Differences from the cloud
Almost everything in the SoftActivate Licensing documentation applies verbatim here: same SDK, same activation protocol, same console. This page is the complete list of what differs, so you can read the cloud docs without second-guessing every paragraph.
| Topic | Cloud service | Licensing Server |
|---|---|---|
| Tenancy | Your tenant among others. | Single tenant: the server is yours alone. |
| Plans & caps | Demo tier, then metered plans. | None. Plans and caps do not apply to a self-hosted server: no demo clamps, no device metering, no upgrade prompts. |
| Sandbox | Separate sandbox origin. | Not present; use a disposable install instead. |
| Console sign-in | Hosted identity. | Built-in sign-in or your own IdP. |
| Certificate hierarchy | Hosted chain, validated by the SDK's built-in trust. | Locally minted at boot, or your adopted deployment root after a (support-assisted) migration. |
| Trusted root for the SDK | Not needed - the SDK's built-in trust covers the hosted service. | Downloaded from your server's console (Settings → Deployment certificates) and embedded via add_trusted_root. |
| Payments | Plan billing to us; your sales via your channels. | Your own Stripe/PayPal accounts, fulfilled by your server. |
| Backups | Handled for you. | Your responsibility, including the CA keys. |
| Endpoint / trusted domain | lm.sws.softactivate.com / sws.softactivate.com |
Your hostname; trusted_domain usually defaults to it. |
Everything else, including the quickstarts, the guides (activation, offline, floating, subscriptions, revocation, hardware ids), the statuses reference, and the console guide, reads the same for both. Where a cloud page mentions plans or the sandbox, the Licensing Server answer is that plans and caps do not apply.