Stevens Keys vs Lemon Squeezy license keys. Every Lemon Squeezy fee, limit and feature below comes from its official pricing page or docs, linked inline and checked Oct 23, 2026. Anything those pages didn't state is left out.
sk_mcp_test_…, checkout is Stripe test mode, no real money moves, and creator payouts (planned via Stripe Connect at 85/15) are not live. It is built for MCP servers and HTTP APIs: one edge call (POST /v1/validate) validates and meters a key, and revocation is effective on the next call. AI-agent and bot clients are welcome and counted in their own usage bucket.| Stevens Keys (built, test mode) | Lemon Squeezy | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted license keys plus usage metering for MCP servers and APIs | All-in-one platform for selling digital products: payments, subscriptions, store, email marketing, license keys (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Fees | Free in test mode; planned 85/15 split on sales (not live; nothing is charged today) | 5% + 50¢ per transaction, no monthly charge for ecommerce features; "some payments may be subject to additional fees" (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Merchant of record | No. Stevens Keys does not take on sales tax or VAT | Yes: takes on tax collection and calculation liability and pays taxes on your behalf (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Payouts | Not live | Bank wire and PayPal, processed twice a month (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| License key issuance | Issued by API or dashboard, or by a test-mode Stripe Checkout buy link | A unique key generated per purchase when "Generate License Keys" is on; shown in the receipt email and My Orders (Lemon Squeezy docs: generating license keys, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Length and activations | Optional expiry, monthly quota and per-product max_activations (distinct instance_ids) | License length and activation limit for non-subscription products; subscription keys follow the subscription lifecycle (Lemon Squeezy docs: generating license keys, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Validation API | POST /v1/validate validates and meters in one call | License API: activate, validate, deactivate; HTTPS to api.lemonsqueezy.com; form-encoded POSTs (Lemon Squeezy License API docs, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Rate limit | Built for per-request calls on the hot path; abuse limits apply only to signup and login | 60 requests per minute (Lemon Squeezy License API docs, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Key statuses | active, revoked, expired, over_quota, activation_limit and others | inactive, active, expired, disabled (Lemon Squeezy License API docs, checked Oct 23, 2026) |
| Usage metering | Built into every validate call (units against a monthly quota) | Pricing page mentions usage-based billing among payment options (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026); no per-call key metering in the License API docs we checked |
| Agent/bot clients | Welcome; counted as an agent bucket beside human in /v1/usage | Not stated on the pages we checked |
The specific "additional fees" amounts and the volume-pricing terms (the pages point elsewhere or to sales), uptime or SLA figures, revocation latency, and Lemon Squeezy's own comparison figures for other tools. If Lemon Squeezy's pages change, theirs win over this one.
Usually not. Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record with checkout, storefront, subscriptions, tax handling, email marketing and license keys included. Stevens Keys is narrower: hosted license keys for MCP servers and HTTP APIs, with one edge call that validates and meters. It is in preview, in test mode, and payouts are not live.
Its pricing page lists 5% + 50¢ per transaction with no monthly charge for ecommerce features, notes that some payments may be subject to additional fees, and says email marketing is free for up to 500 subscribers (lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, checked Oct 23, 2026).
Keys are generated per purchase when the product setting is on. Non-subscription products can set a license length and an activation limit; subscription keys follow the subscription lifecycle. The License API activates, validates and deactivates keys, is rate limited to 60 requests per minute, and reports statuses inactive, active, expired and disabled (docs.lemonsqueezy.com, checked Oct 23, 2026).
Because it is designed to be called on every request: one POST /v1/validate both validates the key and meters units against a monthly quota, revocation applies on the next call, and an optional per-product activation cap counts distinct instance ids.
Yes, agent and bot traffic is welcome. /v1/validate does not block or filter any User-Agent, and usage stats (/v1/usage) count agent traffic as its own bucket beside human traffic. Abuse rate limits apply only to signup and login.
Only from lemonsqueezy.com/pricing and docs.lemonsqueezy.com, fetched Oct 23, 2026 and linked inline. Anything those pages did not state is left out.
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