a name your relatives will recognize.

Open Roles at n8n

n8n currently has approximately 40 open positions across engineering, product, marketing, and operations. The majority of roles are fully remote. Given the company's growth trajectory and the breadth of its product surface, each hire has meaningful impact on a platform used by tens of thousands of teams worldwide.

For full details on n8n's live openings, culture values, and side-by-side comparisons with other companies, visit the n8n culture profile page or browse all n8n jobs.