How the concepts map
| Licensing SDK (Legacy) - on-premises | SoftActivate Licensing (service) |
|---|---|
| You host the licensing server (Windows/ASP.NET or Linux/Node.js) | No infrastructure to manage - a fully managed, serverless service; your app talks to it through the client SDK or REST API |
| License keys generated by your server from templates | License keys generated from reusable license templates in the console (or via the REST API / your payment webhooks) |
| Hardware-locked activation against your server | Online activation with hardware fingerprinting and per-license device limits; a deactivation API moves a license to a new machine |
| Offline / air-gapped activation by file exchange | Offline activation for perpetual licenses by the same email-a-file exchange, plus fully offline validation on every start |
| Perpetual, one-time-purchase licenses | Perpetual licenses and subscriptions with automatic renewal, grace periods and a payment-required status your app can react to |
| Roll your own reporting | Built-in real-time analytics, sales and activation reports, and an event/audit log |
| Ship and update the SDK yourself | The free client SDK (native C++ and .NET) validates locally against a public-PKI trust chain - no phoning home on every launch |
What changes in your code
You swap your legacy client integration for the new client SDK. Point it at the service endpoint and your vendor id, call activation once, then validate the stored license locally on every start after that. The concepts you already know - templates, activations, hardware binding, offline validation - carry straight over. The licensing server you used to run is simply gone. See the getting-started guide and the SDK page for the specifics.
Try it with zero risk
Every account includes a seeded, resettable sandbox with realistic sample data. Model your products and templates, issue a sandbox license key, and run a full activation from the SDK before you touch anything live. When you're ready, every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.