[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":514},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-14538351":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":28,"sentiment":29,"stance_mix":30,"scored_comments":33,"aspects":34,"strip":46,"post_text":47,"what":48,"said":110,"maker_in_thread":237,"shape":249,"grid":253,"attempts":467,"same_week":480,"maker_shows":375,"maker_hidden":506,"reader_version":507,"card":508},"14538351","Keygen","A dead-simple software licensing API built for developers","title","Show HN: Keygen – A dead-simple software licensing API built for developers","https:\u002F\u002Fkeygen.sh","keygen.sh","ezekg",1497283554,2017,190,90,180,2242,9,"notable","web_saas","software licensing api","api",[24,25,26,27],"software licensing","license key api","license validation","desktop app licensing","mixed",-0.163,{"positive":18,"neutral":31,"mixed":32,"critical":31},18,2,47,{"pricing":35,"idea":38,"execution":41,"docs":44,"design":45},{"positive":36,"critical":37},1,8,{"positive":39,"critical":40},4,5,{"positive":42,"critical":43},0,3,{"positive":42,"critical":36},{"positive":43,"critical":36},[36,36,43,32,36,36,42,43,42,42,42,42,42,36,36,43,36,36,42,36,40,36,42,40,43,36,40,43,40,36,43,36,43,43,40,43,43,43,43,40],null,{"problem":49,"audience":59,"pricing":66,"motivation":75,"time_to_build":47,"stack":81,"openness":108,"stage":109,"team_size":108},{"value":50,"source":51,"evidence":52},"Licensing and license key management for paid software","maker",[53,56],{"id":54,"by":11,"text":55},"14542434","The FAQs address this, but just to be clear: Keygen unfortunately (as you said) doesn't work for mobile apps stores, due to Apple's (and Google's) developer terms. When referring…",{"id":57,"by":11,"text":58},"14553162","It hasn't been an issue thus far, but I'll see if I can make that clearer. I'm not implying that developers are writing macOS apps in Python or C#, but they are writing Windows…",{"value":60,"source":51,"evidence":61},"Developers selling desktop apps and on-premise software, mainly small and medium businesses",[62,63],{"id":54,"by":11,"text":55},{"id":64,"by":11,"text":65},"14544788","Good thing I'm focusing on small- and medium-sized businesses right now, not enterprise. :)",{"value":67,"source":51,"evidence":68},"Initially $24, $49 and $99\u002Fmo plans with custom enterprise plans; later switched to value-based pricing",[69,72],{"id":70,"by":11,"text":71},"14542966","I don't currently offer usage-based plans, so not sure where that came from. I offer $24, $49 and $99\u002Fmo plans with custom plans offered to companies who have more than 5,000…",{"id":73,"by":11,"text":74},"14571350","Hey, just an update! I shipped a new value-based pricing model today (https:\u002F\u002Fkeygen.sh\u002Fpricing) after getting feedback from HN as well as others. Would love to hear your thoughts!",{"value":76,"source":51,"evidence":77},"Scratching the maker's own itch around licensing their own apps",[78],{"id":79,"by":11,"text":80},"14540402","Founder here--I definitely recommend reading through that thread if you have time. That was back whenever this was simply an idea in my head (scratching my own itch) and I…",[82,88,92,96,100,104],{"value":83,"source":51,"evidence":84},"Ruby on Rails",[85],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},"14553310","Marketing site is static HTML\u002FJS, dashboard app is in Ember, and the API itself is written in Rails w\u002F PostgreSQL, Sidekiq and Puma, most notably.",{"value":89,"source":51,"evidence":90},"PostgreSQL",[91],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},{"value":93,"source":51,"evidence":94},"Sidekiq",[95],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},{"value":97,"source":51,"evidence":98},"Puma",[99],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},{"value":101,"source":51,"evidence":102},"Ember",[103],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},{"value":105,"source":51,"evidence":106},"Static HTML\u002FJS marketing site",[107],{"id":86,"by":11,"text":87},"unknown","launched",{"praise":111,"objections":136,"requests":181,"questions":208,"alternatives":224},[112,128],{"value":113,"source":114,"evidence":115},"Clean, nice-looking website and docs","commenter",[116,120,124],{"id":117,"by":118,"text":119},"14538585","fermion_now","This doesn't look like a product I'd use myself (web dev) - but I'm sure a lot of native developers will find it useful. I really like the landing page - particularly the section…",{"id":121,"by":122,"text":123},"14542667","tunnuz","Love the website.",{"id":125,"by":126,"text":127},"14543443","brobinson","I'm worried about SMB and corporate firewalls blocking access to your site just because of the presence of the word \"keygen\". Very, very nice-looking site, though!",{"value":129,"source":114,"evidence":130},"Useful idea for native developers",[131,135],{"id":132,"by":133,"text":134},"14543143","top_post","I had this exact same idea but never executed on it. I like everything about this, implementation to web design. I hope you slay with this.",{"id":117,"by":118,"text":119},[137,152,163,174],{"value":138,"source":114,"evidence":139},"Pricing too high, especially for hobby or weekend