Feature Flags Without LaunchDarkly
Lightweight Options for 2025 — Avoid Vendor Lock-in & Keep It Simple
Why Teams Leave LaunchDarkly
Cost Shock
Starting at $10/seat/month, costs quickly balloon as your team grows. Many teams experience sticker shock when scaling from 5 to 20 developers.
Vendor Lock-in
LaunchDarkly's SDK deeply integrates into your codebase. Switching becomes harder the longer you use it, creating dependency risk.
Feature Overload
Most teams use only 10-20% of LaunchDarkly's features. You're paying for enterprise governance tools you'll never touch.
Complexity Creep
Setting up targeting rules, segments, and environments requires deep platform knowledge. Simple toggles become complicated workflows.
Configuration vs Platform
The feature flag industry has convinced teams they need a "platform" when most actually need simple configuration management.
Configuration Approach
- ✓ Flags are key-value pairs
- ✓ Stored in environment configs
- ✓ Easy to version control
- ✓ No SDK dependency
- ✓ Instant rollback
Platform Approach
- • Complex targeting rules
- • Heavy SDK integration
- • Requires training
- • Vendor dependency
- • Expensive at scale
4 Lightweight Alternatives
1. RemoteEnv
Simple feature flags + environment variables in one place. No SDK required, API-first design, instant rollback.
Small to medium teams (2-50 developers) who want simplicity without sacrificing safety
Free tier available, paid plans start at $29/month for unlimited projects
2. Environment Variables
Use your existing .env files or deployment platform's config. Simple but effective.
Very small teams (<5 people) with minimal feature flag needs
Requires redeployment to change flags, no runtime control
3. Unleash (Self-Hosted)
Open-source feature flag platform. More control, but requires DevOps resources.
Teams with strict data compliance needs and DevOps capacity
Free but requires infrastructure management and maintenance
4. Flagsmith
Open-source alternative with cloud hosting option. Middle ground between platform and config.
Teams who want platform features but prefer open-source
Free for self-hosted, cloud plans start at $45/month
When a Platform is Overkill
You DON'T need LaunchDarkly if:
- • Your team has fewer than 50 developers
- • You're using feature flags for simple on/off toggles
- • You don't need advanced targeting (percentage rollouts, user segments)
- • Budget is a concern (< $500/month for tooling)
- • You value simplicity over features
You MIGHT need LaunchDarkly if:
- • Enterprise compliance is mandatory (SOC 2, HIPAA)
- • You need sophisticated A/B testing with statistical analysis
- • Multiple teams (10+) need separate governance
- • You're running experiments at massive scale (millions of users)
- • Complex user segmentation is core to your business
Skip the Platform, Keep the Safety
RemoteEnv gives you feature flag safety without LaunchDarkly's complexity or cost
No credit card required • Setup in <5 minutes • Cancel anytime