How much does LaunchDarkly cost?

LaunchDarkly publishes 2 plans: Developer plan at $0/mo, Foundation at $10/mo billed annually. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.

Does LaunchDarkly have a free plan?

Yes. LaunchDarkly offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.

What are the main drawbacks of LaunchDarkly?

The trade-offs we noted: Priced well above simple flag solutions; Adds a runtime dependency; Flag debt accumulates without discipline.

When should you not use LaunchDarkly?

Skip LaunchDarkly if: Your app has real user volume — past 1,000 client-side MAU/month you are on pay-as-you-go at $8.33 per 1k MAU; You need more than 5 service connections on the free plan; You need approvals, workflows or SCIM; those are Enterprise, quoted by sales.

Developer Tools

LaunchDarkly

Feature flags and progressive delivery.

What it is

LaunchDarkly manages feature flags so code can ship dark and be turned on progressively for chosen segments. Separating deploy from release is the point: code ships to production off, then opens to a segment, and rolls back without a redeploy. The overhead is flag debt, since flags that are never cleaned up become permanent branches in the code.

LaunchDarkly pricing

LaunchDarkly publishes 2 plans. Paid tiers start at $10/mo billed annually, and a free tier is listed alongside them.

LaunchDarkly plans and published prices, taken from the vendor’s pricing page.
Plan	Price	What the vendor’s page says
Developer plan	$0/mo	Developer plan $0/mo forever with unlimited seats
Foundation	$10/mo billed annually	Foundation $10 per service connection/month billed yearly plus $8.33 per 1k client-side MAU/month

Prices read from the vendor's own pricing page on 2026-09-07. Vendors change plans without notice — check the source before you budget. Source

Key features

Targeted rollouts
Enables a flag for chosen users, segments or percentages.
Kill switches
Turns a feature off in production without shipping a new build.
Experimentation
Measures metrics between flag variations to compare outcomes.

Strengths and trade-offs

What works well

Mature flag management with targeting rules
Progressive rollout and instant kill switch
Audit trail for who changed what

Where it falls short

Priced well above simple flag solutions
Adds a runtime dependency
Flag debt accumulates without discipline

Who it is for

Teams deploying continuously that need to separate deploy from release.

Pick it or skip it

Pick LaunchDarkly if

Feature flagging without a seat bill — the free Developer plan has unlimited seats
Small products that fit inside 1,000 client-side monthly active users
Teams that want usage-based billing instead of per-developer licences

Skip it if

Your app has real user volume — past 1,000 client-side MAU/month you are on pay-as-you-go at $8.33 per 1k MAU
You need more than 5 service connections on the free plan
You need approvals, workflows or SCIM; those are Enterprise, quoted by sales

Our verdict

Genuinely reduces release risk. Small teams can get most of the benefit from a much simpler solution.

Frequently asked questions

How much does LaunchDarkly cost?: LaunchDarkly publishes 2 plans: Developer plan at $0/mo, Foundation at $10/mo billed annually. Every figure is read from the vendor's own pricing page; the pricing section above shows the source sentence for each tier.
Does LaunchDarkly have a free plan?: Yes. LaunchDarkly offers a free tier with limits; paid plans unlock higher usage or team features.
Who is LaunchDarkly best for?: Teams deploying continuously that need to separate deploy from release.
What are the main drawbacks of LaunchDarkly?: The trade-offs we noted: Priced well above simple flag solutions; Adds a runtime dependency; Flag debt accumulates without discipline.
When should you not use LaunchDarkly?: Skip LaunchDarkly if: Your app has real user volume — past 1,000 client-side MAU/month you are on pay-as-you-go at $8.33 per 1k MAU; You need more than 5 service connections on the free plan; You need approvals, workflows or SCIM; those are Enterprise, quoted by sales.

What we checked

Public APIOffers a documented API you can build against.Yes
Mobile appHas a native app for iOS or Android, not just a mobile website.No
Open source / self-hostableSource is open and the tool can be run on your own infrastructure.No
SSO (SAML)Supports SAML single sign-on on at least one plan.Yes

“Not checked” means exactly that — we have not verified it, and we do not guess.

Evidence and freshness

Status: Vendor pricing page verifiedReviewed: 2026-09-07

LaunchDarkly — Pricing ↗
Checked 2026-09-07 · Supports: Developer plan $0/mo forever with unlimited seats, free plan limits: 5 service connections, 1,000 client-side MAU/month, 5,000 AI runs/month, Foundation $10 per service connection/month billed yearly plus $8.33 per 1k client-side MAU/month, no platform or seat fees on Foundation, Enterprise adds workflows, approvals and SCIM, quoted by sales

Limit: Vendor pricing page was reviewed; this record is not a ToolCompare benchmark.

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