projects",[140,144,148],{"id":141,"by":142,"text":143},"14544440","rrosen326","Since I know you are figuring this all out, here’s some pricing feedback for you: I’m a weekender - building a desktop app (OS X & Win) for individuals and small businesses. I…",{"id":145,"by":146,"text":147},"14545306","MatthewWilkes","There are two issues, for me. Firstly, a monthly price in dollars can be annoying for very small projects, as it's quite possible there will be a relatively large flat currency…",{"id":149,"by":150,"text":151},"14546016","sjs382","If I sell 200 licenses for my desktop app in one year at $10\u002Fpop, that's $2,000 in my pocket. Your license server costs $288\u002Fyear. I'll need to continue using it as long as my…",{"value":153,"source":114,"evidence":154},"Licensing can be bypassed or cracked",[155,159],{"id":156,"by":157,"text":158},"14541572","r1ch","The hard part with software licensing is making it resistant to cracking. This doesn't attempt to make things difficult, it would take under an hour to crack any app that uses…",{"id":160,"by":161,"text":162},"14539871","KenanSulayman","Not to sound too negative, but NOPing out the invocation bypasses the licensing. At least in the native version. I like approaches where parts of the app are downloaded after…",{"value":164,"source":114,"evidence":165},"Name 'keygen' has negative or malware associations",[166,170],{"id":167,"by":168,"text":169},"14539664","beefhash","The developer(s) of this may really want to rethink the name. Not only is it pretty un-googleable due to other, older results likely taking priority, it's also likely that a…",{"id":171,"by":172,"text":173},"14541965","TylerE","> Years from now, you might search ”keygen for X” and be shown pages of results related to this product instead of pirated software. Care to bet money on that? That's rather…",{"value":175,"source":114,"evidence":176},"Conflicts with App Store rules and the 30% cut claim",[177],{"id":178,"by":179,"text":180},"14542225","ianamartin","I'm not sure how this holds up to the promise of \"Sell outside the app store and pocket that extra 30%.\" If you're selling iOS apps, you have no choice but the app store. You…",[182,193,201],{"value":183,"source":114,"evidence":184},"Free or low-cost tier for testing and small projects",[185,189],{"id":186,"by":187,"text":188},"14545000","jfindley","Appreciate that hosting isn't free, but having some sort of $0 plan would greatly drive adoption, at fairly little cost. I personally would be unlikely to launch a product that…",{"id":190,"by":191,"text":192},"14547327","gol706","I agree. I think that the pricing is fair for when you have paying customers on the system (at least for my business model), but the 7 day trial isn't really enough time to do a…",{"value":194,"source":114,"evidence":195},"Per-activation or per-license pricing",[196,200],{"id":197,"by":198,"text":199},"14545277","sjg007","I would charge per successful activation.",{"id":149,"by":150,"text":151},{"value":202,"source":114,"evidence":203},"Offline mode",[204],{"id":205,"by":206,"text":207},"14542137","dgudkov","Offline mode still not available?",[209,213],{"value":210,"source":114,"evidence":211},"How the product handles app store sales and the 30% fee",[212],{"id":178,"by":179,"text":180},{"value":214,"source":114,"evidence":215},"Tech stack and backend language",[216,220],{"id":217,"by":218,"text":219},"14546940","Walkman","I'm curious about the tech stack you are using for this service.",{"id":221,"by":222,"text":223},"14544079","eopkg","What language did you use for the backend?",[225,231],{"value":226,"source":114,"evidence":227},"Rolling your own licensing solution",[228],{"id":229,"by":142,"text":230},"14547126","These are all fair points, as is the one about not comparing a product with an open source project. But my DO droplet, which runs all my websites, costs $10\u002Fmonth. All the other…",{"value":232,"source":51,"evidence":233},"CocoaFob open source license validation",[234],{"id":235,"by":11,"text":236},"14542949","Definitely a popular choice. There are open source libararies for public\u002Fprivate key license validation (CocoaFob is a popular one for macOS), and I don't really think this…",{"comments":238,"answered":37,"key":239},21,[240,243,246],{"id":241,"text":242},"14544727","Appreciate the feedback. (Seriously, helps a lot!) What would be a price point that works for you? I definitely think there's room for a smaller plan, so I'd love to hear your…",{"id":244,"text":245},"14547415","If you want an extended trial, I'm all for hooking you up with one that lasts until you launch (or whatever is needed for you). Though not something I want to do by default at…",{"id":247,"text":248},"14548251","Appreciate your feedback. I'm not at all married to the current pricing, and I believe there's room for a smaller plan so that I can support developers who aren't making a