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ConfigCat vs Coolify

ConfigCat logo

ConfigCat

Developer Tools

Feature flag service priced per flag and environment with unlimited seats and unlimited monthly active users

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Coolify logo

Coolify

Cloud

Open source self-hosted platform that deploys applications and databases to servers you already own

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ConfigCat there is no experimentation or statistical analysis engine, so teams wanting real A/B tests with significance testing must buy and integrate a separate analytics or experimentation product.; Coolify commit history since June 2026 shows one maintainer at 73 commits and a second at 15 with nobody else above one, and the same two people also ship four other coolLabs products, so the project depends on a very small number of individuals.
  • They diverge on capability: ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Coolify covers Git push deployments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ConfigCat and Coolify actually diverge.

Attributes where ConfigCat and Coolify differ
AttributeConfigCatCoolify
Pricing modelPer month by feature flag and environment countOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, GoWeb, Linux, Docker, Self-hosted
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ConfigCat

  • Feature flags and configuration
  • Percentage rollouts
  • Targeting rules and segments
  • Unlimited seats
  • Global CDN delivery
  • Audit log
  • Public API and webhooks
  • SDKs across languages

Only in Coolify

  • Git push deployments
  • One-click services
  • Automatic certificates
  • Managed databases
  • Docker Compose support
  • Notifications

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ConfigCat

  • A consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-MAU flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worthnot Coolify
  • A team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seatnot Coolify
  • Decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platformnot Coolify
  • A small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tiernot Coolify

Coolify

  • Replacing a managed platform bill with a single Hetzner or DigitalOcean instance running a dozen small applicationsnot ConfigCat
  • An agency hosting many low-traffic client sites on shared servers with certificates handled automaticallynot ConfigCat
  • Self-hosting analytics, databases and internal tools from the one-click catalogue without writing Compose filesnot ConfigCat
  • Deploying inside a country or jurisdiction where no managed platform operates a regionnot ConfigCat

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ConfigCat

  • There is no experimentation or statistical analysis engine, so teams wanting real A/B tests with significance testing must buy and integrate a separate analytics or experimentation product.
  • Pricing by flag count punishes exactly the hygiene you want: the Pro tier caps at 100 flags, so teams that do not aggressively retire stale flags are pushed to the 325 dollar Smart tier for housekeeping reasons rather than growth.
  • The free tier allows only 2 environments, which does not cover the common development, staging and production split, so almost any real deployment starts on a paid plan.
  • It is a smaller vendor than the category incumbents, so enterprise procurement teams will find less depth in compliance attestations, contractual terms and reference architecture than LaunchDarkly offers.
  • Flag evaluation relies on SDK-side caching of a CDN-delivered config, which is fast but means propagation of a change is eventually consistent rather than instant, something to understand before relying on it as an emergency kill switch.

Coolify

  • Commit history since June 2026 shows one maintainer at 73 commits and a second at 15 with nobody else above one, and the same two people also ship four other coolLabs products, so the project depends on a very small number of individuals.
  • Multi-server support is documented as experimental, load balancer configuration is manual, every server must share the same CPU architecture, and moving images between hosts requires you to run your own Docker registry.
  • In self-hosted mode the Coolify machine holds every SSH key and secret with no documented high availability, so the dashboard host is a single point of failure that the paid Cloud tier fixes and self-hosting does not.
  • Scheduled S3 backups cover PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB only, so application persistent volumes are your responsibility and a restore is untested unless you test it yourself.
  • Release cadence is fast enough that six patch versions shipped inside ten days in August 2026 against several hundred open issues, and because instances can update themselves a regression can reach a production host before you have read the changelog.

Pricing, plan by plan

ConfigCat

Free
  • Forever FreeFree
    • 10 feature flags
    • 2 environments and 2 products
    • 2 segments
  • Pro$110/month
    • 100 feature flags
    • 3 environments and 3 products
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Smart$325/month
    • Unlimited feature flags
    • Unlimited environments, products and segments
    • Unlimited seats and MAUs
  • Enterprise$900/month
    • Everything in Smart
    • Enterprise support and controls
    • Unlimited everything on flag counts

Coolify

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Apache-2.0, no features held back
    • Unlimited servers, applications and users
    • You run, update and back up the dashboard yourself
  • Cloud$5/month
    • Connects 2 servers, then 3 US dollars a month per extra server
    • Managed and updated Coolify dashboard with high availability
    • Managed backups of the Coolify instance itself

Which should you pick?

Choose ConfigCat if

  • You need feature flags and configuration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Go.
  • You also want percentage rollouts.
ConfigCat review

Choose Coolify if

  • You need git push deployments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, Self-hosted.
  • You also want one-click services.
Coolify review

Questions people ask

Is ConfigCat or Coolify better?
Neither clearly leads. ConfigCat starts at Free and Coolify at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ConfigCat or Coolify?
ConfigCat starts at Free and Coolify at Free.
Does ConfigCat or Coolify run on more platforms?
ConfigCat runs on Web, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Go. Coolify runs on Web, Linux, Docker, Self-hosted.
Can I use ConfigCat for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is ConfigCat best used for?
ConfigCat is most often used for a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth, a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat, decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platform, a small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tier. Of those, a consumer or mobile app with millions of users where per-mau flag pricing would cost more than the flags are worth and a team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seat are not what Coolify is typically brought in for.
What can ConfigCat do that Coolify cannot?
ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Percentage rollouts, Targeting rules and segments, Unlimited seats. Coolify covers Git push deployments, One-click services, Automatic certificates, Managed databases.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ConfigCat: How is ConfigCat priced?

By feature flag, environment and product count. Seats, monthly active users and flag reads are unlimited on every plan.

Coolify: Is anything held back for the paid tier?

No. Coolify Cloud hosts, updates and backs up the dashboard and gives it high availability. Every feature that touches your applications is in the Apache-2.0 build you can run yourself.

ConfigCat: Is the free tier usable?

For small projects yes, but at 10 flags and 2 environments it will not cover a dev, staging and production setup.

Coolify: What does Coolify Cloud cost?

Five US dollars a month connects two servers, and each additional server is three dollars a month, with 20 per cent off for annual billing. You still supply and pay for the servers themselves.

ConfigCat: Can it run A/B tests?

It can split traffic, but there is no statistics engine. You need a separate analytics tool to decide a winner.

Coolify: Does it back up my application data?

It backs up PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB to S3 on a schedule. Application persistent volumes are not covered, so anything stored outside a managed database needs your own backup plan.

ConfigCat: How fast does a flag change take effect?

SDKs poll and cache, so changes propagate on the polling interval rather than instantly.

Coolify: Can I run it across several servers?

Yes, but the documentation calls multi-server experimental. Load balancing is not configured for you, all nodes must share a CPU architecture, and you need to run your own Docker registry.

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