Feature flags (also known as feature toggles) have become one of the most sought out solutions for remote feature deployment. It enables the user to efficiently execute modern development practices such as CI/CD, DevOps, User Segmentation, Percentage Rollouts, etc.
In this competitively growing world of remote feature management, multiple companies that provide these features have come into the spotlight and one of them is LaunchDarkly.
Throughout this article, I am going to explore and compare the top 3 LD alternatives available on the market as of today.
Why might you want to switch from LaunchDarkly?
LaunchDarkly is one of the most prominent feature management service providers in the market today but many (including me) would argue that its pricing strategy is a hindrance for those who want to try out the full set of features.
There are other companies in the market that provide a "free plan" option for their users which enables them to easily sign up without having to provide their credit card details.
The pricing scheme for LD is given below.
Although LaunchDarkly provides feature-packed solutions, it seems to have aggressive pricing modules for all three: Small, Medium & Big, company sizes. Sometimes small-sized companies might want to try out the product without having to pay.
In this case, it would be better if LaunchDarkly would be able to provide a hassle-free tryout solution. But the quantity of features is not something to be proud of if small and medium-sized companies are approaching you with a budget-oriented mindset.
I've tried to express my thoughts on what could be the top 3 alternatives for LaunchDarkly. Let's explore it together.
The top 3 LaunchDarkly Alternatives:
You are in for a treat if you have been squandering the internet researching cheaper alternatives to LaunchDarkly. To save you the trouble, I have put together the top 3 alternative options and explored what kind of value they can provide us with their feature management solutions.
1. ConfigCat (Free + Paid):
I will give you just 3 things about ConfigCat that will make you understand why it is potentially one of the best alternatives for me: No trial period, No credit card & Try without signing up.
Free (But at what price)?
There's a free plan that you can use for as long as you'd want so that you only upgrade when your requirements grow.
The perk of having a no-trial period is that the plan is forever free and users can evaluate its features as long as they want. In addition to this, they have a 10 minutes trainable user interface and all the security features are included in every plan (Yes! Even in the free one).
What I love about ConfigCat is that for them, security is not a financial consideration. Have you ever seen anything more convenient and simple?
The image above shows all the pricing modules available for businesses of all types and sizes.
The pricing starts from $0 and goes up to $4500 per month which is beautifully divided into 2 major parts:
Automated Self-service Plans
Recommended for small to medium-sized businesses.
Targeted towards teams searching for a quick-start on preconfigured settings.
Manually Assisted Plans
Targeted towards enterprise-level teams that require constant monitoring and assistance for tasks like filling forms, generating reports, negotiations, and so on.
Assistance is provided by the guys at ConfigCat.
The prices are primarily adjusted according to the number of "config.json" file downloads per month. Almost all features have an unlimited scope, so if you want to have an unlimited team size, then ConfigCat is your pick.
One immaculate option that they provide is dedicated / on-premise infrastructure which allows you to deploy ConfigCat to your infrastructure using Docker.
The on-premise option lets you install the software and license on your server as if you are hosting your feature flag service whereas the hosted service is maintained on ConfigCat's server.
If you are environmentally conscious, they even plant trees every time a new user subscribes to any of their paid packages and I feel that this is one of the most unique ways to give back to mother earth.
2. Split.io (Free with Limited Seats)
Split is the 2021 champion for "The Proddy Awards" for A/B Testing. Unlike LaunchDarkly, Split has provided 3 simple choices for its users: Free, Platform, and Monitor & Experiment. The major takeaways for the choices are:
Free
Split's free package provides unlimited feature flags, environments, customer segments, and many more features.
They provide 10 seats for the Free version.
Platform
25+ seats for the Platform version.
Unlimited workspaces, custom permissions & user groups.
30 days free trial option.
Monitor & Experiment
The version is almost self-explanatory with its name with its premium package designed for enterprise-level (big) company size with options for monitoring and experimentation.
Import & export data, build metrics, track events.
30 days free trial.
While signing up for the free version, you can try out all the paid features for 30 days. So, the seats are not unlimited here but Split still provides opportunities for visitors to test major features with a free account and you can pay accordingly if your requirements go up.
3. Rollout.io / cloudbees.com (free with limited users)
Rollout.io (now acquired by cloudbees) is also the champion for Feature Management of 2021, crowned by G2 (a peer-to-peer review site). Like ConfigCat & Split, Rollout also provides free options but with a twist.
Available Options
The Free option has the capacity of just a single user and 2K MAUs (Monthly Active Users).
The Team plan can hold 2–25 users and 0–1 Million MAUs
The Enterprise version has custom options for the number of users and MAUs.
From my perspective, the free version is good for users who want to test and try out Rollout but it is not favorable in a small scale setting. Even if you have a team as small as 5–10 members, you need to purchase the Team plan and pay according to the number of users and MAUs.
They have the option of 14 days trial with no limits at all and once the trial period ends you can continue with the free plan.
Conclusion
There are many feature management solutions in the market right now but these three truly stand out with their own unique set of values that they provide. I will not choose any winner because this article is not about the best, but about the best possible options.
I feel that ConfigCat is considerably new in the game but they have such a convenient way of delivering value to their users with their attractive feature management solutions & free forever plan. If you want to have unlimited team size, security features & MAUs, ConfigCat is the way to go.
Ultimately, my suggestion for anyone reading this article is that you can try out all three of these platforms and decide for yourself which platform is the best fit for your team size and requirements that you need from a LaunchDarkly Alternative.
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