In the world of software licensing, the license dongle was once the solution of choice for software developers, but no longer. Today's ISVs require flexible licensing solutions that can help them introduce new licensing models, products and features faster and more easily.

What is a USB licence dongle?

Dongles (known as licence dongles or USB keys) are electronic / hardware-based protection locks initially introduced by ISVs to protect and prevent unauthorised usage or unwanted distribution of their high-value desktop software applications. The connection was initially done through parallel ports but now it's more commonly done through USB ports. The license dongle contains the license details for a particular version of an application.

How are license dongles used in software?

The dongle's firmware is integrated with the software of the application and contains information used to authorise access - what and how the end-user can use the software. Whether it's time, location, or limiting the packages/features available, the end user's access is controlled by the dongle. The user can get access to the software application only if the license dongle is physically present on the computer.

The dongle was once the solution of choice for software licensing, but no longer.