Introduction

Cryptlex is a software licensing platform for desktop, server, and embedded applications. It handles the entire licensing lifecycle for you: you create and manage licenses through the admin portal or the Web API, and your app validates them using LexActivator, the client library you embed. Each license is identified by a license key that you deliver to your customer. Beyond issuing licenses, Cryptlex manages your customers and their entitlements, hosts your releases and software updates, and automates order fulfillment, so you never have to build licensing infrastructure yourself.

Cryptlex supports every common licensing model. A license can be node-locked (locked to the machine where it is activated, which prevents casual sharing of license keys) or floating (a shared pool of seats), can additionally be tied to a named user, and it can be perpetual, subscription-based, or usage-based. You can also offer keyless timed trials before purchase. Licenses can be activated online, or without any internet connection at all in offline and air-gapped environments.

What can you do with Cryptlex?

  • Implement any licensing model: subscriptions, usage-based (metered) licensing, node-locked, hosted and on-premise floating licenses, named user licenses, timed trials, and perpetual licenses. See Choosing a Licensing Model.
  • Control features per license: decide exactly which features of your app each customer gets, turning individual features on or off or configuring their limits per license, using feature entitlements, and package them into tiers like Basic, Pro, and Enterprise.
  • Meter usage: track and enforce usage limits per license, such as API calls, exports, credits, or tokens, using meter attributes.
  • Manage your customers: authenticate users, group them into organizations, work with resellers, and offer self-service through the customer portal.
  • Distribute releases and software updates: host your app binaries and deliver software updates securely to licensed users.
  • Automate order fulfillment: generate and deliver licenses automatically on purchase using webhooks and ready-made integrations with popular payment platforms like Stripe, FastSpring, and more.

How the pieces fit together

Cryptlex has four parts, each facing a different audience. Your team manages licensing in the admin portal, your server automates it through the Web API, your app validates licenses with a client library, and your customers and resellers serve themselves in their own portals:

Web API

The REST API through which everything in Cryptlex works. Use it to create and manage licenses and users, automate order fulfillment, and even activate licenses directly from your app without a client library.

LexActivator

The client library you embed in your app to validate licenses. It implements node-locked and hosted floating licenses (floating licenses that need an active internet connection), and handles the hard parts for you, including HTTPS communication, AES encryption, RSA signature verification, machine fingerprinting, and virtual machine detection, across all major platforms and languages.

LexFloatServer & LexFloatClient

An on-premise floating license server, and the client library your app uses to lease floating licenses from it. This is recommended for mission-critical or air-gapped environments that need floating licenses without depending on a connection to Cryptlex's servers over the internet.

Portals

The admin portal where your team manages products, licenses, and customers; the customer portal where your customers manage their own licenses and downloads; and the reseller portal where your resellers manage the customers and licenses you allow them to.

Next steps

Core Concepts
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