# Segmentation

A CDP tells you what happened. Croct lets you act while it is happening. Audiences are evaluated
in real time, including on the first pageview, and they are available to content and experiments
the moment a visitor qualifies.

## How it works

Audiences are written in CQL, an English-like query language, so a segment reads as a sentence:
`user is returning and location's city's name is "New York"`. They combine real-time behavior,
profile traits and historical data, with more than 100 signals available out of the box across
events, location, marketing, session, shopping, user and web technology, plus any custom
attribute you define.

As you build a segment, live estimates show its volume, so you can tell whether an audience is
worth targeting before you write the content for it.

## Features

- **Real-time evaluation.** A visitor enters an audience the moment they qualify, including
  on the first pageview.
- **CQL.** Segments written in readable English rather than in a query builder.
- **Audience estimator.** Live volume estimates while you build.
- **Anonymous activation.** Intent predicted from live signals, before anyone identifies
  themselves.
- **Custom attributes.** Your own traits alongside the built-in signals.
- **Recency and frequency.** Narrow a segment by how recently and how often something
  happened.
- **Segmented analytics.** Every dashboard readable by audience.
- **Data export.** Profiles and audiences flow to your warehouse or any tool you run.
- **Privacy controls.** Rules enforced at the platform level rather than page by page.

## Building with it

Segmentation is part of the platform, so there is no CDP to buy, connect or keep in sync.
Audiences created here are immediately usable by personalization and by experiments.

Setup is one command, `npx croct@latest init`, which installs the SDK, wires the provider
and generates TypeScript types for every slot. Official SDKs cover Next.js, React, Vue,
Nuxt, JavaScript, PHP, Laravel, Symfony, Drupal, and Shopify Hydrogen. Most teams are live
the same day, and the forever-free plan needs no credit card or commitment.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I need a CDP?

No. Real-time profiles, segmentation and data unification are built in, and profiles export to
your warehouse or to any tool you already run.

### Does it work on anonymous visitors?

Yes. Audiences are built from live behavioral signals, so they apply before a visitor identifies
themselves.

### How much historical data do I need to start?

None. Audiences work from the first pageview.

### What does it cost?

The forever-free plan covers 10,000 monthly active users with 3 content slots and 1
experience or experiment, and needs no credit card. Growth starts at $100 per month billed
annually for 20,000 monthly active users. Scale is custom.