By Buğra Ömer Aydemir · Updated 15 October 2026
Cryptlex alternative: Carcha Seal compared with Cryptlex
This page compares Cryptlex and Carcha Seal for licensing a desktop app. The Cryptlex column uses only what Cryptlex publishes on its own site and repository, checked on 15 October 2026; follow the sources for anything that may have changed. Where Cryptlex does more, the table says so.
Cryptlex and Carcha Seal side by side
| Cryptlex | Carcha Seal | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Hosted service; Enterprise includes self-hosted deployment. | Runs on your own server under a written agreement with Carcha Labs and a server license (a new installation runs a 14-day evaluation). The public server at seal.carchalabs.com is a demo. |
| Price | Starter $100/month (1,000 active activations), Growth $300, Business $600, Enterprise on request; 30-day free trial without a credit card. | Not published; ask Carcha Labs. |
| License models | Node-locked licensing on Starter; more on higher plans. | Node-locked licenses with seats, expiry, end of updates and features. |
| Floating / concurrent licenses | Hosted floating licensing on Growth; on-premise floating licensing on Business. | Not in version 1. |
| Offline use | Offline activations on Starter. | Ed25519-signed leases verified in the app; 72 hours between check-ins plus 7 days of grace on the default policy (both per policy). |
| Computers that never go online | Offline activations (see Cryptlex documentation for the flow). | Request file, license file and deactivation file; customers upload the request at /offline. |
| SDK for Electron / Node.js | Not listed on the pricing page; see Cryptlex documentation. | Electron main process and Node.js 22.13+ (@carchalabs/seal-electron, MIT). A native module verifies leases a second time. |
| Try without signing up | 30-day trial (account required). | Browser sandbox, npx @carchalabs/seal-quickstart and a desktop demo, no sign-up. |
Which one fits
Choose Cryptlex if
- you need floating licenses, or a hosted service with plans by activation count;
- you license apps in several languages with one vendor's SDKs;
- you want vendor support plans and an uptime SLA (Enterprise).
Choose Carcha Seal if
- your app is Electron or Node.js and you want the lease format to be plain standards you can verify yourself (JWS, Ed25519, JWKS);
- you want the license server on your own infrastructure;
- you want to try the whole flow before any account: sandbox, npx quickstart, desktop demo.
Add license keys to an Electron app with Carcha Seal · How offline verification works · Try it without signing up