Ask HN: Built my own license key system, now facing the pricing dilemma

2 points by mintdev 6 hours ago

Like many developers here, I've wrestled with the "build vs. buy" decision for various infrastructure pieces. Recently, I needed a license key system for a project. Looking at options like keygen.sh, I found the pricing models... well, let's just say they felt steep, especially for smaller projects or indie devs.

Driven by that frustration (and maybe a bit of NIH syndrome), I decided to roll my own: https://keymint.dev

It handles key generation, validation, and some basic management. It scratched my own itch, and frankly, building it was a fun challenge, touching on aspects seen in many HN discussions over the years – crypto security (Generating Cryptographically Secure License Keys), management (Ask HN: How do you manage license keys?), and the general complexities involved.

Now comes the ironic part. After sinking significant time into making it robust, I'm considering putting a price tag on it to support ongoing development and hosting. And suddenly, I feel like I'm becoming the very thing I initially reacted against.

Looking through past HN threads about license keys confirms this isn't a simple problem:

  * There's a clear need (many "Ask HN" posts on how to manage/generate keys).
  * Security and avoiding cracked/forged keys is paramount (*Man charged for selling forged license keys*, *Pentester found Steam bug*).
  * Reliance on third-party services can be risky (*Tell HN: DigitalRiver/MyCommerce stopped paying vendors*).
  * Monetization itself is a recurring question for tool creators (*Ask HN: (How) Should I monetize this?*).

So, before I go down the path of potentially becoming "another expensive licensing service," I wanted to put keymint.dev out to the HN community.

I'd genuinely appreciate it if some of you would be willing to kick the tires:

  * Does it solve a real problem for you?
  * How does it compare (functionally, usability-wise) to other tools you've used or considered?
  * What features are missing?
  * And yes, eventually – what *would* feel like fair pricing, avoiding the "outrageous" levels that pushed me to build this in the first place?

You can sign up and try it out at: https://keymint.dev

I'm here to answer questions and looking forward to any feedback – harsh or kind! I want to see if this thing I built actually provides value before figuring out how to sustain it without repeating the cycle I disliked.

Thanks!