LaunchDarkly is $10/seat/mo (Pro). Salt Lick is a self-hosted alternative at $0.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.
| Salt Lick | LaunchDarkly | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Self-hosted, your infra | Managed SaaS (cloud only) |
| Data location | Your server, your disk | LaunchDarkly's cloud |
| Free tier | 10 flags | Paid only |
| Pro pricing | $0.99/mo | $10/seat/mo (Pro) |
| Dependencies | None (single binary + SQLite) | N/A (managed) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds | Account signup |
| Dashboard | Built-in at /ui | Cloud dashboard |
| License | BSL 1.1 | Proprietary SaaS |
Salt Lick is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.
curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/saltlick/install.sh | sh
Before choosing between Salt Lick and LaunchDarkly, consider what happens when you need to leave. LaunchDarkly exports vary in completeness — some fields, some history, some metadata may not come with you. Salt Lick stores everything in a single SQLite file. Leaving means copying that file. This is not a hypothetical concern: the average team changes tools every 18 to 24 months.
The operational difference is significant. LaunchDarkly requires you to trust their infrastructure, their security practices, and their business continuity. Salt Lick requires you to run a process and keep the data directory backed up. If your server dies, restore the binary and the SQLite file to a new server. The entire recovery procedure fits in a single paragraph because there is nothing else involved.
Switching from LaunchDarkly to Salt Lick is straightforward for most teams. Export your data from LaunchDarkly (most services offer CSV or JSON export), then POST each record to Salt Lick's API. A migration script that reads the export and writes to /api/ endpoints typically takes less than 50 lines of code. The reverse migration is equally simple — Salt Lick's SQLite database is a standard file you can query with any SQLite client.
Single binary. Free to start. $0.99/mo for Pro.