You own the stack. I run it.
April 26, 2026
Most automation services work like this: the provider hosts the software, you pay a monthly fee, and if you ever stop paying, the automation stops working and your data is locked inside someone else’s system. That is the SaaS model, and it is designed around dependency.
ObserveAutomation works differently. Every automation I build runs on infrastructure you own and control. If our engagement ends for any reason, you keep the automation, the server it runs on, and all the data it has ever touched. Nothing is locked away.
What you own
When you take on any ObserveAutomation product, you set up the following accounts in your own name:
- A Hetzner (or equivalent) cloud server, where your n8n automation platform runs
- Accounts with any API providers used by your automation: Twilio, VAPI, OpenAI, OpenRouter, or others, depending on the product
These accounts are yours. The providers bill you directly. You can see every penny that passes through them. If you ever wanted to run the automation yourself, hand it to someone else, or simply switch it off, nothing is stopping you — because it is all sitting on your own infrastructure.
What the monthly fee covers
Running an automation is not the same as setting it up. Once a workflow is live, there is ongoing work to keep it running correctly. This is what the monthly fee pays for.
Monitoring. Every automation is watched. If a webhook stops working, an API key expires, or a provider has an outage, you are told before your customers notice. Without monitoring, a broken automation can sit silently failing for days before anyone realises.
Maintenance. The n8n platform that runs your automation receives regular security updates. These need to be applied carefully so they do not break your running workflows. When AI model providers deprecate older versions — which happens regularly — the automation needs to be updated and retested before the old version is switched off.
Keeping up with providers. The APIs your automation relies on change their behaviour, pricing, and endpoints. Keeping a workflow running correctly over twelve months requires small adjustments that are easy to miss if nobody is watching.
Included tweaks. When your business changes — new services, updated pricing, different opening hours, a new type of call to handle — the automation is updated as part of the monthly service. No new project quote for small changes.
AI and API costs at cost. Because you own the accounts, providers charge you directly. There is no markup on these costs. A usage summary is included in your monthly update so you can see exactly what was spent and why.
What ObserveAutomation owns
The workflow design itself — the logic, prompts, and integration patterns built for your automation — is the intellectual property of ObserveAutomation.
When you sign up, you receive a licence to use the workflow inside your own business for as long as you choose, including after our engagement ends. You can run it, adjust your configuration, and rely on it. What you cannot do is share it, sell it, or use it as the basis of a service you offer to others.
This is the same principle as any software licence. The difference here is that because you own the infrastructure, the licence is genuinely meaningful: the automation keeps running whether or not you continue paying for management.
The minimum term
There is a minimum initial term of three months on all products. This covers the cost of onboarding: the time spent building, configuring, and testing an automation before it goes live is significant, and a three-month minimum ensures that work is not done at a loss.
After the initial term, the service is rolling monthly. Cancel with one month’s notice and the automation continues running on your infrastructure until you choose to stop it.
In short
You pay for the setup once. You pay a monthly fee for management. Your providers bill you directly for what they use. If you leave, everything you have paid for stays with you.
No surprises. No lock-in. No dependency.
Questions about how this works for a specific product?