SunLicense vs KeyAuth
KeyAuth is a cheap user-and-key authentication service for apps. SunLicense is licensing with stores, a portal and offline files built in.
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Coding with an AI agent? Paste one promptKeyAuth suits you if
- You want the lowest price: Seller is $4.99 a month or $24.99 a year.
- Your buyers log in to your app with a username, a license or a token.
- You want in-app chatrooms, variables, file delivery or a Telegram bot.
- You write C++, C#, Go or another language with a KeyAuth example.
SunLicense suits you if
- Your buyers get keys from the store they paid on: BuiltByBit, Tebex, Gumroad, Stripe and more.
- Your app must keep working offline: signed license files on every plan.
- You want a customer portal and a Discord bot for buyers, on every paid plan.
- You set things up with an AI agent: one prompt, and MCP on every plan.
Feature by feature.
| Feature |  SunLicense | KeyAuth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price | Free · Lite $5/month · Standard $20/month (a year costs 10 months) | Tester free · Developer $2.99/month or $14.99/year · Seller $4.99/month or $24.99/year[1] |
| Free tier | ||
| Free tier | 3 products, 100 licenses | Tester: 10 users[1] |
| Paid limits | ||
| Paid limits | Lite: 5 products, 2,500 licenses · Standard: unlimited | Developer and Seller: 10,000 users[1] |
| Offline signed licenses | ||
| Offline signed licenses | Yes: Ed25519-signed license files, every plan | — |
| Store integrations | ||
| Store integrations | 12 stores: BuiltByBit and Voxel Shop (key written into the download), Tebex, Gumroad, Payhip, Lemon Squeezy, Stripe, Ko-fi, WooCommerce, itch.io, Envato, SpigotMC | — |
| Discord bot | ||
| Discord bot | Every plan: staff commands, buyers claim keys, buyer roles, machine resets | Seller plan, with a Telegram bot and the Seller API[1] |
| Customer self-service | ||
| Customer self-service | Customer portal on Lite and Standard; on your own domain with Standard | Customer panel (Developer and Seller)[1] |
| SDKs | ||
| SDKs | Java, JavaScript, Python, .NET, PHP, Lua, Rust, plus the sunlicense CLI | Example clients in C++, C#, Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, PHP and more[2] |
| Beyond keys | ||
| Beyond keys | Sentinel, automations, product downloads with the buyer's license written in | Users and logins, HWID and region rules, variables, files, chatrooms, a mobile app[1] |
| AI agent setup (MCP) | ||
| AI agent setup (MCP) | One prompt at sunlicense.com/prompt; MCP on every plan (Free: 50 calls a day) | — |
| Revenue share | ||
| Revenue share | None | — |
| Hosting | ||
| Hosting | Hosted by us | Hosted; an older source release (Elastic License 2.0, archived) can be self-hosted[1][3] |
KeyAuth's prices and features were checked on their own site on . "—" means their site doesn't say. Prices change: their pages below are the reference.
Where each one is better.
Where KeyAuth is better
- Cheaper: Seller is $4.99 a month or $24.99 a year, with 10,000 users.
- Example clients for many more languages, including C++, C#, Go and VB.NET.
- More app-side features: logins, variables, file delivery, chatrooms and a Telegram bot.
- A mobile app for managing your apps from your phone.
- An older source release you can host yourself (Elastic License 2.0, no longer updated).
Where SunLicense is better
- A bigger free tier: 3 products and 100 licenses, against 10 users on Tester.
- Twelve store integrations, so buyers get keys from BuiltByBit, Tebex, Gumroad, Stripe and more, without webhooks to write.
- Signed offline license files on every plan.
- A Discord bot on every plan, where buyers claim keys and get roles.
- MCP and one setup prompt for AI agents on every plan.
Moving from KeyAuth.
- 1Get a list of your licenses and users out of KeyAuth: CSV, JSON or a spreadsheet all work.
- 2In SunLicense, open Tasks → Start a task → Import from another license system and upload up to 5 files.
- 3We import your products, customers and licenses, keeping your license keys where we can, and email you what came over.
- 4Swap KeyAuth's check for a SunLicense SDK, or one HTTP request, in your next release.
Questions, answered.
Is SunLicense cheaper than KeyAuth?
No. KeyAuth Seller is $4.99 a month or $24.99 a year, and Developer $2.99 a month or $14.99 a year. SunLicense Lite is $5 a month or $50 a year, and Standard $20 a month. SunLicense's free plan is bigger: 3 products and 100 licenses, against 10 users on KeyAuth's Tester plan.
What's the difference in how they work?
KeyAuth is built around users who log in to your app with a username, license or token, plus app features like variables, files and chat. SunLicense is built around license keys from your store: keys issued on purchase, machine and IP limits, signed offline files, a customer portal and refunds that revoke keys.
Can I keep my license keys when I move?
We keep your keys where we can, so buyers don't need new ones. Upload your export under Tasks → Import from another license system; we do the import and email you what came over.
Does SunLicense obfuscate my code?
No, and neither does KeyAuth. Both check licenses; use an obfuscator for your binaries or scripts if you need one.
Try SunLicense on your next release.
- Free plan
- No credit card
- No cut of your sales