Agencies

Keymaster for Agencies: Self-hosted license server: signed keys, seat limits, secure

Self-hosted license server: signed keys, seat limits, secure downloads — no platform cut.

Agencies pay per-seat and per-client fees that scale with their success. Self-hosted, pay-once tools replace per-seat pricing with a flat cost that margins actually survive.

The tool this job usually means renting is Keygen, at from $99/mo — roughly $1,188 a year, every year. Keymaster does the job for a one-time $129 — running on infrastructure you control.

Fit check

Why it fits how agencies work

🔏 Ed25519-signed keys

KM1.. format — self-describing, verifiable offline with just the public key. The keypair is generated on first boot; you own it.

For agencies, ed25519-signed keys pays off across every client account, with no per-seat math — and it's covered by the same one-time $129, not metered per month.

💺 Seat limits & fingerprints

Activation API with machine fingerprints, idempotent re-activation, deactivate to free a seat, signed activation receipts for offline runs. Stable, versioned /api/v1.

For agencies, seat limits & fingerprints pays off across every client account, with no per-seat math — and it's covered by the same one-time $129, not metered per month.

📴 Offline validation snippets

Zero-dependency Node and browser/WebCrypto verifiers ship in the repo, and the key format is documented byte-for-byte so you can port it to any language.

For agencies, offline validation snippets pays off across every client account, with no per-seat math — and it's covered by the same one-time $129, not metered per month.

Workflow

A typical workflow

STEP 01

Buy once on Whop

One-time $129 for the packaged, ready-to-run version with a Windows installer and priority support.

STEP 02

Deploy and integrate

docker compose up on a $5 VPS, then drop the 20-line verification snippet into your app with your public key embedded at build time.

STEP 03

Issue keys, ship builds

Issue or bulk-issue licenses from the dashboard, wire the webhook into Stripe or Whop, and let customers download through expiring signed URLs.

What it costs, honestly

Keymaster is $129, once. Keygen at from $99/mo — roughly $1,188 a year, every year. Against Keygen's $99/mo entry tier, Keymaster pays for itself in about 6 weeks. Against Gumroad's 10% cut, it pays for itself on your first ~$1,300 of sales.

FAQ

Agencies ask

Is Keymaster worth it for agencies?

Against Keygen's $99/mo entry tier, Keymaster pays for itself in about 6 weeks. Against Gumroad's 10% cut, it pays for itself on your first ~$1,300 of sales. Keymaster costs $129 once; Keygen charges from $99/mo — about $1188 a year. For agencies, that fixed cost is the whole point: the tool is a one-time line item, not a monthly one.

Is it really free on GitHub?

Yes — MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/keymaster-mvp, always. $129 buys the packaged installer, updates and priority support. We dogfood it: the onetime-suite's own premium tiers run on Keymaster.

Can offline validation catch revoked keys?

No — and the docs say so upfront. An offline check proves a key is authentic and unexpired; it can't see revocations or seat counts. The shipped snippets show the recommended hybrid: verify offline instantly, check in online periodically, apply a grace period.

Own Keymaster forever — $129