Segment is a customer data platform (CDP) focused on data collection and routing to 500+ destinations, while Amplitude is a product analytics platform emphasizing user behavior analysis and funnel optimization. Segment excels at data infrastructure, while Amplitude specializes in actionable insights from user interactions.
Segment vs Amplitude — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Customer Data Platform for collecting, unifying, and routing first-party customer data across 500+ tools.
Paid product analytics platform specializing in user behavior tracking, cohort analysis, and product engagement.
Primary Purpose. Connected Destinations/Integrations. Event Tracking Capacity (Monthly). Data Retention Period. Real-time Audience Segmentation. Starting Price (Monthly). Funnel Analysis Depth
Choose Segment if you need a robust CDP to collect, unify, and route customer data across 500+ marketing, analytics, and data warehouse tools—it's the infrastructure backbone for organizations with complex martech stacks. Choose Amplitude if your priority is deep product analytics, user behavior understanding, and conversion optimization with strong funnel analysis and cohort building capabilities. Many organizations use both: Segment for data collection/routing and Amplitude for analytics.
Segment: Limited (BAA available) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: Enterprise plans | Amplitude: N/A
Maximum Monthly Event Volume (highest tier)
Segment: Unlimited (custom pricing) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: Yes (Segment Identity Graph) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: $120 | Amplitude: $1,495 (annual commitment required)
Segment: Yes (native real-time syncing) | Amplitude: No (requires export)
Segment: Basic 3-5 step funnels | Amplitude: Advanced multi-step with drop-off attribution
Segment: 20+ | Amplitude: 0 (custom setup required)
Segment: Limited | Amplitude: Advanced with curves & LTV
Segment: HIPAA & SOC 2 Type II | Amplitude: SOC 2 Type II only
Segment: 3-13 months (configurable) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: Basic audience segmentation via destinations | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: $120 (volume-based) | Amplitude: $995 (Growth tier)
Segment: 450+ destinations | Amplitude: 350+ integrations
Segment: 24/7 dedicated support | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: Limited (US/EU regions) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: <500ms (real-time) | Amplitude: 24-48 hours
Segment: Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: 1-3 (managed service) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: Cloud-only (SaaS) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: No (proprietary) | Amplitude: N/A
Segment: 84 months (7 years) | Amplitude: 24 months
Segment: Basic funnels, limited drop-off detail | Amplitude: Multi-step funnels with granular drop-off analysis
Segment: Yes, via Segment Audiences | Amplitude: Yes, via Amplitude Audiences
Segment: No (requires third-party tool) | Amplitude: Yes, native experimentation platform
Segment: Unlimited | Amplitude: Unlimited
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Third-party integration only
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: No, requires manual setup
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Advanced ML models (churn, LTV, propensity)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Yes, unlimited
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Requires third-party integration
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: ML-powered predictive cohorts + behavioral
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 500,000 events/month
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 7–14 days (event tracking setup)
Setup Time (implementation to first insights)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 100M events/month standard
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: UI-only, no native SQL
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Email, chat, phone (enterprise), dedicated CSM
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 4+ regions (US, EU, Asia-Pacific, China)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 200+ properties
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Web
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Real-time (0-5 seconds)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 10 million events
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 3.2% of analytics market
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Not included (add-on required)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 200+ integrations
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 700+ custom events
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Unlimited (paid plans)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Limited (basic analytics only)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Available (via Amplitude Experiment add-on)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 12+ native SDKs
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Advanced nesting (unlimited filters)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: $995 base + $0.75/user
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Requires integration
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 200+ custom properties
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 300-600 seconds
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Churn, LTV, propensity scoring, retention forecasting
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 5 team members
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Deep retention & behavioral cohorts
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 1,440+ minutes (2-4 weeks)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 13 months (with extended)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: ML-powered churn & propensity models
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 100% (required)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 10M events/month
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: $4,995/month (Enterprise)
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Multi-event behavioral cohorts with retention curves
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Plugin-based only
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Third-party integration required
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: Add-on required
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 200+ behavioral attributes
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: iOS/Android analytics only
Segment: N/A | Amplitude: 120-180 minutes (requires dev team)
How to choose between Segment and Amplitude
Segment vs Amplitude — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Segment vs Amplitude. Contains 145 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Segment vs Amplitude — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Segment vs Amplitude.
Can I use Segment and Amplitude together?
Yes, many enterprises do. Segment collects and routes data from your website/app to Amplitude and 500+ other tools. Amplitude then specializes in analyzing that data for product insights. Segment acts as the infrastructure layer while Amplitude provides analytics depth. This is a common best-practice architecture for data-driven companies.
Which is better for e-commerce companies?
For pure e-commerce analytics and conversion optimization, Amplitude's funnel analysis and A/B testing features provide an edge. However, if you need to sync customer purchase data to 100+ marketing platforms (email, ads, CRM), Segment's 500+ integrations and CDP capabilities make it essential. The ideal setup: Segment for data infrastructure + Amplitude for analytics.
How do data retention limits affect my analysis?
Segment's 7-year retention enables cohort analysis across multiple years (identifying how 2022 users compare to 2025 users), while Amplitude's 24-month limit restricts long-term retention modeling. If you need to analyze multi-year customer lifecycle trends, Segment is more suitable. For typical product analytics (recent user behavior), 24 months is usually sufficient.
What's the actual cost difference at scale?
Segment costs scale with event volume (typically $0.50-2.00 per million events after free tier), while Amplitude has tiered pricing starting at $995/month for Growth tier. At 100M events/month, Segment might cost $500-1,200/month; at 500M events, $1,500-3,000/month. Amplitude's flat Growth tier suits predictable event volumes, while Segment suits variable or high-volume scenarios.
Amplitude has a simpler initial setup for product teams—install the SDK and start tracking user behavior immediately. Segment requires more infrastructure planning (choosing destinations, setting up schemas) but provides greater flexibility for enterprise environments. For a small product team, Amplitude is faster; for an enterprise martech stack, Segment's initial complexity pays dividends through centralized data management.
How to Choose Between Segment and Amplitude
Primary Purpose: Segment has Customer Data Platform (CDP) & data router, while Amplitude has Product Analytics & behavior analysis.
Consider: Connected Destinations/Integrations
Connected Destinations/Integrations: Segment has 500+ tools & platforms, while Amplitude has 100+ integrations.
Consider: Event Tracking Capacity (Monthly)
Event Tracking Capacity (Monthly): Segment has Unlimited events, while Amplitude has Unlimited events.
Data Retention Period: Segment has Up to 7 years (configurable), while Amplitude has Up to 24 months standard.
Consider: Real-time Audience Segmentation
Real-time Audience Segmentation: Segment has Yes, with Segment Audiences, while Amplitude has Yes, with Amplitude Audiences.
Starting Price (Monthly): Segment has $120 (Pay-as-you-go, volume-based), while Amplitude has $995 (Growth tier minimum).
Funnel Analysis Depth: Segment has Basic funnel reporting, while Amplitude has Advanced multi-step funnel with drop-off analysis.