Alternative to Cookiebot for WordPress websites
You think Cookiebot is too expensive, you can’t customize the design enough for your website, or you are missing important features? Real Cookie Banner as an alternative to Cookiebot for WordPress websites tries to offer a more customizable cookie banner that is easy to set up for a smaller budget. Make your website GDPR and ePrivacy Directive compliant!
Why you should choose Real Cookie Banner
Real Cookie Banner is a cookie and consent management plugin. Obtain consent to load services and set cookies for your visitors in accordance with the GDPR and ePrivacy Directive. In addition, content blockers help you to be compliant even if your theme, plugin or content loads styles, scripts or iframes that would transfer personal data. Start now with our guided-configuration and avoid legal risks!
Content Blocker
Themes, plugins and co. usually load scripts, styles and content that transfer personal data and set cookies before you have the consent of your visitors. You usually cannot control this by yourself. Content blockers make sure that these features are only executed after you have obtained consent.
Customize design
You can design the cookie banner according to your wishes. 20+ design templates and 200+ options give you the flexibility to customize the cookie banner perfectly to your needs. From colors and effects to texts, you can unleash your creativity! All changes are displayed in a live preview.
Guided configuration
After installation, the checklist will guide you through all steps to be able to set up Real Cookie Banner in a legally compliant manner. We also explain the legalities of features and the legal consequences if you change settings. So, you can quickly and safely set up your cookie banner!
Documentation of consents
According to the GDPR, you have to prove that a visitor has consented to cookies and processing of personal data if he or she doubts this. We document consent completely and make it possible to trace the origin of the consent afterwards. You are on the safe side even in the worst case!
Native in WordPress
Real Cookie Banner is a cookie plugin specially designed for WordPress. It is fully installed in your WordPress as a native plugin. All consents are processed and stored on your server. Nothing is downloaded from a cloud in your visitor’s browser, which avoids further legal issues.
Compare us with Cookiebot
Cookiebot is a universal cookie banner that you can use on any website and that tries to find all used services for you. Unfortunately, compared to Real Cookie Banner, Cookiebot is only slightly adapted to the WordPress ecosystem, the design of the cookie banner can only be changed marginally and the automated setup makes it difficult to track as a website owner whether the cookie banner really contains all cookies, services, etc. that you use. Real Cookie Banner tries to do that and much more better. Compare us with alternative WordPress plugins to get your own opinion!
Do you already use a similar solution like Cookiebot?
Switch to Real Cookie Banner for 1 € in the first year.
Real Cookie Banner | Borlabs Cookie | Complianz | Cookiebot | |
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Yearly price (starts from; per site; incl. 19 % VAT) | €59.00 | €46.41 | €49.00 | €144.00 |
Free version available | only for one domain |
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Translations of plugin into # languages (> 90% completeness; language variants not counted) | 12 all texts in cookie banner are customizable |
6 all texts in cookie banner are customizable |
8 all texts in cookie banner are customizable |
48 all texts in cookie banner are customizable |
Audited by lawyer | Legally advised by meibers.rechtsanwälte |
Unknown or not advertised | Unknown or not advertised | Unknown or not advertised |
Cookie & Consent Management | ||||
Service (cookie) templates | 150+ templates |
28+ templates |
35+ templates; best results if the cloud service is activated |
visible after site scan |
Individual service groups | custom coding necessary |
predefined groups |
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Consent possible per service directly in cookie banner | only in legal documents outside cookie banner |
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Technical specifications of HTTP cookies and cookie-like information | one complete technical cookie definition per service |
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Execution of opt-in and opt-out HTML/JavaScript code | not assignable to the consent of a service |
you have to code this feature by yourself |
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Automatic deletion of 1st-party cookies in case of opt-out | for predefined cookies |
client-side |
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Legal texts linkable in footer of cookie banner | any link depending on the country law |
only privacy policy and legal notice (imprint) |
only privacy policy, cookie policy and legal notice (imprint) |
only via custom link in e.g. description text |
Hiding of cookie banner on legally relevant pages (e.g. privacy policy or legal notice/imprint) | configurable for all legal links |
only privacy policy and legal notice (imprint) |
only privacy policy and legal notice (imprint) |
only via JavaScript SDK |
Accepting all services for bots | ||||
Use of “Do Not Track” header | ||||
Age notice to comply with GDPR youth protection regulations | ||||
Obtaining consent for data processing in unsafe countries | configurable per country |
only USA; no disclosure for which services |
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Geo-restriction to show cookie banner only if necessary | predefined country list, not configurable |
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Native Swiss DSG compatibility | ||||
Scanner | ||||
Automatic check of all subpages for used services | each page indexed in sitemap |
each page indexed in sitemap |
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Detection of external services (with and without template) | based on HTML markup |
