Developer
Free
per service connection per month
Best for: Small projects and evaluation
- Unlimited flags and seats
- 5 service connections
- 1K client-side MAU
- 100K experimentation MAU
- 14-day retention
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Pricing guide, Feature Management
LaunchDarkly pricing in 2026: service connections, MAU and Enterprise
Every LaunchDarkly plan in plain numbers, how service connections and MAU replace seat pricing, and where the bill follows your architecture.
The short answer
LaunchDarkly Foundation costs USD 10 per service connection per month after 5 included, plus USD 8.33 per 1,000 client-side MAU, with a free Developer plan and custom Enterprise. A team running 50 service connections pays USD 5,400 a year at list price before any client-side MAU or overages.
- Cheapest paid planFoundation at USD 10 per service connection a month, 5 included.
- What most production teams needFoundation. There are no seat fees on any plan.
- Biggest hidden costApprovals, SCIM and audit logs are Enterprise only.
- Best way to saveRetire idle service connections and trim client-side MAU.
Written by Procurement VMS Editorial Team · Reviewed by Michael, Procurement Advisor Expert · Price data dated · 9 minute read
LaunchDarkly plans and prices
LaunchDarkly dropped seat pricing and now charges for what your software does: service connections, client-side monthly active users, AI runs and observability data. That makes the bill fairer, but it grows with your architecture and not your headcount.
This guide explains each plan with prices checked on LaunchDarkly's pricing page.
Prices below were recorded on 21 September 2026. The headline figure is the lowest price you can get for that plan. Check the official page before you buy, because vendors change prices without notice.
Foundation
USD10
per service connection per month, billed yearly
Billed monthly: Pay as you go
Best for: Engineering teams shipping flags in production
- USD 10 per service connection (5 included)
- USD 8.33 per 1K client-side MAU
- 5K AI runs included
- unlimited projects and environments
- 30-day retention
Enterprise
Custom
per service connection per month
Best for: Organizations needing governance and approvals
- Custom roles
- workflows and approvals
- SCIM
- audit logging
- Guardian add-on
- 100+ days retention
- customer success manager
How billing works
LaunchDarkly has no per-seat fees. Foundation bills USD 10 per service connection per month after the first 5 included, plus USD 8.33 per 1,000 client-side monthly active users on annual billing, and USD 5 per additional 1,000 AI runs above the 5,000 included. Observability usage above the included session replays, errors, logs and traces is billed as overage. Foundation starts with a 14-day trial and then runs pay as you go, with yearly billing available.
The tier trap
Custom roles, approval workflows, SCIM and audit logging are Enterprise only. Any team with change-management or SOC 2 controls on production flags ends up on a custom Enterprise quote.
Read this first. Monthly (non-annual) rates for Foundation are not shown, and the USD 8.33 per 1K MAU rate is labeled as annual billing, so the monthly display reads "Pay as you go". The Developer plan limit on projects and environments is inferred from Foundation's "unlimited projects and environments". Flagsmith Start-Up shows USD 40 to USD 45 depending on the billing period. We used no buyer-paid benchmark.
LaunchDarkly cost calculator
Move the slider to see what each plan costs at your size. The figures use the list prices on this page and leave out tax, add-ons and any discount you negotiate.
What 50 service connections cost over a year
Fifty service connections is a mid-sized microservice estate. MAU and AI runs sit on top of it.
| Scenario | Cost per year | Against the headline |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation, 50 service connections (5 included, 45 x USD 10 x 12) | USD5,400 | Headline price |
| Add 10,000 client-side MAU (10 x USD 8.33 x 12) | USD999.60 | +USD 999.60 |
| Add 20,000 extra AI runs per month (20 x USD 5 x 12) | USD1,200 | +USD 1,200 |
What each LaunchDarkly plan includes
Compare the plans side by side. Where a cell says Check page, the vendor's pricing page was not specific enough for us to fill it in.
| Feature | Developer | Foundation | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service connections | 5 | 5 included, then USD 10 each | Custom |
| Client-side MAU | 1K | USD 8.33 per 1K | Custom |
| Seats | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Projects and environments | Limited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Data retention | 14 days | 30 days | 100+ days |
| Guardian (monitoring and automatic rollback) | Check page | Check page | Paid add-on |
Features we could not place by plan: SSO and SAML, Custom roles, approvals, SCIM, audit log. Check the official page for which plan includes each one.
Which LaunchDarkly plan should you pick?
Developer
Pick it if you run a side project or pilot with 5 or fewer services and light front-end traffic.
Foundation
Pick it if you ship flags in production and want usage-based pricing without seat fees.
Enterprise
Pick it if you need approvals, custom roles, SCIM, audit logs or long data retention.
Our view
LaunchDarkly is worth the price for engineering organizations that release often and want a mature, well-supported flag platform. Smaller teams with simple toggles, or those already paying for an analytics suite with flags included, can get most of the value for much less.
You may be overpaying if
Many service connections belong to idle or test services, client-side SDKs send users you do not target, or you are on Enterprise only for SSO, which every plan already includes.
