Selling software products can be great. All of the sweat and tears, all of the late-night hours spent coding features you know your customers are going to love. From a simple proof of concept to a full-fledged software application, the challenges that the process brought seem worth it. But there is still one hurdle that keeps you up at night… Software licensing.

There are many reasons why internal software licensing solutions cause stress and wasted time. Here are just a few:
‍

• The maintenance work required to keep the licensing wheel spinning does not seem justified.
  ‍
• The time it takes to develop additional complexity in the system causes stress.
  ‍
• All the time spent fixing and expanding the licensing wheel is time not spent developing features your customers will actually love.
  ‍

The truth is, far too many software companies find themselves in similar situations. The good news is that the software licensing hurdle is far from unbeatable. In fact, outsourcing software licensing to experts has become the chosen solution for many software companies.

This blog will cover the true cost of keeping a self-coded licensing system, how to solve the problem with outsourcing, and a simple 3-step guide you can use to get away from the painful task of trying to reinvent the software licensing wheel.

‍

Self-Coded Licensing Systems - The True Cost

Firstly, let’s address the maintenance question, because it is likely the reason why you are here in the first place. Unfortunately, fixing your self-coded licensing system is indeed likely to take a substantial amount of your valuable time.

Although a customer should ideally never have to think about it, the licensing system just has to work because it is such a vital part of the application and overall package. Fixing the issues quickly becomes the top priority, creating stress and distractions.

Secondly, even when you have done all the fixing you need (for now), there is always that bit of extra complexity that has to be added to the system that keeps you from feeling done. Another pricing model was implemented that requires changes, another pricing plan with it’s own feature set. Or perhaps, a customer who wants to access the application offline?

All of these points mean that the software licensing wheel is not just time-consuming to maintain, but it also seems to be ever-growing in complexity.

Lastly, every minute spent repairing or expanding your software licensing wheel is a minute not spent coding the features your customers actually want and pay for. Imagine how much you could have gotten done instead of repairing and expanding, and imagine the stress it would have alleviated if you didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

You should not have to be an expert in software licensing or cryptography just to be able to get paid fairly for your software application, and that’s where outsourcing comes in.

The Outsourcing Approach

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, more and more software companies outsource software licensing to experts such as Devolens. We have helped hundreds of today’s most innovative and industry-leading software companies outsource their software licensing solution for over 10 years with our SaaS-like dashboard and API.

Why is the outsourcing route more popular today? Well, this answer I got in a customer interview summarizes it well:

‍

Question (Devolens): "Did you ever think about coding your own software licensing system internally?"

Answer (Customer): "Yes, we did… For about five minutes. We then concluded that it would be a massive undertaking, and we would rather spend that time and money on our own product."

‍

Here are some other benefits to outsourcing licensing to experts:
‍

• Automation - Instead of manually creating and keeping track of licenses, you can automate the entire process from payment to distribution to license validation.
  ‍
• Integrations - Devolens integrates with leading payment providers and CRMs so you can connect licensing with your other tools and ecosystem.
  ‍
• Dashboard and API - With Devolens' cloud-based dashboard and API for license creation, management, and analytics, you can effortlessly implement advanced licensing features.
  ‍
• Pricing Models - Out of the box, you can implement revenue-increasing pricing models such as usage-based subscriptions, seat-based pricing plans, and even offline licensing.
  ‍

All of the above-mentioned points make outsourcing a much more scalable, growth-allowing approach than trying to reinvent the software licensing wheel.

‍

Devolens - Your Licensing Helper

It is easier than ever to give outsourcing a try. Here is a simple 3-step guide that tells you how to get started for free in Devolens:
‍

1. Create a Free Devolens Account: Our SaaS-like dashboard is where the licensing magic happens! Devoles is always free during the testing and implementation phase, so you can get started at your own pace.

‍

2. Add Client API: We have open-source libraries in all major programming languages that you can add to your project for seamless interaction with our Web API.

‍

3. Add a Code Snippet: All you have to do in your own code is to paste a short code snippet for license creation and verification.
   ‍

We have comprehensive documentation guides and videos in your programming language, including how to migrate licenses from your current solution, so you can outsource licensing within minutes!

If you are ready to get over that final hurdle and outsource licensing, sign up for free today and get back to coding the features your customers actually love.