What is the best way to configure bidirectional replication

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Bidirection

database

replication

I am working on an application whose database backend needs to be replicated in both directions over a number of clients who are usually offline.

Here's the general use case:

User installs software on personal laptop.
User loads data from the master database server onto her laptop.
User disconnects from the network and proceeds to operate on this data remotely.
User remotely connects back to the master database server to commit her changes and retrieve any changes that have since been committed by other people (two-way synchronisation).

So I am thinking of an online database that replicates to each of the users local database.

This scenario can be achieved with sql server merge replication but since merge replication needs a license for the publisher I was wondering if there is another way.

What I have tried:

For example: a software such as DBsync synchronizes different types of databases but in order for it to work for me I need to install DBSync in all users computers and configure it, and I thought it might be a way to import the functions of DBSync as a file or query and include it in my application's Database.