How to pay less for LaunchDarkly
Audit service connections
Retire connections from dead services, test environments and duplicate deployments before each true-up.
Cut client-side MAU
Initialize client-side SDKs only where you target users, since each 1,000 MAU is billed.
Stay on Foundation
SSO is on every plan, so move to Enterprise only when approvals, SCIM or audit logs are real requirements.
Benchmark usage-based rivals
Statsig Pro starts at USD 150 a month and PostHog includes 1M free flag requests a month.
Commit for a better rate
Ask for a committed-use annual price instead of pure pay as you go once usage is stable.
Renewal email you can copy
Fill in the brackets and send it about 90 days before the renewal date. It works best next to your renewal tracker.
Subject: LaunchDarkly renewal on [renewal date] Hi [account manager], Our LaunchDarkly [plan] subscription renews on [renewal date]. Over the last 90 days, [active service connections] of the [paid service connections] we pay for used it. We would like to renew with [target service connections] on a [term] term. Before we sign, please send: 1. The current list price and the price you are offering us, line by line. 2. The cap on any price increase at the next renewal. 3. The notice period if we want to cut service connections or move to another plan. We are comparing this against [alternative] and plan to decide by [decision date]. If you can offer [target discount] percent off list, or a lower price for a longer term, we are ready to talk this week. Thank you, [name] [company]
Free PDF and Excel
LaunchDarkly pricing sheet and cost model
A one page summary of every plan, plus an Excel model that adds up your own seat count.
- All plans and prices on one page
- Excel model with your seat count and yearly cost
- Renewal checklist and the email above, ready to edit
- Date of the price data and the source links
LaunchDarkly alternatives and what they cost
If this vendor does not fit, these are the closest options and what they charge.
| Alternative | Starting price | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
| Statsig | USD150 per month (Pro, 5M events included) | You want flags and experimentation priced on events, not connections |
| PostHog | USD0 up to 1M flag requests per month | You want flags bundled with product analytics |
| Flagsmith | From USD 40 per month (Start-Up) | You want simple flags or a self-hosted option |
Keeping LaunchDarkly spend under control
Usage-based tools make nobody a purchaser. A new microservice, a new mobile release or a new test environment changes the bill, and the person who made the change never sees the invoice.
- Set budgets and alerts. Usage bills grow without anyone signing anything. Set a monthly budget and an alert at 80 percent of it.
- Tag cost to a team. Give every project an owner so a bill can be traced. Our spend management software guide covers the controls to look for.
- Review commitments before renewal. Committed spend discounts only pay off if you use the commitment. Compare 12 months of real use with the plan before you renew, using a renewal tracker.
- Count the full cost, not the list price. Support, egress, extra seats and add-ons change the real figure. Our total cost of ownership guide shows how to add it up.
Bottom line. Foundation is good value for most engineering teams, and Enterprise is worth it only once governance controls are required. Review service connections and MAU every quarter and bring that data to the renewal.
LaunchDarkly pricing questions
How much does LaunchDarkly cost?
LaunchDarkly Foundation costs USD 10 per service connection per month after the first 5, plus USD 8.33 per 1,000 client-side monthly active users on annual billing. There are no per-seat fees, and 5,000 AI runs a month are included before USD 5 per extra 1,000.
Is there a free version of LaunchDarkly?
Yes. The Developer plan is free forever with unlimited flags and seats, 5 service connections, 1,000 client-side MAU, 100,000 experimentation MAU and 14 days of data retention. No credit card is required. It suits pilots and small side projects.
How much is LaunchDarkly Enterprise?
LaunchDarkly does not publish Enterprise prices. They are custom. Enterprise adds custom roles, approval workflows, SCIM, audit logging, 100-plus days of retention and a customer success manager, with Guardian available as a paid add-on.
Can you get a discount on LaunchDarkly?
LaunchDarkly publishes no standing discounts. The practical levers are cutting unused service connections and client-side MAU, committing to annual volumes once usage is stable and bringing quotes from Statsig or PostHog to the renewal.
Is LaunchDarkly billed monthly or annually?
Foundation starts with a 14-day trial and then runs pay as you go, with yearly billing available. The published client-side MAU rate of USD 8.33 per 1,000 applies to annual billing. Enterprise is sold on custom annual contracts.
What is the cheapest alternative to LaunchDarkly?
PostHog includes 1 million free feature flag requests a month and bills usage after that. Statsig has a free Developer plan and a USD 150 a month Pro plan, and Flagsmith's Start-Up plan starts at USD 40 a month.
How we put this page together
We start from the vendor pricing page and note the date. Where a figure comes from a third party instead, we say so on the page. Procurement VMS is a ratings and comparison site, not a software vendor, and nobody paid for a place in this guide. Spot a number that has changed? Tell us on the contact page and we will check it.
Take the LaunchDarkly cost model to your renewal meeting
You get a one page PDF and an Excel model with your seat count, the plans above and a renewal checklist.
Choosing software instead of renewing? See the ranked procurement software list.