I've been hearing a lot about using JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) for licensing software. What makes JWTs a solid option for handling software licenses? Are there any drawbacks to consider?
4 Answers
I'm not so sure about that. JWTs can be tricky if they aren't revokable. If you set a long lifetime for a token and it gets compromised, you're in trouble unless you have a way to invalidate it.
JWTs are great for licensing because they’re cryptographically signed. You can use a public key to verify the token's authenticity, meaning you can securely encode license details like user info and expiration dates. It’s a reliable way to ensure that your licenses are legitimate.
I generally think if you have to ask whether to use JWTs, it might be a sign that you should stick to simpler options. If your software validates licenses through a server, maybe an opaque key stored in a database is the way to go.
JWTs are just a type of token storage, and using them for licenses is pretty smart. You can include user data, such as an email, and just check the token signature to ensure the license is valid. It’s pretty straightforward, so I’m curious why you wouldn’t want to use them!

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