Sandbox vs. Production

Our platform provides two environments — Sandbox and Production — to help you test, develop, and scale safely. Understanding how and when to use each is crucial for smooth operations.

What is Sandbox?

The Sandbox environment is a safe testing space that simulates real-world behavior without processing actual money or data.

🔑 Key Features:

• No real charges, refunds, or payouts.

• Use of test cards and mock transactions.

• Free and unlimited access for developers.

Sandbox is ideal for development, QA, and staging. Use it to test API calls, payment flows, and error handling before going live.

What is Production?

The Production environment is your live system — all real transactions, customer data, and payouts are handled here.

Key Features:

• Real payments and subscriptions.

• Actual customer and account data.

• Linked directly to your payouts.

⚠️ Warning: Any mistakes in Production (like accidental charges or refunds) will affect real customers and money.

Comparison Table

Switching Between Environments

You can easily toggle between Sandbox and Production using API keys and environment variables.

# Sandbox API endpoint
https://api.saasapp.com/sandbox/v1/

# Production API endpoint
https://api.saasapp.com/v1/

Set environment variable:

export APP_ENV=sandbox   # for testing  
export APP_ENV=production # for live use

Testing in Sandbox

When working in Sandbox, you can use test payment methods.

Example Test Card

Tip: Always simulate edge cases (failed payments, authentication requests) before launching.

Going Live

When you’re ready to switch to Production:

1. Replace sandbox API keys with production keys.

2. Double-check your environment variables.

3. Confirm that only approved team members have access.

# Example live request
curl -X POST https://api.saasapp.com/v1/transactions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer PROD_KEY_67890"

Summary:

• Use Sandbox for safe, unlimited testing.

• Use Production for live customers and payments.

• Always test thoroughly in Sandbox before going live.