Comparison

How it compares

There are good tools for selling software. What sets this one apart is where your customers and your payment account end up. An honest summary, including what we don't do as well.

Data as of Oct 22, 2026 · indicative Each provider's public pages · prices exclude VAT and are in their currency

Comparison of OwnLicense with other licensing providers and merchants of record
Feature	OwnLicenseYour Worker + central service	Keygen CloudLicensing (SaaS)	Keygen CESelf-hosted licensing	MoonbaseMoR + licensing	PolarMoR + keys	Lemon SqueezyMoR + keys	Paddle BillingMoR	CreemMoR + keys	Dodo PaymentsMoR + keys	Cryptlex / LicenseSpringLicensing (SaaS)
Type	Licensing in your account + service	SaaS	Self-hosted	Merchant of record (EU)	Merchant of record	Merchant of record (owned by Stripe)	Merchant of record	Merchant of record	Merchant of record	SaaS
Where your customers' data lives	In your Cloudflare	At Keygen	On your server	At Moonbase	At Polar	At Lemon Squeezy	At Paddle	At Creem	At Dodo	At the provider
You charge through your own Stripe account	Yes	You charge separately	You charge separately	No: the provider charges	No: the provider charges	No: the provider charges	No: the provider charges	No: the provider charges	No: the provider charges	You charge separately
Keys with offline validation	Yes: Ed25519 token	Yes	Yes	Yes	Keys; offline not documented	Keys; offline not documented	No keys in Billing	Keys; offline not documented	Keys; offline not verified	Yes
Multilingual customer portal	Yes: 6 languages	Not verified	Not included	Portal; languages not verified	Portal; languages not verified	Portal; languages not verified	Portal; languages not verified	Not verified	Not verified	Not verified
Which products	Anything with a key: desktop, plugins, games, CLI, self-hosted web, APIs	Anything with a key (examples for Mac, Windows, iOS, Electron…)	Same as Keygen Cloud	Desktop, mostly audio	Keyed products (validation API)	Keyed products (generate, activate, deactivate)	No keys in Billing	Keyed products (activate, validate, deactivate)	Not documented	Software using their SDK
SDKs and languages	C# and Swift · HTTP API for any language · JS/TS, Python, Kotlin/Java, PHP, Go, Rust/C++ later	Examples for Mac, Windows, iOS, Electron…	Examples for Mac, Windows, iOS, Electron…	Includes a JUCE module	Validation API	API; SDK with no updates since 2024	Mac SDK only on Classic (closed to sign-ups)	API	Not documented	C++, .NET, Swift, Java, Python…
Self-hosted	Serverless: Workers + D1 in your account	No (see Keygen CE)	Yes: Docker, Postgres and Redis	No	No	No	No	No	No	Enterprise only
Merchant of record / tax	Stripe (with Managed Payments) or you	You	You	Moonbase	Polar	Lemon Squeezy	Paddle	Creem	Dodo Payments	You
Fee per sale	0% from us · Stripe charges its fees (≈ 5% + €0.25 with Managed Payments)	0% · plus your payment processor	0% · plus your payment processor	5% + €1 per order	5% + $0.50 (Starter)	5% + $0.50	5% + $0.50	3.9% + $0.40	4% + $0.40	0% · plus your payment processor
Monthly fee	Free plan + paid plans to be decided	$0 up to 100 active users; paid plans not verified	€0 (Fair Core License)	€0 up to 10,000 validations a month	$0 (Starter) · Pro $20	$0	$0	$0	$0	Cryptlex from $100 · LicenseSpring $0 or $199

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Yes
No
Not verified or not documented: the public page doesn't say, or we couldn't check it on Oct 22, 2026.

The OwnLicense column describes the service as planned; it doesn't exist yet. All trademarks belong to their owners and have no relationship with this service.

0% commission from us: we never touch your money. Stripe charges you its fees directly: with Managed Payments (Stripe is the merchant of record and handles VAT in each country) about 3.5% on top of the standard fee, roughly 5% + €0.25 in total for European cards; or, without Managed Payments, only the standard fee (about 1.5% + €0.25 for European cards) and you handle tax. Stripe fees are indicative as of Oct 22, 2026.

When Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Polar suits you better

You want to start selling this afternoon without touching Cloudflare or Stripe: create the product and go.
You sell from a country where Stripe Managed Payments isn't available and you don't want to deal with VAT.
You don't want to maintain anything of your own, not even a Worker that updates with one command.
You don't mind your customer list living with the provider.

When OwnLicense fits

You want your customers and your Stripe account to be yours, and to be able to leave whenever you like.
You sell something unlocked with a key (app, plugin, game, CLI, self-hosted web app or API) and want offline validation.
You'd rather not maintain a server with Postgres and Redis: the Worker runs in your Cloudflare.

Where we have no edge

Payment fees: Managed Payments (about 5% + €0.25 for European cards, plus Stripe Billing's 0.7% on subscriptions) costs the same as Lemon Squeezy or Paddle, or more, and more than Creem, Dodo or Polar Pro. We aren't cheaper; what changes is who owns the customers.
Ease: with a merchant of record that issues keys you can be selling in an afternoon. Here you need a Cloudflare account, Managed Payments onboarding (with its review) and the installer.
Keygen CE is free, mature and well regarded; if you already run a server, it may suit you better.
Moonbase already offers licensing, payments, a portal and offline mode for desktop software in Europe.
Trust: we're a new, small provider in something that handles money. That's why the code is yours and nothing stops if something happens to us.
Outside Managed Payments countries (Latin America, India…) we lose our main advantage: you'd use regular Checkout and handle tax yourself.

Others, for context only:

Labs64 NetLicensing, Devolens, 10Duke and Zentitle: enterprise licensing, priced from €80 to over $1,000 a month depending on the plan.
Gumroad (10% + $0.50) and FastSpring (negotiated fee): merchants of record with license keys.
DevMate shut down in 2019, and Paddle's Mac SDK only exists on Paddle Classic, closed to new sign-ups: a good reminder of what depending on a third party costs.

Sources (checked on Oct 22, 2026)

keygen.sh/pricing · keygen.sh/docs/self-hosting · github.com/keygen-sh/keygen-api · cryptlex.com/pricing · licensespring.com/pricing · moonbase.sh/pricing · polar.sh/resources/pricing · polar.sh/docs/features/benefits/license-keys · lemonsqueezy.com/pricing · lemonsqueezy.com/blog/2026-update · paddle.com/pricing · developer.paddle.com/migrate/paddle-classic/features · creem.io/pricing · docs.creem.io/features/licenses · dodopayments.com/pricing · stripe.com/pricing · docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments · gumroad.com/pricing · fastspring.com/pricing

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