The top 10 customer data platforms (CDPs) in 2026
Blog post from Knock
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are essential tools for unifying customer data from various sources, creating comprehensive customer profiles, and facilitating data activation across marketing, product, and analytics tools. This guide evaluates the top 10 CDP solutions, emphasizing their unique strengths and ideal use cases to assist in selecting the appropriate platform. Segment is highlighted for its extensive integration catalog and robust data collection features, while RudderStack offers open-source flexibility and warehouse-native architecture for data ownership. Hightouch and Polytomic focus on reverse ETL capabilities, enabling data activation from warehouses, with Hightouch excelling in its integration capacity and Polytomic offering robust API support. PostHog combines product analytics with CDP functionalities, appealing to product teams, whereas Jitsu provides a lightweight open-source event collection option. Freshpaint targets healthcare and privacy-focused industries with its zero-code tracking and compliance features. mParticle is optimized for mobile-first companies with advanced identity resolution and mobile SDKs, while Lytics leverages AI for marketing teams seeking customer intelligence. Tealium integrates tag management with CDP capabilities, suited for enterprises needing centralized data governance. The guide also discusses evaluation criteria such as data collection reliability, identity resolution, integration ecosystem, data governance, and developer experience, highlighting the importance of choosing a CDP that aligns with specific organizational needs and infrastructure.