Foliox License
A license key service for people who sell software. Keys lock to one machine, and every answer from the server is signed so a fake server can’t unlock anything.
Why I built it
I sell tools to other developers and needed licensing I could trust: keys that can’t be passed around, and checks that a fake server can’t answer. I built it for my own tools first, then opened it to everyone.
How it works
- On first run, your app sends the key plus a hashed machine ID. The server binds the two. The same key on a friend’s PC gets refused.
- Every response is signed with Ed25519, including the “no” answers. The SDK checks the signature on the user’s machine, so pointing your app at a fake server goes nowhere.
- If the user’s internet drops, the app keeps working for up to 72 hours.
- The API always answers with HTTP 200 and puts the real outcome in the signed body.
- SDKs for Python, Node.js, Go and Rust.
The parts you don’t see on the landing page
Two-factor sign-in, Google and Discord login, scoped API tokens so a checkout bot can create keys without your password, emails to your customers when a key is created and before it expires, and Discord or Slack alerts when a key starts hopping between devices. Payments work with UPI, cards and crypto.
Releases run a regression check against a copy of the live database before the switch, and the cutover takes about three to four seconds. There are 288 automated tests behind it.
Where it is now
Live since September 2026 with a free plan and paid plans from $4 a month. Someone I’d never met signed up within the first half hour.
