Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about ExisOne software licensing

AI-Ready Integration

ExisOne is built for the AI era. We provide ready-to-use AI prompts for instant code generation, plus an MCP Server that lets AI assistants like Claude manage licenses directly through natural language commands.

MCP Server  |  .NET SDK Prompt  |  Python SDK Prompt  |  Node.js SDK Prompt  |  PayPal Integration  |  Stripe Integration

General Questions

ExisOne is a cloud-based software licensing and activation platform designed for software developers and companies. It provides everything you need to protect and monetize your software: license key generation, hardware-locked licensing, offline activation, subscription management, corporate multi-seat licensing, and seamless payment integration with Stripe and PayPal. Our platform automatically generates and emails license keys to customers after purchase.

Getting started is simple:
  1. Create a free account
  2. Add your first product in the dashboard
  3. Integrate our SDK into your application (use our AI prompts for instant code generation)
  4. Start generating and distributing license keys
The free tier includes everything you need to get started with no credit card required.

ExisOne provides native SDKs for:
  • .NET (C#, VB.NET, F#) - NuGet package for .NET 8/9, WPF, WinForms, MAUI
  • Python - PyPI package for Python 3.8+
  • Node.js/TypeScript - npm package for Node.js 18+, Electron apps
Additionally, our REST API allows integration with any programming language or platform.

Yes! ExisOne offers a free tier that includes all core features. You can create products, generate license keys, use hardware locking, and integrate payment processing. The free tier is perfect for indie developers and small projects. See our pricing page for details on plan limits and premium features.

AI-Powered Development

ExisOne is designed for modern AI-assisted development workflows in two ways:
  • AI Prompts - Copy and paste our carefully crafted prompts into ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or Claude to generate working integration code in seconds. No documentation reading required.
  • MCP Server - Connect Claude Desktop directly to ExisOne using our MCP Server. Ask Claude to "generate a license for customer@email.com" or "show me all active licenses" - and it just works. Manage your licenses through natural language.

We provide AI prompts and tools for all major integration scenarios: Each prompt includes all API details, code examples, error handling, and best practices.

  1. Navigate to the appropriate AI prompt page (e.g., .NET SDK Prompt)
  2. Copy the entire prompt text
  3. Paste it into your AI assistant (ChatGPT, Copilot Chat, Cursor, etc.)
  4. Add any specific requirements for your project (e.g., "I'm using WPF with MVVM")
  5. The AI will generate complete, working integration code tailored to your needs
The prompts are designed to give the AI all the context it needs about our API, SDK methods, error handling, and best practices.

License Types & Features

ExisOne supports multiple license models:
  • Perpetual Licenses - Never expire, one-time purchase
  • Time-Limited Licenses - Expire after a set number of days
  • Subscription Licenses - Renew automatically with payment integration
  • Trial Licenses - Automatic trial period for new users
  • Corporate/Multi-Seat - Multiple activations under one license
  • Feature-Based - Different feature sets per license tier (Basic, Pro, Enterprise)

Hardware locking (also called node-locking) binds a license to a specific computer. Here's how it works:
  1. Our SDK generates a unique Hardware ID based on the computer's components
  2. When the license is activated, this Hardware ID is recorded on our server
  3. On subsequent validations, the Hardware ID must match for the license to be valid
  4. This prevents customers from sharing licenses across multiple machines
Customers can deactivate a license from one machine and reactivate it on another (with optional cooldown periods you configure).

Yes! ExisOne supports offline licensing for customers without reliable internet access:
  • Generate RSA-SHA256 signed offline activation codes from your dashboard
  • These codes embed product ID, hardware ID, expiration date, and features
  • Your application validates offline codes locally without any network calls
  • Codes cannot be forged, modified, or transferred to other machines
This is perfect for air-gapped environments, industrial systems, or areas with poor connectivity.

Feature-based licensing lets you sell different tiers of your software with different capabilities:
  • Define features for each product (e.g., "Export", "API Access", "Premium Reports")
  • Assign different feature sets to different license plans
  • Your application checks which features are enabled at runtime
  • Easily upsell customers to higher tiers with more features
Example: A "Basic" license might include core features, while "Pro" adds export and API access.

Payment Integration

ExisOne integrates with Stripe and PayPal to automate the entire purchase flow:
  1. Customer purchases on your website via Stripe or PayPal
  2. Payment processor sends a webhook to ExisOne
  3. ExisOne automatically generates a license key
  4. ExisOne emails the license key to the customer
No manual intervention required. Use our Stripe or PayPal AI prompts to quickly integrate payment processing on your website.

Yes! For subscription-based products, ExisOne automatically generates and emails a new license key on each billing cycle. When a customer's subscription renews (monthly, annually, etc.), they automatically receive a fresh license key. This works with both Stripe and PayPal subscription billing.

Yes! Each product can have a custom email template. You can use placeholders like:
  • {{ActivationKey}} - The generated license key
  • {{ProductName}} - Your product name
  • {{CustomerEmail}} - Customer's email address
  • {{PaymentProcessorCustomerName}} - Customer's name from payment
You can also configure your own SMTP server for sending emails from your domain.

Technical Questions

ExisOne uses industry-standard security practices:
  • RSA-SHA256 signatures for offline license validation
  • Hardware fingerprinting prevents license sharing
  • HTTPS-only API communication
  • Encrypted storage for sensitive credentials (Stripe/PayPal keys)
  • Webhook signature verification for payment events
While no software protection is unbreakable, ExisOne provides strong protection that deters casual piracy and license sharing.

Our SDKs include graceful fallback handling:
  • Smart Validation - Automatically falls back to offline validation if the server is unreachable
  • Cached validation - Your app can cache the last successful validation result
  • Offline codes - Pre-generated offline codes work without any server connection
We recommend implementing a grace period so legitimate customers aren't locked out during brief outages.

Yes! ExisOne supports version enforcement:
  • Set a minimum required version per product
  • Your app passes its version during activation/validation
  • If the version is too old, the server returns version_outdated
  • Your app prompts the user to upgrade
  • You can also notify users when a newer version is available
This ensures customers stay on supported versions and helps with security updates.

Yes! ExisOne can send real-time webhooks to your server when license events occur:
  • License created
  • License activated
  • License deactivated
  • License expired
  • Validation failed
This allows you to integrate with your CRM, analytics, or other systems. Webhooks include automatic retries with exponential backoff. See the Webhook Documentation for details.

Customer Self-Service

Yes! ExisOne provides a Customer Self-Service Portal that you can offer to your customers:
  • View all their licenses and activation status
  • Deactivate licenses from old devices
  • View activation history
  • Submit support requests
The portal is branded with your company name and requires only email verification to access - no passwords to manage.

Yes! Customers can deactivate a license from one machine and reactivate it on another. You can configure:
  • Cooldown periods - Prevent rapid deactivation/reactivation abuse
  • Deactivation limits - Limit how many times a license can be transferred
  • Admin override - You can always deactivate licenses from your dashboard
This gives customers flexibility while protecting against abuse.

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