Comparison
Licensr vs. the alternatives
All of them can check a license key. The difference is everything around it: who owns the payment, what happens after the sale, and how much you build yourself.
Licensr vs. Gumroad
Gumroad is great for digital product sales. Since January 2025 it operates as a Merchant of Record and handles global tax for you, but its license keys are count-only (no machine binding, no domain enforcement) and it charges 10% + $0.50 on every sale.
Full-stack licensing on your own payment account
Best for developers who want zero revenue share, real machine-level license enforcement, and a white-label buy page, all connected to their own payment account.
- 0% revenue share, flat subscription
- Your payment account, your payouts
- HWID-based machine locking
- Domain-mode for web plugins
- Full subscription lifecycle
Merchant of Record marketplace for digital products
Best for creators selling ebooks, templates, or digital downloads who want instant setup, no monthly fee, and automatic global tax compliance handled for them.
- Instant setup, no configuration
- Built-in audience and discovery
- Simple license key generation (count-only)
- Global VAT / GST handled as MoR
- No monthly fee (10% + $0.50 per sale)
Revenue share / transaction fee
Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, plus standard Stripe card processing on top (~2.9% + $0.30). Discover-marketplace sales are 30% flat. Licensr charges a flat monthly subscription with 0% revenue share.
Payment processor / payout model
Gumroad became a Merchant of Record in January 2025. Gumroad is the legal seller on every transaction. Customers are charged by Gumroad, who then pays you out. Licensr connects your own payment account so it collects revenue directly.
Tax handling (VAT, GST)
As a Merchant of Record, Gumroad handles global VAT/GST collection and remittance automatically, which is a real advantage for selling internationally. With Licensr you manage tax through Stripe Tax.
Pricing
At modest volume (say $300/month in sales), Gumroad takes ~$33 in platform fees alone. Licensr costs $19/mo flat regardless of revenue.
Hosted product page / storefront
Both provide a hosted page. Licensr generates a white-label page at /buy/your-slug. Gumroad hosts on gumroad.com.
Custom domain for buy page
Licensr buy pages live on your own domain. Gumroad supports custom domains on paid plans.
Subscription / recurring billing
One-time and lifetime purchases
License key issuance on purchase
Both automatically email a license key after payment.
Machine fingerprinting (HWID)
Licensr tracks activations per device/machine. Gumroad license keys are just a count: anyone with the key can "activate" up to the limit.
Seat / node-locked enforcement
We bind each activation to a specific machine identifier. Gumroad counts uses but does not bind to hardware.
Domain-mode activation
Bind licenses to a domain rather than a machine, essential for WordPress, browser, and SaaS plugins.
Per-product API key (scoped credentials)
Each product gets its own rotatable API key. A leaked key cannot access other products or customer data.
License deactivation
Self-serve license management for customers
Branded sign-in page and portal with your logo and colours. Licensr customers can view seats, deactivate devices, and manage billing. Gumroad customers can see their purchase history but have limited license self-service.
Magic-link sign-in (no password)
Customizable transactional emails
Licensr has a visual email template builder. Gumroad allows some customization on paid plans.
Multi-product management
Multi-tenant (separate teams / brands)
Webhook events + replay
Licensr logs every inbound Stripe webhook with a replay button. Gumroad sends outbound webhooks but has no replay.
Public developer API docs
Licensr ships a full REST API reference at docs.licensr.app for developers embedding license checks in their plugin.
Keep 100% of your revenue. Enforce your licenses for real.
Free tier, no credit card required. Connect Stripe and have a live buy page in 15 minutes.