Announcing ECDSA P-256 support

We're excited to announce support for ECDSA over P-256 (also known as secp256r1 or prime256v1) across response, webhook, and license and machine file signatures. This introduces a new ecdsa-p256 signing algorithm, alongside a ECDSA_P256_SIGN scheme for signed keys. ECDSA P-256 is a widely adopted NIST standard, approved for use in systems validated under FIPS 140-3. See the documentation for license file signing algorithms here, and on supported schemes for signed license keys here.

Compared to RSA 2048, also NIST-approved, ECDSA P-256 provides stronger security with far greater efficiency. It produces smaller signatures, reduces bandwidth costs, and verifies more quickly on constrained devices. These advantages add up in systems that process large numbers of signed messages — license verifications, webhook deliveries, and API responses — where performance and overhead matter.

We still recommend Ed25519 as the best option for most cases because of its speed, simplicity, and strong security guarantees. But Ed25519 is not NIST-approved yet, so this recommendation falls short in those situations, historically leaving RSA 2048 as the alternative — which NIST recommends phasing out by 2030.

For organizations that need to check that NIST/FIPS box, ECDSA P-256 is the right fit for signatures: modern, secure, and compliant.

For a full comparison of supported algorithms, see our signing algorithms docs.