In short
- A licence server checks every launch over the network; when it's down, blocked or retired, the software stops.
- Floating-licence managers suit offices sharing seats; for most software they're more infrastructure than the problem needs.
- The alternative: a licence that carries its own proof, sealed to the customer's hardware and checked locally.
- You still get revocation, expiry and a record of every licence, without a server in the loop.
Why teams look for an alternative
Licence servers, from enterprise licence managers to home-grown activation APIs, put a network call between your customer and your software. That call fails on offline and air-gapped machines, behind strict firewalls, during outages, and for good when a vendor shuts the server down. It's also infrastructure you have to host, secure, monitor and pay for, for the life of every licence you've sold.
The alternatives
| Approach | Works offline | Hard to copy | Server needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence keys checked in code | Yes | No: one key works everywhere | No |
| Online activation | After activating | Partly: a hardware ID check | Yes, to activate |
| USB dongles | Yes | Yes | No, but hardware to ship |
| Floating licence server | On its network only | Yes | Yes, always |
| Self-proving licences sealed to the chip | Yes | Yes | No |
Licences that prove themselves
Pramaan's licences contain the proof a server would otherwise give: a signed record that the licence was issued, an inclusion proof against the publisher's published set of licences, and the content key, sealed to the customer's TPM (or a phone's secure hardware). The app checks all of it locally. Revocations are published, so a computer that connects now and then picks them up; one that never connects keeps working as its licence says.
What you keep
- Expiry, judged against the chip's own clock.
- Revocation, published for anyone to check.
- A record of every licence you've issued, in your own Pramaan console.
- Leak tracing, which no licence server gives you.
Questions
What can I use instead of a licence server?
Licences that carry their own proof: signed, checked against a published set of licences, and sealed to the customer's hardware, so the software verifies them locally with no server.
Can I still revoke a licence without a server?
Yes. Pramaan publishes revocations; any computer that connects picks them up. A machine that never connects keeps the licence it was given until it expires.
Do floating licences have a serverless alternative?
Not for sharing a pool of seats live; that needs coordination. For most software sold per computer or per person, a node-locked licence sealed to the hardware replaces the server entirely.
Related guides
- Offline Software Licensing, No License ServerLicense software that must run without internet, on air-gapped sites, field computers and labs: offline activation, and licences that carry their own proof.
- Node-Locked vs Floating Licenses ExplainedNode-locked (device-locked) and floating (concurrent) licenses compared: how each works, when to use which, and how hardware binding beats a hardware ID check.
- Dongle Alternative: Licensing Without a USB KeyReplace USB licence dongles with the security chip already inside every modern computer: the same hardware-bound protection, nothing to ship, lose or break.
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