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Developer Tools · head to head

ConfigCat vs LaunchDarkly

ConfigCat logo

ConfigCat

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LaunchDarkly logo

LaunchDarkly

Technology

Ship fast. Rest easy.

From
Free
Rated
-
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.; LaunchDarkly pricing scales rapidly with monthly active users, becoming expensive at scale
  • They diverge on capability: ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, LaunchDarkly covers Feature flags.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ConfigCat and LaunchDarkly actually diverge.

Attributes where ConfigCat and LaunchDarkly differ
AttributeConfigCatLaunchDarkly
Pricing modelPer month by feature flag and environment countUnknown
PlatformsWeb, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, GoWeb, Cloud, APIs
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2014

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
  • Public API and webhooks
  • SDKs across languages

Only in LaunchDarkly

  • Feature flags
  • Progressive rollouts
  • User targeting
  • A/B testing
  • Kill switches
  • Multi-environment
  • SDKs for all platforms
  • Jira

Both cover

  • Audit log

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 LaunchDarkly
  • A team that wants every engineer, product manager and support agent to have a login without paying per seatnot LaunchDarkly
  • Decoupling deployment from release with percentage rollouts and a kill switch, without buying an experimentation platformnot LaunchDarkly
  • A small team that needs ten flags permanently and can run indefinitely on the free tiernot LaunchDarkly

LaunchDarkly

  • Progressive deliverynot ConfigCat
  • Feature experimentationnot ConfigCat
  • Risk mitigationnot ConfigCat
  • Performance optimizationnot ConfigCat
  • Infrastructure migrationnot 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.

LaunchDarkly

  • Pricing scales rapidly with monthly active users, becoming expensive at scale
  • Limited seats for engineers on standard plans, forcing upgrade to enterprise
  • Advanced features like experimentation and audit logs require higher-tier plans
  • Occasional reliability issues and backend delays reported by users

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

LaunchDarkly

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Unlimited seats
    • Unlimited feature flags
    • A/B tests and experiments
  • Foundation$undefined/mo
    • $12 per connection
    • $10 per 1K MAU
    • Targeted segmentation
  • Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • Advanced automation
    • Compliance features

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 LaunchDarkly if

  • You need feature flags.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, APIs.
  • You also want progressive rollouts.
LaunchDarkly review

Questions people ask

Is ConfigCat or LaunchDarkly better?
Neither clearly leads. ConfigCat starts at Free and LaunchDarkly at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ConfigCat or LaunchDarkly?
ConfigCat starts at Free and LaunchDarkly at Free.
Does ConfigCat or LaunchDarkly run on more platforms?
ConfigCat runs on Web, API, iOS, Android, Node.js, .NET, Java, Python, Go. LaunchDarkly runs on Web, Cloud, APIs.
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 LaunchDarkly is typically brought in for.
What can ConfigCat do that LaunchDarkly cannot?
ConfigCat covers Feature flags and configuration, Percentage rollouts, Targeting rules and segments, Unlimited seats. LaunchDarkly covers Feature flags, Progressive rollouts, User targeting, A/B testing. Both handle Audit log.

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.

LaunchDarkly: What does the free Developer plan include?

The free Developer plan includes unlimited seats, unlimited feature flags, A/B tests and experiments, 30 SDKs, 10 million logs and traces, 5,000 session replays and errors, and 14 days of data retention.

Source
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.

LaunchDarkly: How does LaunchDarkly pricing scale?

Foundation plan pricing is $12 per connection plus $10 per 1,000 Monthly Active Users (MAU). Enterprise and Guardian plans have custom pricing based on usage, advanced features, and compliance requirements.

Source
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.

LaunchDarkly: Does LaunchDarkly integrate with Jira and Slack?

Yes, LaunchDarkly integrates with Jira Cloud, allowing you to link feature flags to Jira issues and create issues from observability data. It also integrates with Slack for flag notifications and allows authorized members to trigger flag changes from Slack.

Source
ConfigCat: How fast does a flag change take effect?

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

LaunchDarkly: What is dark launching and how does LaunchDarkly enable it?

Dark launching keeps code changes hidden in production until ready to enable. LaunchDarkly enables this through feature flags that let teams safely test code in production before rolling out to users.

Source
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