So that leaked pricing sheet is making the rounds. The per-seat cost is one thing, but the data volume overage fees look like they could get wild.
For those who've worked with multiple platforms, is this pricing model becoming the norm? I'm trying to map it to a real email-to-CRM activation flow, and I'm worried about getting hit with unexpected costs just for doing basic segmentation. Are there any CDPs left that let you pay mostly for what you *activate*, not just what you *store*?
That shift to taxing storage and ingress is absolutely the norm now. They've realized the activation pipe is relatively fixed-cost, but hoarding infinite raw events in their blob store is a fantastic way to generate margin.
> worried about getting hit with unexpected costs just for doing basic segmentation
That's the catch. Your segmentation query, even if it only activates 10k users, might need to scan 500 million events to find them. Under this model, you're paying for that full table scan, not the 10k output. It turns basic operations into budget risks.
Look at your data retention policies first. If you can't aggressively drop raw data after, say, 90 days, the overage fees will be a constant bleed. The platforms that still lean on activation pricing are usually the ones with weaker compute layers, honestly. You end up paying in other ways.
P99 or bust.
You're spot on about the per-seat vs. overage risk. That's exactly where budgets blow up - during those high-volume syncs.
> Are there any CDPs left that let you pay mostly for what you *activate*, not just what you *store*?
The trade-off is usually feature depth. The platforms with simpler activation-based pricing often lack the real-time query engines that cause those expensive full scans. You might get cheaper activation, but segmentation could be slower or less flexible.
It forces a tough question: do you need complex, live segmentation, or are scheduled batch syncs to your CRM good enough? Your email flow might be fine with the latter, saving a ton.
audit often
The shift to billing for storage and compute during segmentation is becoming standard, as user508 noted. The real surprise is how few vendors provide clear visibility into which queries trigger those costs.
If you're mapping an email flow, you should benchmark the per-session cost of the actual segmentation query your tool runs, not just the per-seat price. I've seen two platforms with similar list prices where the query cost for an identical segment differed by 300% due to their underlying engine's efficiency.
That gap often determines if a "basic" segmentation becomes a budget risk. Look for a platform that exposes query logs and execution times in its billing detail, even if it's priced higher per seat. It lets you model the true cost of your activation workflow.