Four honest write-ups against the licensing products people actually shortlist us against. Each one names the cases where the other product is the better buy, because a vendor who signs up on a false impression leaves again a month later.
Keygen is a licensing and software distribution API that describes itself as built for developers, by developers. It is Fair Source, the code is on GitHub, and the Community Edition is free to self-host including for commercial work. Alongside licensing it ships a distribution API that signs and delivers releases and handles automatic updates.
Read the comparisonCryptlex is an established licensing platform built around LexActivator, a native SDK you link into your application. It covers node-locked, named-user, floating and offline licensing, and it can be deployed on your own servers. It is aimed at desktop software vendors who want a mature SDK rather than a bare API.
Read the comparisonKeyAuth is a low cost authentication and licensing service running on serverless infrastructure. It handles licence keys, user accounts, HWID binding and analytics, works from any language over its API, and is cloud only. Its appeal is that it costs almost nothing to start.
Read the comparisonLicenseSpring is a licensing platform aimed at established software companies. It covers node-locked, floating, consumption and offline licensing, publishes SDKs across the common desktop languages, and sells through a sales team with the enterprise paperwork that goes with it.
Read the comparisonWant the wider view instead of one product?
Prices and features were checked in July 2026 against each product's own pages, or against public listings where a product does not publish figures. If you spot something stale or wrong, tell us at [email protected] and we will correct it.