Entry price
Key-Warden$0 (Dev) · $29/mo plans · or a one-off $29 pack - no subscription at all
Licensing platformsTypically ~$100/month minimum - no solo-developer lane
MoR payment platformsNo monthly fee, but ~5% + $0.50 of every sale, forever
Licence validation & keys
Key-WardenSigned Ed25519 tokens, offline verification, revocation - denials signed too
Licensing platformsYes - this is their core product
MoR payment platformsNone. You still need a licensing platform on top
Seat / device enforcement
Key-WardenPer-device seats, node-lock, policy-aware pools, self-service seat release
Licensing platformsYes on most
MoR payment platformsNo
Code protection
Key-WardenIncluded on paid plans - obfuscation, string encryption, per-buyer watermarking
Licensing platformsNot offered - a separate tool and a separate bill
MoR payment platformsNo
Signed update distribution
Key-WardenIncluded - publish a release; entitled installs auto-update from your signed feed
Licensing platformsHigher tiers, or not at all
MoR payment platformsNo
Storefront / product page
Key-WardenIncluded - a hosted, linkable page per product
Licensing platformsNo
MoR payment platformsCheckout only
Cut of your sales
Key-Warden0% when you sell on your own rails
Licensing platforms0% (flat fees)
MoR payment platforms~5% + $0.50 of every transaction
If your billing lapses
Key-WardenNever-brick guarantee: we never revoke your customers' licences; a lapsed account gets a 14-day wind-down, then installs continue offline on their signed tokens
Licensing platformsVaries - read the fine print
MoR payment platformsn/a
Where your keys live
Key-WardenPer-vendor Ed25519 keys sealed in a hardware-backed vault - never retrievable in plaintext, by anyone
Licensing platformsVaries by provider
MoR payment platformsn/a
The arithmetic for a solo developer
Selling 30 copies of a $50 product: a dedicated licensing platform's entry plan alone costs ~$1,200/year - most of your revenue. A merchant-of-record takes its percentage of every sale and still leaves you without licensing. On Key-Warden's PAYG lane, those 30 active seats cost about $8.70/month, with code protection and signed updates waiting one tier up.
Check our claims
Category figures reflect typical published pricing and feature sets of leading platforms in each category, reviewed July 2026 - we encourage you to verify them against any provider you're considering. Every Key-Warden capability above is live today: see pricing, how your data is protected, and how licensing works.