Comparison
AuthForge vs Keygen
AuthForge gives you unlimited apps and licenses on one shared credit pool, billed by usage from $10 with no monthly minimum. Keygen is a mature licensing and distribution API whose cloud tiers cap products and active licensed users and start around $49 a month. The comparison below reflects Keygen's public documentation and listed pricing as of 2026. Spot something out of date? Email hello@authforge.cc.
| Feature | AuthForge | Keygen |
|---|---|---|
| Apps / products | Unlimited | Capped per tier (1 product on free Dev tier) |
| Active licensed users | Unlimited | Capped per tier (100 on free; scales by ALU) |
| Billing model | One shared credit pool across all apps, from $10, no minimum | Subscription tiers by ALU; paid cloud from ~$49/mo |
| Feature access | Every feature on every plan | Limits and features scale with tier |
| Free tier | 1,000 credits, all features, usable in production | Dev tier: 1 product, 100 ALUs, 2.5k requests/day |
| Signed validation responses (Ed25519) | Yes, on by default | Yes, signed keys (configurable) |
| Replay protection (per-request nonce) | Yes | Varies |
| Hardware / device locking | Yes, configurable seats (1–16) | Yes |
| Managed Stripe + Lemon Squeezy fulfillment | Yes, built in | Integrations you wire up; Lemon not first-class |
| Self-service customer portal | Yes, hosted & branded (magic-code login, self-serve HWID reset) | Yes, hosted portal |
| Developer REST API (server-to-server) | Yes, scoped keys, no credit cost | Yes, API-first |
| Docs for AI coding assistants | Yes, llms.txt + MCP server | No (extensive REST reference) |
| Self-hosting | Cloud only | Yes, free Community Edition |
| Software distribution / auto-updates | No (licensing only) | Yes, release hosting included |
No caps to plan around
Keygen's free Dev tier stops at one product and 100 active licensed users, and paid tiers raise those ceilings as you pay more. AuthForge has no such ceilings. Run unlimited apps, issue unlimited licenses, and draw from one shared credit pool, so a second product or a sudden spike in users does not bump you onto a higher plan. You only spend credits on validation traffic that actually happens.
Where Keygen may still fit
Keygen is the better pick if you need to self-host or run air-gapped, or if you want to distribute your software's releases and auto-updates from the same platform. Those are real capabilities AuthForge does not offer.
Questions developers ask
Does AuthForge cap apps or users?
No. Apps and licenses are unlimited, with one shared credit pool. Keygen's tiers cap products and active licensed users.
Is AuthForge cheaper than Keygen?
At low and moderate volume, usually. Keygen's paid cloud starts around $49 a month and scales by users; AuthForge bills per validation from a shared pool with no minimum.
Can I self-host AuthForge?
No, it is cloud only. If self-hosting or release distribution is required, Keygen does both.
Try it side by side
Claim 1,000 free credits and integrate AuthForge next to your current setup. Unlimited apps and licenses, no monthly minimum.
Get started