How to securely license your application to sell or distribute it

Hello everyone!

This is my first post on this forum and I hope I can help some people out on here!

So in this post I want to quickly share a project of mine called https://authspire.com which is basically a licensing API service which helps you to securely distribute your software or application.
Lets take a look at what this exactly is and why you might need it.

What is software licensing and why do I need it?
So licensing a software is basically needed for you so you end-users can gain access to your application / software meanwhile you the developer still remain the actual ownership of the application and have full control over it.

So lets say you have created an application which regularly checks prices on amazon and you want to share it between some friends. Maybe you are not sure if your friends will share it with others so you integrate a licensing system into your application. When you then share the software with your friends each one of them gets a unique license key which will then only work with their system. If they should share it with others they won't be able to use it because they will require a license and the same license can't be used multiple times.

Of course this is can also be applied to actually securely sell your software online.

What is authspire?
authspire is the name of the licensing and authentication service. The best thing is that you can use it for free!

What are the key features of our service?

• License your software / application
  • Restrict access from other users and increase security
• Manage Users
  • See who uses your application, set expiry dates and levels for your licenses & more
• Variables
  • Set custom hidden variables that are secured on our server and can not be cracked
• Blacklists
  • Block users by IP or a Unique Identifier from accessing your application
• Logging
  • Handle all logs and see what is happening inside of your application
• Hybrid Encryption System
  • Encryption combined using AES 256 (Advanced Encryption Standard) and RSA to ensure the most security
• Anti Tamper Protection
  • Protect your application from being cracked or manipulated using a unique hash

There are a lot more features available if you are interested check it out yourself!

How hard is it to integrate this licensing system?
Not hard at all. The setup is simple and there are also already done API examples available on my github page aswell as tutorials on our youtube channel!

Which languages can be used?
So pretty much any language. Our licensing system definitely works with C#, C++, Python, Java, JavaScript, VB.NET, PHP, RUST, Go, Lua, Ruby and Perl. However at the moment API examples are only available for C#, Python and JavaScript. We are still working on adding the API examples for the other languages.



At last I want to say thank you for reading this and I hope I could help some people by sharing this.

If you have any questions/suggestions according to authspire or need help feel free to ask and I will respond asap!
Also suggestions / improvements for this post are appreciated!

 

There are a few different approaches you can take to securely license your application for sale or distribution.

Here are a few options to consider:

1. Use a license management system: A license management system allows you to generate and manage licenses for your application. You can set different license terms, such as the number of users or the length of time the license is valid.
   
   
2. Use digital rights management (DRM): DRM technologies can help you protect your application from unauthorized use or distribution. Some DRM systems allow you to set limits on the number of times a user can install your application or the number of devices it can be installed on.
   
   
3. Use product activation: Product activation is a way to ensure that a product is being used by an authorized user. When the product is installed, the user must enter a unique activation code to unlock it. This can help prevent unauthorized use or distribution of your application.
   
   
4. Use a software license agreement: A software license agreement is a legally binding contract between you (the software developer) and the user of your application. The agreement outlines the terms and conditions under which the user is allowed to use your software, including any restrictions on how it can be used or distributed.
   

No matter which approach you choose, it's important to consult with a lawyer to ensure that your licensing arrangements are legally enforceable and adequately protect your rights as a software developer.