Blog - Keygen

Capitalism ≠ philanthropy

What open source can learn from the climate change movement.

Whither Open Source?

On commercial open source and the future.

Weaponized Open Source

On the best-kept secret of VC-backed "open source" startups.

Locked-in

On the risks of vendor lock-in and how to escape it.

Longevity, or abandonware?

As a customer of an open core product, is the promise of longevity for you, or somebody else?

Source-available is meaningless

On the multifaceted dishonesty in commercial open source.

You can't rely on people being good

On the inherent risks of exploitation in commercial open source.

The real problem with Open Core

Is Open Core really open, or is it abandonware?

The problem with Open Core

What does Open Core actually mean, and is it Open Source?

Keygen joins OSS Pledge

Keygen commits to Open Source through the Open Source Pledge.

Licensing is packaging

On the first- and second-order effects of software licensing.

Keygen is now Fair Source

Keygen relicenses from ELv2 to the Fair Core License.

Announcing: Multi-User Licenses

Introducing support for multi-user licenses in Keygen.

That One Time Keygen Went Down for 5 Hours (Twice)

A postmortem of the API outage on February 5th and 6th, 2024.

All Your Licensing Are Belong To Us^W You

Keygen, a software licensing and distribution API, goes source-available.

Announcing: Advanced Roles and Permissions

Introducing a new way for enterprises to secure their Keygen integrations.

How to Bulk Insert Nested Attributes in Rails

Learn how to insert a model's nested attributes in bulk, rather than sequentially.

Move Fast and Break Things (Without Breaking Things)

API design is hard. Learn how Keygen handles API versioning, and how we make changes even when that means breaking things.

Upgrading Your Keygen API Integration From v1.0 to v1.1

Learn how to upgrade your integration from v1.0 to v1.1 of Keygen's API.

Announcing: Cryptographic License Files

Introducing a new, secure way to handle offline licensing with Keygen.

How to Use Hexadecimal Ed25519 Keys in Node

Learn how to use hexadecimal Ed25519 keys with Node's crypto module.

Why Freemium Pricing Is So Popular

Learn the ins and outs of freemium pricing and why it's gaining popularity in software markets.

How to Safely Change the Argument Signature of a Sidekiq Job

Learn how to safely change a Sidekiq job's argument signature.

Announcing: License Key Authentication

Introducing a new, even easier way, to authenticate with our software licensing API.

What is a Perpetual Software License?

When faced with the choice of a subscription-based or perpetual license, do customers and businesses prefer one over the other?

How to License and Distribute a Private Rubygem

Learn how to license and distribute commercial Ruby gems using Keygen's APIs.

How to License and Distribute a Private Docker Image

Learn how to license and distribute commercial Docker images using Keygen's APIs.

How to Implement TOTP 2FA in Rails using ROTP

Learn how to implement OTP second factor authentication in a Rails app using the ROTP gem.

How to License and Distribute an Electron App

Learn how to license and distribute a commercial Electron app using Keygen's software licensing and distribution API.

How to License and Distribute Commercial Node Modules

Learn how to license and distribute private Node.js packages using Keygen's software licensing and distribution API.

How to Build a Webhook System in Rails Using Sidekiq

It's the heyday of SaaS and webhooks are all the rage. Learn how to build a webhook system for your service using Rails and Sidekiq.

How to Generate Cryptographically Secure License Keys in 2025

Software vendors should move away from legacy license key algorithms such as partial key verification to generating secure license keys using modern algorithms like elliptic-curve and RSA cryptography.

How to Implement API Key Authentication in Rails Without Devise

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a third-party gem like Devise to implement API key authentication in a Ruby on Rails app.

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