6 Best Cookie Consent Plugins for WordPress

When it comes to privacy laws like GDPR, it’s really important to be careful. Fortunately, for WordPress website owners, cookie consent plugins may make privacy law compliance much easier.

However, there are several cookie plugins available! Which ones provide trustworthy consent management and personal data management features?

In this post, we’ve curated a list of the best cookie consent plugins for WordPress users, most of which have functional free versions.

Whether you need a basic cookie consent banner or a full-featured cookie consent management platform, you’ll find a handy solution on this list.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small data files stored on your browser by websites you visit. They keep track of your preferences and activity, enhancing your browsing experience by remembering login details and customizing content.

Why Do I Need to Ask Visitors for Permission to Use Cookies?

In recent years, privacy laws have become more strict, encompassing how electronic data is collected, kept, and used. Previously, servers could collect a lot of data about you and your behaviors without your permission. However, governments worldwide, especially the European Union (EU), are trying to give users more control over the data collected about them, as well as how it is stored and used.

How Can I Add Cookie Consent in WordPress?

The easiest solution to stay in compliance with cookie laws is to install a WordPress cookie consent plugin. When a user first visits your website, they will typically display a cookie consent popup. The user is generally given the option of accepting all of them, selecting the ones they are happy with, or rejecting their usage entirely. However, if a user refuses to accept cookies, access to the website content should be restricted.

There are many WordPress cookie consent plugins available, and we’ll show you the most popular on the market. All of them will ensure that you have the proper consent, and some will even help you in creating a cookie policy.

Best WordPress Cookie Consent Plugins

1. Cookie Notice + Cookie Compliance

Cookie Notice is one of the best cookies plugin at WordPress.org, where it has a near-perfect 4.8-star rating on over 2,950+ reviews.

The plugin is divided into two parts:

Cookie Notice: This simple website banner informs visitors about your site’s cookie usage and allows them to grant consent in many ways.

Cookie Compliance: This full-featured consent management platform (CMP) considers guidelines from over 100 countries and gives users detailed choices for controlling their privacy. Users, for example, can opt to accept some cookies but not others.

The Cookie Notice features are completely self-contained in the plugin. However, the Cookie Compliance features also need to connect to the developer’s web application.

If you choose, you may use only the Cookie Notice features. You are not forced to utilize Cookie Compliance or connect your site to a separate service.

Key Features:

Some Key Features of Cookie Notice:

• Customizable notice message.
• Consent on click, scroll, or close.
• Multiple cookie expiry options.
• WPML and Polylang compatible.
• SEO friendly.

Some Key Features of Cookie Compliance:

• Automatic script blocking of non-essential cookies until user consent is obtained.
• Allow users to accept all, some, or none of your site’s cookies.
• Allow users to set a time limit.
• Divide cookies into groups based on their purpose so that users can accept or reject them.
• Track analytics to find out how many users give you consent.

Pricing:

The Cookie Notice features are completely free and available in the WordPress.org plugin.

However, the Cookie Compliance features are available on both a free and premium plan. The free plan includes 1,000 visits each month, 30 days of consent storage, and support for one additional language.

The paid plan allows unlimited visits and lifetime consent storage for $14.95 per month or $149.50 per year (you get two months free).

2. CookieYes

CookieYes is another popular free cookies plugin available on WordPress.org. Like the Cookie Notice plugin, it has a 4.9-star rating based on over 2,100 reviews.

When it comes to functionality and pricing, CookYes follows the same fundamental approach as Cookie Compliance. The plugin’s free version allows you to display an attractive cookie consent banner. However, the premium version includes a comprehensive consent management platform with capabilities such as automatic cookie scanning, blocking specific cookies until consent, and more.

Key Features:

• Cookie consent banner with Accept and Reject options.
• Single-click automatic scanning and categorization of cookies.
• Cookie policy generator.
• Shortcode to display the cookie list.
• Compatible with WPML & Polylang.
• Cookie scanner to automatically detect most cookies.
• Compatible with major caching plugins.

