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. Lemon Squeezy
Lemon Squeezy handles taxes as a Merchant of Record. Licensr gives you 0% revenue share, real machine-level license enforcement, and direct ownership of your payment account.
0% revenue share, your own payment account
Best for developers who want to keep 100% of revenue, own their payment account, and enforce licenses at the machine level, without paying per transaction.
- 0% revenue share, flat monthly fee
- Direct payouts: funds land in your account instantly
- HWID-based machine locking
- Domain-mode for web plugins
- White-label buy page on your domain
Merchant of Record with built-in licensing
Best for developers who want zero tax complexity. Lemon Squeezy handles global VAT and GST as the Merchant of Record. Trade-off: 5%+$0.50 on every transaction.
- Global VAT / GST handled for you
- Built-in license key generation
- Activation count enforcement
- Customer self-serve portal
- No monthly fee (pay per transaction)
Transaction fee
Lemon Squeezy is a Merchant of Record and charges 5%+$0.50 on every transaction. Licensr charges a flat monthly subscription with 0% revenue share.
Payment processor
As a Merchant of Record, Lemon Squeezy collects from customers and pays you out. Licensr connects to your own payment account, so funds land in your account instantly.
Tax handling (VAT, GST)
Lemon Squeezy handles global tax compliance as MoR, which is a real advantage for solo developers selling internationally. With Licensr you manage tax through Stripe Tax.
Pricing (first paid tier)
At $30/sale and 10 sales/month ($300 revenue), Licensr costs $19. Lemon Squeezy costs ~$20 in fees at the same volume, and scales with every sale.
Hosted checkout / buy page
White-label buy page on your domain
Licensr buy pages live at /buy/your-slug on your own domain. Lemon Squeezy supports custom domains on higher plans.
Subscription / recurring billing
One-time and lifetime purchases
License key issuance on purchase
Both automatically issue and email a license key after payment.
Machine fingerprinting (HWID)
Licensr binds activations to a specific machine identifier. Lemon Squeezy tracks an activation count but does not bind to hardware.
Seat / node-locked enforcement
We bind each activation to a specific device. Lemon Squeezy limits activation counts but any device can be used.
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 Licensr product gets its own rotatable API key. A leak cannot touch other products or customer data.
License deactivation
Self-serve license management
Both provide a customer portal. Licensr includes a branded sign-in page and portal with your logo and colours. Customers can deactivate specific devices and manage seats.
Magic-link sign-in (no password)
Customizable transactional emails
Licensr has a visual email template editor for all license lifecycle events.
Multi-tenant (separate teams / brands)
Each Licensr tenant gets isolated Stripe accounts, plugins, licenses, and users.
Webhook events + replay
Licensr logs every inbound Stripe webhook with full payload and a replay button.
Public developer API docs
Lemon Squeezy has a licensing API. Licensr ships a full REST API reference at docs.licensr.app.
Setup wizard / guided onboarding
Free tier
Lemon Squeezy has no monthly fee (pay-per-transaction). Licensr has a free tier for development and small usage.
Stop paying 5% per sale. Own your payment account.
Free tier, no credit card required. From signup to a live buy page in 15 minutes.