They are similar. In many problems, both methods can be used.
You can view Fourier transform is the Laplace transform on the
circle, that is |z|=1. When you do Fourier transform, you don't
need to worry about the convergence region. However, you need to
find the convergence region for each Laplace transform.
The discrete version of Fourier transform is discrete Fourier
transform, and the discrete version of Laplace transform is
Z-transform.