KeyAuth 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.
Pick Licentry when the software is worth attacking properly and you need a reply your binary can verify, a record of who shared what, and a supplier your business customers can be invoiced by.
Free trial, then 19 dollars a month. Studio is 59. Prices exclude VAT, which is added at checkout where it applies.Pick KeyAuth if budget is the binding constraint. It is cheaper than we will ever be, and for a small tool that is a reasonable answer.
Free tester tier, with paid plans listed at 2.99 and 4.99 dollars a month at the time of writing.Figures about KeyAuth were checked in July 2026 against their own published pages, or, where they do not publish a figure, against the public listings named alongside the price above. Pricing changes, ours is on the pricing section, and if anything here is out of date we want to know at [email protected].
Licentry assumes someone is actively trying to run your software without paying, and is built around that.
Every session response is signed with ECDSA P-256 and verified against a key compiled into your binary. Without that step, anyone who can point your app at a different server, or sit in the middle with a proxy, can hand it a forged yes. This is the single biggest difference between a key checker and a licensing system.
Device history, IP history, geography per key, tamper reports and watermarked Windows builds tied to the account that downloaded them. When you think a key is being shared, you want the record, not a guess.
Invoices, a public status page and a support address. If you sell to companies, procurement asks who they are paying and what happens when it breaks, and those answers need to exist.
Every row is written so a tick is the answer you want, and their ticks are still ticks. Where we could not confirm something about KeyAuth from their own documentation it is marked as not advertised, rather than as a no.
| Capability | KeyAuth | Licentry |
|---|---|---|
| App can prove the reply came from us | ~Not advertised | ✓Signed, P-256 |
| Stolen token fails on another machine | ~Not advertised | ✓DPoP, RFC 9449 |
| Revoking kills sessions already running | ~Not advertised | ✓Within one heartbeat |
| Leaked build points back to one buyer | ~Not advertised | ✓Watermarked, Windows |
| Evidence when a key gets shared | ~Not advertised | ✓Devices, IPs, geography |
| Invoices and a public status page | ~Not advertised | ✓ |
| Dedicated server on request | –Cloud only | ✓Studio plan |
| Ties a licence to one machine | ✓HWID | ✓Server enforced |
| Works in any language | ✓ | ✓Five HTTPS calls |
| Cheapest to start | ✓Under 5 dollars | –From 19 |
✓ does it ~ partly, or depends on the tier – not what it is for
We would rather lose the signup than have you switch and regret it. These are real reasons to buy theirs instead.
Under 5 dollars a month is cheaper than we will ever be. If you are shipping something small, or you are not sure the product will sell yet, spending 19 dollars a month on licensing is hard to justify and we would not argue with you.
KeyAuth leans towards username and password login with a licence attached. If your app wants people to log in with an account rather than paste a key, that shape fits it well.
It has a large community and plenty of example code. Switching a working licensing system costs real time, and "it already works" is a legitimate reason to stay.
KeyAuth is cheaper and will stay cheaper, and for a small tool that is a reasonable trade. The reason to move is the day your software is worth attacking properly, when you need a reply your binary can verify, a record of who shared what, and a supplier your business customers can be invoiced by.
Five HTTPS calls and no SDK to install, so you can have this working before you decide.
KeyAuth is a trademark of its respective owner. Licentry is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by KeyAuth. This comparison is our own opinion, based on publicly available information at the date shown, and is offered so you can make your own decision.