FlagBridge vs LaunchDarkly

LaunchDarkly is the most established feature flag platform on the market. It's battle-tested at enterprise scale — but that comes with enterprise pricing. FlagBridge is an open-source alternative that gives you full control over your data, your infrastructure, and your costs.

At a Glance

	FlagBridge CE	FlagBridge Pro	LaunchDarkly
Pricing	Free forever	$49/mo flat	From ~$8.33/seat/mo (billed annually)
Seat limits	Unlimited	Unlimited	Per-seat billing
Self-hosted	Yes	Yes	No (SaaS only)
Open source	Apache 2.0	Source-available	Proprietary
Data residency	Your infrastructure	Your infrastructure	US / EU (limited)
SDKs	Node.js, React, Go, Python	Same + priority support	25+ SDKs
Real-time updates	SSE	SSE + Webhooks	SSE / Streaming
Targeting rules	Attribute-based, percentages	Same + advanced segments	Full targeting engine
Audit log	Built-in	Built-in + export	Built-in
Integrations	Webhooks, plugin system	Slack, Datadog, Mixpanel + more	60+ integrations

Pricing Comparison

LaunchDarkly's pricing starts at $8.33/seat/month on the Pro plan (billed annually). The Enterprise tier requires a sales call. For a team of 10 engineers, that's roughly $1,000/year on the cheapest plan — and it grows linearly with headcount.

FlagBridge CE is free with no seat limits. FlagBridge Pro is a flat $49/month regardless of team size. Self-hosting means your only variable cost is the infrastructure you already pay for.

Cost for a 10-person team

• LaunchDarkly Pro: ~$1,000/year (grows with headcount)
• FlagBridge CE: $0 (self-hosted)
• FlagBridge Pro: $588/year (flat, unlimited seats)

Self-Hosting

FlagBridge was designed for self-hosting from day one. A single docker compose up gets you a fully functional instance in under 5 minutes — API server, admin dashboard, and PostgreSQL.

git clone https://github.com/flagbridge/flagbridge
cd flagbridge
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -d

LaunchDarkly is SaaS-only. There is no self-hosted option. Your flag evaluation data, user contexts, and targeting rules live on their infrastructure.

Data sovereignty

If your compliance requirements mandate that feature flag data stays in your infrastructure (LGPD, GDPR, SOC 2), LaunchDarkly's SaaS model may not be sufficient. FlagBridge runs entirely on your own servers.

Developer Experience

SDK Setup

Both platforms offer typed SDKs. Here's how they compare for a React app:

FlagBridge:

import { FlagBridgeProvider, useFlag } from '@flagbridge/sdk-react';

function App() {
  return (
    <FlagBridgeProvider
      apiKey="fb_sk_eval_..."
      apiUrl="https://flags.yourcompany.com"
      environment="production"
      project="my-app"
    >
      <MyApp />
    </FlagBridgeProvider>
  );
}

function Feature() {
  const enabled = useFlag('new-checkout', false);
  return enabled ? <NewCheckout /> : <OldCheckout />;
}

LaunchDarkly:

import { withLDProvider, useFlags } from 'launchdarkly-react-client-sdk';

const App = withLDProvider({
  clientSideID: 'your-client-side-id',
})(MyApp);

function Feature() {
  const { newCheckout } = useFlags();
  return newCheckout ? <NewCheckout /> : <OldCheckout />;
}

Both are straightforward. The key difference is that FlagBridge lets you point the SDK at your own API endpoint — no vendor lock-in.

Real-Time Updates

Both platforms support real-time flag updates via server-sent events (SSE). FlagBridge's React SDK auto-reconnects with exponential backoff and re-evaluates only the changed flag, minimizing unnecessary re-renders.

API Design

FlagBridge exposes a REST API with OpenAPI documentation. Every operation available in the admin dashboard is also available via API — flags, environments, targeting rules, webhooks, and audit logs.

LaunchDarkly also has a comprehensive REST API, though some operations require specific plan tiers.

When to Choose FlagBridge

• You need self-hosting — compliance, data sovereignty, or you just want full control
• You're cost-sensitive — free CE tier, flat Pro pricing, no per-seat billing
• You want to extend the platform — open-source core with a plugin system
• You're a small-to-mid team — you don't need 60+ integrations on day one
• You're in Brazil or LATAM — FlagBridge has first-class PT-BR support

When to Choose LaunchDarkly

• You need 25+ SDK languages — LaunchDarkly covers every major platform
• You need enterprise governance — approval workflows, SSO/SCIM, multi-org
• You have a large existing integration surface — Jira, Slack, Datadog, etc. out of the box
• You don't want to manage infrastructure — SaaS means zero ops burden

Migrating from LaunchDarkly

FlagBridge provides a migration path from LaunchDarkly:

1. Export your flags — use the LaunchDarkly API to list all flag configurations
2. Create flags in FlagBridge — via API or admin dashboard
3. Swap the SDK — replace launchdarkly-react-client-sdk with @flagbridge/sdk-react
4. Point to your instance — update the API URL to your self-hosted FlagBridge

INFO

A dedicated migration CLI tool is planned. See our roadmap for progress.

Summary

LaunchDarkly is a proven platform with deep enterprise features. FlagBridge is for teams that want ownership — of their data, their costs, and their feature flag infrastructure. If you're evaluating alternatives, try FlagBridge in 5 minutes.