Best way to license standalone features with different license keysAnswered
tttHello,
I have an app that I would to know what the best way to allow activations of multiple license keys within a single executable.
So for example say I have some main plans: Lite and Pro. But I would also like to have some standalone features Feature1, Feature2, Feature3, Feature4 to be available for sale.
Pro contains Feature1, Feature2, Feature3, Feature4
Lite contains Feature1, Feature2, Feature3
If people buy standalone features (ex. Feature1 and Feature4), they should be allowed to activate/deactivate two separate license keys in the app. Those keys could have different expiry dates. Someone could also effectively upgrade from Lite to Pro by buying a standalone license to Feature4.
In terms of licensing Lite vs Pro, a custom license field makes sense since you only want one or the other license type activated at a single time but with respect to standalone features, you may have any combination of them. Now obviously one could make everything a different product in LimeLM but that requires a higher LimeLM plan.
The best way I can think of this might be to add different product versions: (ex. Lite, Pro, Feature1, Feature2, Feature3, Feature4) and then the app can activate any combination of keys for each product version.
Does this sound like the best way to do this?
Thanks for your help.
If you want to force them to have separate keys for separate features, then yes, use separate product versions.
However, custom license fields is the more convenient option. You might have to rethink how you're billing customers, but you can simply have separate expiration dates for separate features. Many options are covered in the article.