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LaunchDarkly Free Plan: What 2 Seats and 1 Project Gets You

Updated 30 March 2026

LaunchDarkly's Developer plan is free forever with real feature flag functionality. Here is exactly what it includes, what it lacks, and an honest assessment of whether it works for your use case.

What the Free Plan Includes

2 Seats

Two users can create and manage flags. Both get full dashboard access. SDK connections from your application are unlimited and do not count as seats.

1 Project

One project with all flag types: boolean, multivariate, number, string, and JSON. A project typically maps to one application or service.

2 Environments

Usually configured as development and production. Flags can have different states per environment. No staging or QA environments without upgrading.

1,000 MAU Experimentation

Basic A/B testing for up to 1,000 monthly active users. Sufficient for side projects and internal tools, but most production apps will exceed this.

All Flag Types

Boolean (on/off), multivariate (multiple string values), number, and JSON. The same flag types available on paid plans. No feature gating on flag complexity.

All SDKs

Access to every LaunchDarkly SDK: JavaScript, Python, Java, Go, Ruby, .NET, Node.js, React, iOS, Android, and more. No SDK restrictions on the free plan.

What You Lose vs Pro ($12/seat/mo)

No SSO

Users log in with email and password only. No SAML or LDAP integration. For teams using Okta, Azure AD, or Google Workspace for identity, this means separate credentials for LaunchDarkly.

No custom roles

Both seats have full admin access. You cannot create read-only roles, environment-specific permissions, or restrict flag management by project area. Every user can modify every flag.

No flag scheduling

Flags must be toggled manually. You cannot schedule a flag to turn on at midnight for a product launch or automatically disable a feature after a maintenance window.

No audit log

No record of who changed which flag and when. For production environments, this makes debugging flag-related incidents significantly harder. You cannot answer 'who turned off Feature X at 3 AM?'

No workflow approvals

Any user can modify any flag immediately. No approval process for changes to production flags. For teams practicing careful change management, this is a governance gap.

Single project only

One project means one set of flags. If you have multiple services or applications that each need feature flags, you need separate LaunchDarkly organizations or must upgrade to Pro.

Realistic Use Cases for the Free Plan

Evaluating LaunchDarkly

The free plan gives you enough to test the SDK integration, create a few flags, and see how the dashboard works. A thorough evaluation takes 1 to 2 weeks, which is well within the free plan's capabilities.

Side projects and personal apps

A solo developer with a side project gets 1 project, 2 environments, and full SDK access. This is genuinely sufficient for shipping feature flags in personal applications.

Hackathons and prototypes

Quick integration for demo purposes. Install the SDK, create a few flags, and demonstrate feature flagging in a prototype without any budget approval.

Internal tools with 2 developers

If your internal tool team has exactly 2 people and one project, the free plan covers basic flag management. You lose audit logs and scheduling, but for internal tools this may be acceptable.

When to Upgrade to Pro

  • ▲You add a third developer who needs to manage flags (immediate trigger for Pro)
  • ▲You need a second project for a separate application or microservice
  • ▲You want staging or QA environments in addition to dev and prod
  • ▲You need to schedule flag changes for coordinated releases
  • ▲You want audit logs to track who changed flags in production
  • ▲Your experimentation needs exceed 1,000 MAU

The upgrade to Pro starts at $36 per month (3 seats x $12). For most production teams, the governance features (audit logs, custom roles, flag scheduling) make Pro essential as soon as you move beyond evaluation.

Free Plan FAQ

How many seats does LaunchDarkly free include?▼
The free Developer plan includes 2 seats. A seat is a user who can create, modify, and manage feature flags in the LaunchDarkly dashboard. SDK connections (your application reading flag values) do not count as seats. You can have unlimited SDK connections on the free plan.
Can I use LaunchDarkly free in production?▼
Technically yes, but it is not recommended for production teams. The free plan supports 2 environments (typically dev and prod) and 1 project. However, without SSO, audit logs, custom roles, or flag scheduling, you lack the governance controls that production feature flags should have. The free plan is best for evaluation, side projects, and hackathons.
What happens when I need a third seat?▼
You must upgrade to the Pro plan at $12 per seat per month. There is no way to add a single seat to the free plan. The upgrade applies to all seats, so your 3-person team would cost 3 times $12 equals $36 per month. Pro also requires annual billing.
Does the free plan include experimentation?▼
Yes, the free plan includes 1,000 MAU for experimentation. This allows basic A/B testing for very small applications. For context, 1,000 MAU means your product has fewer than 1,000 monthly active users being tracked for experiments. Most production applications exceed this limit quickly.
How does LaunchDarkly free compare to Flagsmith free?▼
LaunchDarkly's free plan gives you 2 seats, 1 project, and 2 environments. Flagsmith's self-hosted version is completely free with unlimited seats, projects, and environments, but you need to host it yourself. For a quick evaluation of feature flags, LaunchDarkly free is faster to set up. For ongoing free usage, Flagsmith self-hosted provides more capacity.