CDP pricing explained: billing units and real costs
Updated Oct 30, 2026 · AllCDP Global editors · figures from the catalog, checked Oct 29, 2026
CDP vendors price by usage: the number of customer profiles, monthly tracked users, events, contacts, synced destinations or consumption credits. Only 20% of the platforms in AllCDP Global publish prices; among published USD plans the median entry price is $250 per month. To compare vendors, request quotes at the same data volume and add implementation and messaging costs.
Which billing units do CDPs use?
- Profiles: the number of customer profiles stored or addressable, common for packaged and suite CDPs (14 platforms in the catalog).
- Monthly tracked users (MTU) or visitors: common for event-collection CDPs (8).
- Events or API calls: the volume of collected events (8).
- Contacts: common for engagement platforms that also send messages (10).
- Credits: prepaid consumption units across features (4).
Composable CDPs often bill by the number of synced destinations or rows, and warehouse compute is paid to the warehouse vendor separately.
How many vendors publish prices?
26 of 127 platforms publish pricing (20%). 11 have a free plan and 18 document a free trial. Platforms aimed only at enterprises almost never publish prices: 0 of 31 do. Filter the catalog by public pricing or see the CDPs with a free plan.
What does a CDP cost to start?
Among published entry prices in USD, the median is $250 per month, from $9 to $8,724. Entry plans have tight limits on profiles or events, so the price at your volume can be many times higher. The market research shows the full distribution.
What costs are not in the price list?
- Implementation and data modeling, by the vendor, a partner or your team.
- Messages: email and SMS volumes in engagement platforms, and SMS carrier fees.
- Add-on modules such as predictive models, personalization or extra environments.
- Warehouse compute for composable CDPs.
- Overage above plan limits and annual price increases.
How to compare quotes?
Give every vendor the same numbers: profiles, monthly active customers, events per month, destinations and required modules. Ask for the price at your current volume and at twice that volume, and confirm what happens when you exceed the limits.
FAQ
Is there a free CDP?
Yes. 11 platforms in our catalog have a free plan, usually with low limits. Open-source CDPs such as Apache Unomi can be self-hosted at no license cost.
Why don't most CDP vendors publish prices?
Prices depend on data volume, modules and contract terms, and enterprise deals are negotiated. Ask for a quote at your volume and compare total cost, not only the license.