ShipSilently vs the alternatives
We're not for everyone — and that's the point. ShipSilently is built for fast-moving startups and teams tired of wrestling with feature flag platforms that feel like enterprise software from 2012.
Who should use ShipSilently?
If you're a startup or growth-stage team that ships multiple times a day, you don't need a feature flag platform with an enterprise sales process, a 90-page PDF for onboarding, or a bill that scares your investors. You need something focused, fast, and fair-priced — that's us.
Feature comparison
We'll be straight with you. Some tools have more bells and whistles. We have the stuff that actually matters — done really well.
| Feature |
ShipSilently
Recommended | LaunchDarkly | Unleash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | |||
| Free tier | ✓ Yes — 100k evals/mo | ~ Very limited (1 seat) | ✓ Yes (self-hosted only) |
| Entry paid plan | $49/mo | ~$200+/mo | $80/mo (cloud) |
| Per-seat pricing | ✗ Never | ✗ Yes — adds up fast | ~ Depends on plan |
| Predictable billing | ✓ Flat monthly | ✗ MAU + seat based | ~ Varies |
| Developer Experience | |||
| Setup time | ✓ < 5 minutes | ~ 30–60 minutes | ~ Hours (self-host) or 20 min (cloud) |
| SDK eval latency | ✓ < 10 ms (edge) | ✓ < 10 ms | ~ 10–50 ms (server-side) |
| REST API | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| SDKs | ✓ JS / TypeScript, Go (more coming soon) | ✓ 20+ SDKs | ✓ 15+ SDKs |
| Docs quality | ✓ Clear, concise | ~ Comprehensive but sprawling | ~ Good for OSS, dense |
| Infrastructure | |||
| Hosting | ✓ Fully managed (Cloudflare edge) | ✓ Fully managed SaaS | ~ Self-host or cloud |
| Streaming / real-time updates | ✓ Yes (SSE) | ✓ Yes (SSE) | ~ Polling-based by default |
| Global edge delivery | ✓ Yes — 300+ PoPs | ~ CDN-backed, limited PoPs | ✗ No (unless self-hosted on CDN) |
| Open source | ✗ Not yet | ✗ No | ✓ Yes (Apache 2.0) |
| Core Features | |||
| Boolean flags | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Multivariate flags | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Percentage rollouts | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| User targeting / rules | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes (very advanced) | ✓ Yes |
| Environments | ✓ Unlimited (Pro+) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Audit logs | ✓ Yes (Pro+) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| A/B testing / experimentation | ✗ Not yet | ✓ Yes (Experimentation add-on) | ~ Basic |
| SSO / SAML | ~ Enterprise only | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| RBAC / permissions | ~ Basic (team roles) | ✓ Advanced | ✓ Yes |
| SOC 2 | ~ In progress | ✓ SOC 2 Type II | ~ Cloud tier only |
✓ = supported | ~ = partial / limited | ✗ = not available. Data accurate as of April 2026 — features change, so check vendor sites for the latest.
Why teams choose ShipSilently
Built for speed, not meetings
You can integrate ShipSilently in under 5 minutes. No enterprise sales calls, no onboarding sessions, no 60-page implementation guides.
Priced for startups
LaunchDarkly pricing scales with seats and MAUs — a recipe for bill shock as you grow. We charge a simple flat monthly fee. Your investors will notice the difference.
Focused, not bloated
We don't have every feature under the sun — and we're proud of it. We focus on the core feature flag experience and make it great. No half-baked A/B testing tacked on as an afterthought.
Edge-native latency
Evaluations run at Cloudflare's edge — 300+ data centers globally. Flag values are returned in milliseconds regardless of where your users are.
Where the others win (being honest)
We believe in honesty over hype. Here's where LaunchDarkly and Unleash have a real edge:
- LaunchDarkly — Best-in-class experimentation and A/B testing, the most mature SDK ecosystem, and enterprise compliance certifications. If you're Fortune 500, they're probably the right choice.
- Unleash — Open source and fully self-hostable. If data sovereignty or running on-prem is non-negotiable, Unleash is the way to go.
We're not trying to be everything. We're trying to be the best thing for fast-moving product teams who want to ship with confidence without the enterprise overhead.
Ready to switch?
Start free. No credit card required. Production-ready in under 5 minutes.
Your investors will thank you.