When you are thinking about licensing and selling your software product, you probably come across the question “How do you implement a software licensing system?” When you want to license and protect your software application, a software licensing solution could be the key you are seeking. Below, we will cover the basics of how to implement a software license management system.
Implement a software licensing system
A software license management solution has to establish a lock in your software code that only allows entry to people who put in a valid digital license key. If the key is invalid, or if they are unable to insert a key, the system should deny entry to the application. Without this system in place, anyone can access your software app, and it becomes very difficult to sell such a product. That is why a software licensing solution is important when protecting your code against unauthorized users.
Great, so how do you implement such a system? Well, there are essentially two ways. You can either code your own license key generator, or work with a Licensing as a Service (LaaS) provider. We have made other blog posts covering both of those options in greater detail, but let’s now cover the fundamental differences.
How to License Software – License Key Generator
A license key generator is a script that allows you to generate sub-sets of license keys and set up a script that checks the validity of that license key string. This is a lightweight solution that works quite well, but since it only performs partial key verification, and since the structure of the license keys will start to leak over time, it is not the optimal solution for long-term and more serious applications.
Furthermore, having an internal software licensing solution comes with some disadvantages. Coding your own system in and of itself will take a lot of time, and making sure it holds up in the long run will take even more time. However, it may still be preferable in some instances, and you can read more about such a solution here.
Outsource Licensing – Licensing as a Service (LaaS)
A Licensing as a Service (LaaS) provider such as Cryptolens allows you to set up a license manager within minutes that performs full key verification. This enables quicker software license implementation and you gain access to all of the advanced licensing techniques you will need, such as usage-based pricing, offline license verification, floating and node-locked licenses, and user-account-based licensing. Getting started with a cloud-based and outsourced software license manager such as Cryptolens can be done by following 3 easy steps:
1. Install our SDK in your programming language.
2. Create a free Cryptolens account.
3. Insert a code snippet into your code
1. Let us begin with the SDK. Cryptolens offers comprehensive SDKs in your favorite programming languages to make it effortless to implement a Licensing as a Service (LaaS) platform within minutes. Install our SDK in your language here.
2. Create a free Cryptolens account to get access to our easy-to-use dashboard where you can create and manage license keys and restrictions. You can also find your access tokens and other parameters that you have to insert into your code. Cryptolens offers you a way to implement licensing for free at your own pace, and you only have to pay when you get customers of your own. Check out our pricing plans here, and you can always get started for free.
3. The last step is to insert a code snippet into your application’s code. We provide comprehensive help guides to make the implementation seem effortless. The following image gives a summary of how our code snippet looks. See the code snippet in your programming language here.
Please visit our help pages if you want to learn more. You can also learn about software licensing basics in the following video:
Are you new to Cryptolens? Welcome! We are dedicated to offering an easy-to-use Licensing as a Service (LaaS) platform so you can license and sell your software application within minutes.