Licensing & domains

Full terms

This page summarises how licenses work. The binding terms are in the License Agreement. Add-ons bought on the CS-Cart Marketplace are also covered by the Marketplace’s own license terms.

Summary

• 1 license = 1 production installation on 1 base domain. One CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor installation, meaning one config.local.php and one database, on the domain you entered at purchase.
• Subdomains and development hosts are free. www., shop. or staging. of your domain, and local development hosts, don’t need another license.
• The add-on checks its license once a day with our server, from the admin panel only. Your storefront is never slowed down by it.
• Updates and support are included for the period stated on your purchase. The add-on keeps working after that period ends.

What counts as one installation

Setup	Licenses needed
One store on shop.example.com	1
CS-Cart (Ultimate) with several storefronts in one installation, all on example.com or its subdomains	1
CS-Cart (Ultimate) with storefronts on two different domains, e.g. example.com and example.de	1 per domain
Multi-Vendor marketplace with any number of vendors	1 (Multi-Vendor license)
Two separate installations, e.g. shop-a.com and shop-b.com with their own databases	2
Production + staging + local development copy of the same store	1

Multi-Vendor licenses cost more than CS-Cart licenses for the same add-on, because Multi-Vendor features (vendor panel, per-vendor settings, payouts) need extra work and testing.

Free staging and development domains

A license is bound to a base domain, for example example.com, and covers every subdomain of it: www.example.com, shop.example.com, staging.example.com, dev.example.com.

These development hosts are always allowed, with any license and without registering them:

• localhost, 127.0.0.1 and private network addresses (10.*, 172.16.*–172.31.*, 192.168.*)
• Host names ending in .localhost, .test, .local, .example or .invalid

Public IP addresses are not development hosts. If your staging copy runs on a different public domain (for example a hosting provider’s temporary domain), contact support: we can add one additional domain to the license free of charge. Staging copies must not serve real customers.

The license check

The add-on asks https://cs-cart.kaviolabs.com whether its license is valid for the domain it runs on.

• When: when you save the key, and then once a day. The check runs only in the admin panel (when an administrator opens a page) or from cron, never while customers browse the storefront. Each add-on’s documentation has the cron line.
• What is sent: the license key, the add-on ID and version, the host names of your storefronts, your CS-Cart version and edition, and a random one-time value. Nothing else: no customer, order or personal data. See the Privacy Policy.
• Signed answers: the server’s answer is digitally signed, so a forged answer is ignored.
• New installation: the add-on works for 14 days before a key is needed.
• Our server cannot be reached: the add-on keeps working for 14 days from the first failed check. A verified answer is trusted for up to 45 days without a new check.
• Without a valid license (no key after 14 days, an invalid or revoked key, or a domain the license does not cover) the add-on switches its own features off safely. There is no error, no message to your customers, your checkout keeps working and your settings are kept. Administrators see the status on the add-on page.
• The update period ending changes nothing: the add-on keeps working, only updates and support stop.

Moving to a new domain

There is no self-service domain change: a store on a different base domain needs its own license. If you mistyped the domain at purchase, or you move your store to a new domain and stop using the old one, contact support and we will correct or move the license.

Where to find your license key

• Direct purchases: the key (KAVIO-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) is in My licenses in your Kavio Labs account. Enter it in the add-on’s License tab.
• Marketplace purchases: use your CS-Cart Marketplace license number. If you entered it in Add-ons → Manage add-ons already, the add-on uses it automatically. It is bound to the domain on which it is first checked. Updates are delivered through the Upgrade Center.

Agencies and freelancers

If you build stores for clients, buy the license in the client’s name and for the client’s domain, or transfer it to them at handover, so they keep receiving updates. Agency programmes are planned.