lot…",{"commenters":250,"max_depth":37,"maker_replies":238,"first_comment_mins":251,"lifespan_hours":252},48,29,98,[254,256,258,261,263,265,266,267,269,273,276,279,280,281,283,284,285,287,291,295,298,302,305,308,311,315,318,321,324,327,330,331,334,337,340,343,345,347,350,351,354,357,359,362,363,366,368,369,372,373,376,377,379,383,385,386,388,390,393,396,398,399,402,404,407,409,411,414,416,417,419,421,424,427,429,431,434,435,438,440,442,444,446,450,453,458,460,462,463,465],[141,42,36,255,142,42],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fpricing",[241,42,42,257,11,36],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[259,42,36,255,260,42],"14544965","onion2k",[186,42,43,262,187,42],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[190,42,43,264,191,42],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fpricing",[244,42,42,257,11,36],[145,42,36,255,146,42],[268,42,36,255,142,42],"14546988",[270,42,40,271,272,42],"14545744","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fpricing","jermaustin1",[274,42,36,255,275,42],"14545938","byte1918",[277,42,42,278,272,42],"14546370","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[229,42,36,255,142,42],[149,42,36,255,150,42],[282,42,42,278,272,42],"14546268",[247,42,42,257,11,36],[73,42,42,257,11,36],[156,36,36,286,157,42],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[288,36,40,289,290,42],"14541631","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea","etwigg",[292,36,42,293,294,42],"14543259","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","gfody",[296,36,42,293,297,42],"14544137","dfox",[299,36,42,300,301,42],"14542120","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","user5994461",[303,36,42,300,304,42],"14542169","worstscenario",[306,36,42,300,307,42],"14542435","gh02t",[309,36,42,300,310,42],"14542510","_e",[312,36,42,313,314,42],"14543529","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","pluma",[316,36,42,313,317,42],"14542547","giancarlostoro",[319,36,42,300,320,42],"14543156","hvidgaard",[322,36,42,313,323,42],"14543813","positivecomment",[325,36,42,300,326,42],"14544844","jetti",[328,36,43,329,326,42],"14544832","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[160,32,36,286,161,42],[332,32,36,286,333,42],"14540051","X-Istence",[335,32,36,286,336,42],"14541212","gruez",[338,32,43,329,339,42],"14540517","timvdalen",[341,32,42,313,342,42],"14541109","c0wb0yc0d3r",[344,32,42,313,339,42],"14541185",[346,32,43,329,310,42],"14540908",[348,32,36,349,336,42],"14541194","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution",[178,43,36,286,179,42],[352,43,43,329,353,42],"14542424","asteadman",[355,43,42,313,356,42],"14542609","firloop",[358,43,42,313,179,42],"14551512",[360,43,42,361,11,36],"14553179","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[54,43,42,329,11,36],[364,43,36,365,179,42],"14551540","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdocs",[57,43,42,367,11,36],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[132,39,40,289,133,42],[370,40,36,255,371,42],"14542730","theprop",[70,40,42,262,11,36],[374,375,42,293,339,42],"14540323",6,[79,375,42,361,11,36],[378,375,40,289,339,42],"14540526",[380,381,42,293,382,42],"14544053",7,"dsr_",[117,37,40,384,118,42],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fdesign",[197,18,43,262,198,42],[387,18,42,262,11,36],"14553333",[389,18,43,262,198,42],"14554972",[167,391,36,392,168,42],10,"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdesign",[394,391,42,395,11,36],"14540508","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[397,391,40,384,310,42],"14540788",[171,391,42,300,172,42],[400,391,42,401,11,36],"14542078","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[403,391,43,329,310,42],"14542757",[405,391,40,289,406,42],"14543683","rl3",[408,391,43,329,310,42],"14544114",[410,391,36,349,406,42],"14547801",[412,391,43,413,310,42],"14548464","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[125,391,43,415,126,42],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fidea",[64,391,42,401,11,36],[418,391,36,349,126,42],"14558107",[420,391,42,413,11,36],"14560665",[422,391,42,293,423,42],"14541023","ythn",[425,391,42,293,426,42],"14542017","tmsldd",[205,428,43,413,206,42],11,[430,428,42,413,11,36],"14542444",[432,428,43,329,433,42],"14542925","asmosoinio",[235,428,42,329,11,36],[436,428,40,437,326,42],"14544877","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[439,428,43,329,206,42],"14543076",[441,428,42,329,11,36],"14544808",[443,428,43,329,206,42],"14552406",[445,428,42,413,11,36],"14553220",[447,448,43,367,449,42],"14543811",12,"JCharante",[451,448,42,452,11,36],"14545136","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[454,455,43,456,457,42],"14542918",13,"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign","wingerlang",[459,455,42,456,11,36],"14542969",[217,461,43,413,218,42],14,[86,461,42,413,11,36],[221,464,43,413,222,42],15,[121,466,40,384,122,42],16,[468,473,476,479],{"id":469,"t":470,"points":471,"comments":472},"12870031",1478228232,132,88,{"id":474,"t":475,"points":43,"comments":32},"13526124",1485819894,{"id":477,"t":478,"points":32,"comments":43},"14358238",1495028178,{"id":4,"t":12,"points":14,"comments":15},[481,485,490,495,499,502],{"id":482,"name":483,"points":484,"category":20},"14552615","DemandRush",1100,{"id":486,"name":487,"points":488,"category":489},"14553401","StatiCrypt",348,"security_privacy",{"id":491,"name":492,"points":493,"category":494},"14553551","Vexlio",309,"dev_tools",{"id":496,"name":497,"points":49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