Licensr vs. the alternatives

Payment processing included

Licensr charges the buyer on your Stripe, Mercado Pago, PayPal, or Razorpay account. LicenseSeat does not take payment. It issues a key when Stripe Payment Links, Gumroad, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify, or Polar reports a sale.

Revenue share

Both charge a flat platform fee and take no cut of sales. On LicenseSeat you still pay the store that takes the sale (Stripe, Gumroad, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify, or Polar).

Hosted buy page (branded storefront)

Licensr generates /buy/your-slug. LicenseSeat leaves checkout on the store you already use.

Subscription lifecycle (renewal, grace, cancellation)

Licensr moves the license through renewal, a grace window, and cancellation. LicenseSeat extends expiry on renewal and can revoke on refund. A cancellation or failed payment does not revoke; access ends when the stored expiry passes.

Customer self-serve portal

Both ship a branded portal. Licensr adds seat management and the Stripe billing portal. LicenseSeat covers key recovery, device transfer, extra seats, and renewal, and can sit on your own domain.

License key validation API

Seat / node-locked activation

Domain-mode activation

Bind licenses to a domain instead of a machine. Essential for WordPress, browser, and SaaS plugins.

Domain-origin guard (anti-extraction)

Even if someone extracts your API key + license key, they cannot use it on an unauthorized domain.

Floating / concurrent licenses

LicenseSeat supports heartbeat-based check-in/check-out. We use node-locked seats.

Trial licenses (automated end-customer trial)

LicenseSeat has a first-class trial flow. We support time-limited keys via expiry dates, but there's no self-serve trial button on the buy page yet.

Feature-based entitlements

Licensr returns an arbitrary feature_flags object on every validate, activate, and token call. LicenseSeat entitlements are named, can expire on their own clock, and an updates entitlement can carry a version ceiling for paid major upgrades.

Metered usage licenses

LicenseSeat includes metered licenses. Licensr does not.

REST API

Native SDKs

Official SDKs for JavaScript/TypeScript (npm), C++ (CMake git), C# (NuGet + Unity UPM), and Go (go get). JS, C#, and Go verify offline JWTs locally; C++ mints and stores the token today. LicenseSeat also ships Swift, Rust, and a Tauri plugin, with Unity, Unreal, Godot, and JUCE integrations. Their SDKs retry, re-validate in the background, and send a heartbeat.

In-dashboard integration walkthrough

Step-by-step interactive guide inside the admin panel showing your real API keys and plugin slug.

Public developer docs

Webhook events + replay

Licensr logs inbound payment webhooks and can replay them. LicenseSeat logs sales-connection events and can retry a missed issue, renewal, or refund.

Multi-tenant (multiple independent teams)

Each Licensr organization has its own products, licenses, users, and payment account. LicenseSeat has organizations. Team and organization licenses are still on their roadmap.

Roles & permissions (admin / member)

Licensr has admin and viewer roles on Studio and up. LicenseSeat distinguishes organization owner and admin.

Setup wizard / guided onboarding

Usage analytics (MAU, DAU, geo)

LicenseSeat's SDK reports MAU, DAU, geography, and app version automatically. Licensr tracks last-seen, activation counts, and revenue (MRR, churn, payments net of refunds).

Public pricing page

LicenseSeat lists Hobby (free, 100 devices), Indie ($9/mo billed yearly, 500 devices), and Starter ($29/mo billed yearly, 1,500 devices). Their comparison articles also list Pro at $79/mo for 5,000 devices. Licensr is Free, Indie $8.99, Studio $25.99, and Agency $75.99. We count active licenses; they count active devices.