Pricing:

If you only need to display a basic cookie consent banner, the free version of CookieYes should be enough.

If you want premium features like consent management, Premium plans start at $69 for use on a single site.

3. Complianz

Complianz is more than just a cookie notice plugin; it’s a whole privacy suite for WordPress. It complies with GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO, and PIPEDA.

It allows specific cookie management per region to stay compliant in the EU, United States, UK, and Canada.

The Cookie Consent Banner is very customizable since you can match the banner to your site’s theme by using custom CSS. You will also receive cookie templates to help you get started quickly. If needed, the free version of the plugin allows you to anonymize IP addresses for Google Analytics.

Further, Cookies from external social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter can be automatically blocked. It also works nicely with all contact forms as well as WooCommerce.

The Pro edition includes features such as A/B testing, new layouts, GEO IP cookie consent, consent analytics, and more.

Key Features:

• Specific Cookie configuration for the subregion.
• Customizable cookie consent banner.
• Cookie scanner to automatically detect most cookies.
• Integrations with Tag Manager and Analytics.
• Blocks cookies from third parties such as AdSense, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Maps.

Pricing:

Complianz offers a free version that should work for most sites. The premium version starts at $49 for a single site.

4. GDPR Cookie Compliance

GDPR Cookie Compliance is another free cookie plugin that also has a premium edition with more functionality. Despite its GDPR-focused title, the plugin also supports other legislation such as CCPA, PIPEDA, LGPD, and others.

Like most of the other plugins on this list, the free version is primarily focused on helping you create a cookie consent banner. However premium version is more concerned with compliance management, including features such as consent logs and cookie blocking until approval.

Key Features:

• User-friendly cookie consent notice.
• Customized consent banner text and style.
• Content expiration settings.
• Consent on scroll or timer.
• Block third-party resources/iframes unless the user agrees to cookies.
• Consent logging for audits.
• Analytics to see your cookie acceptance rate.

Pricing:

The GDPR Cookie Compliance basic version is free. The premium version has extra features and costs £59.

5. WP Cookie Notice for GDPR, CCPA & ePrivacy Consent

WP Cookie Notice for GDPR, CCPA, and ePrivacy Consent isn’t as popular on WordPress.org as compared to other free cookie consent plugins, but it’s well-reviewed and expanding rapidly.

It’s also one of the more economical premium selections on this list, making it ideal for individuals on a tight budget. There is also a free version that will work with the majority of WordPress websites.

Key Features:

• Display a flexible cookie consent notice.
• Fully customizable cookie notice.
• Accept consent based on click, scroll, or time on site.
• Block popular third-party scripts automatically.
• Option to save consent logs to your site.
• Automatic cookie scanning.

Pricing:

The WP Cookie Notice basic version is free. The premium version has extra features and costs $17 per year for a single site.

6. WP GDPR Compliance

WP GDPR Compliance allows you to add a GDPR checkbox to particular site sections automatically. This covers WordPress comments and registration, as well as WooCommerce pages.

WP GDPR Compliance also makes it simple for users to seek access to the data saved in your database.

Further, It has a specific Data Request page that allows users to view their information. Plus, they can also request to delete their information if they want to.

Key Features:

• Consent log.
• Request consent.
• Cookie popup consent.
• Works with WordPress comments.

Pricing:

This WordPress cookie notification plugin is free.

Conclusion

That concludes our list of the best GDPR cookie consent plugins. As you may have realized, the plugins we’ve listed are ideal for making your site GDPR cookie consent compliant. All you have to do is install the plugin and get started right away.

These plugins provide functionality such as consent logs, user tracing, privacy policy generator, etc. Furthermore, most of these plugins allow you to customize the cookie notice to best suit your website.

If you’re still unsure about the best WordPress cookie consent plugin, we strongly recommend Cookie Notice & Compliance for GDPR / CCPA. This plugin is simple to use and includes all of the features needed to make your website GDPR compliant.

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You may also want to see our following articles:

• Best WordPress Popup Plugins
• Best Membership Plugins for WordPress
• 10 Best WordPress Translate Plugins

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