based on first-party cookies in browser of administrator |
technical cookies not always automatically associated with a service |
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Detection of known WordPress plugins | automatically blocks known plugins; services for consent must be manually created |
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Content Blocker | ||||
Content Blocker templates for popular services/plugins | 120+ templates |
7+ templates |
16+ templates |
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Content blockers replace embeds with similar content (e.g. YouTube video replaced with video player) | ||||
Block already integrated link, inline style, (inline) script and iframe HTML tags until the consent of the visitor | works for 16 predefined services |
client-side for known or manually marked services |
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URL blocking to block entire elements using a URL | always unblocks when opt-in for marketing services |
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Custom element blocking for blocking entire elements without modifying HTML markup | ||||
Splitting of inline styles to block individual CSS selectors | ||||
Automatic video playback after consent via content blocker | for YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion and Loom videos |
for YouTube and Vimeo videos |
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Design customization | ||||
Cookie banner design presets | 20+ design presets |
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Customizable design of cookie banner | 200+ design settings |
110+ design settings |
60+ design settings |
8 design options |
Live preview of design changes | if TCF support disabled |
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Design options for optimized display on mobile devices | ||||
Accessibility | ||||
Cookie banner compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA or later | ||||
Scoring of design settings for accessibility requirements (to protect against inappropriate contrasts, font sizes, etc.) | Accessibility Score similar to PageSpeed Insights Score |
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Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) | ||||
TCF v2 or newer support | ||||
Google certified CMP (AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob) | no version designated as stable available for use |
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Vendors can be selected from GVL | all vendors that use least one selected purpose or feature |
programmatic implementation through custom script tag |
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Publisher restrictions can be applied to vendors | programmatic implementation through custom script tag |
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Stacks for user-friendly visualization | ||||
Individual selection for visitors integrated in cookie banner | visitor must switch to cookie policy |
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Proactive notice of design violations (e.g. contrast too low) | ||||
Content blocker for content/scripts from vendors without consent | ||||
Consents and documentation | ||||
Documentation of consents | without design settings and list of all cookies |
without design settings |
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Creation of consents afterwards traceable through interactive visualization | including player (see how users clicked, scrolled, …) |
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Proactive obtain new consents after changing the content or behavior of the cookie banner | manually to trigger |
on adding new service, but not on changing e.g. texts |
when adding new services, but not when changing texts |
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Statistics about visitor consents | three statistics with dynamic time range |
statistic with fixed date choice |
one opt-in chart |
one opt-in chart |
Links for viewing the history of consent, changing and revoking consent | as menu items or shortcodes |
as shortcodes or widget (floating) |
as shortcodes |
as HTML links or widget (floating) |
Technical solution | ||||
Native solution in WordPress | Cloud service loaded as external script |
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Anti-Ad-Blocker system to get consents from users with aggressive Ad-Blocker | ||||
Import and export settings | ||||
Export of collected consents | ||||
Support for Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Matomo Tag Manager (MTM) that loads tag manager only after consent | according to the documentation, GTM should also be loaded without consent |
GTM loads before user consent |
GTM loads before user consent |
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Support for multilingual websites with WPML and Polylang | with cookie/service synchronization between languages |
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Support for multilingual websites with TranslatePress (advanced integration) | ||||
Support for multilingual websites with Weglot (advanced integration) | with machine translations |
with machine translations |
with machine translations |
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Support for WordPress Multisites | ||||
Consent Forwarding to avoid multiple consents of a visitor on multiple sites of an organization | one-way and two-way sync |
consents shared via cookie, but without e.g. documentation of consent |
consents shared via cookie, but without e.g. documentation of consent |
within same domain group |
Support for automatic emptying of all known page caches after a change to the cookie banner | for 26 page-cache plugins |
for 6 page-cache plugins |
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Compatible WordPress version | 5.9 or newer | 4.7 or newer | 4.9 or newer | 4.4 or newer |
The comparison was made in November 2023 on the basis of the following versions of the WordPress Plugins: Real Cookie Banner v4.0.0, Borlabs Cookie v2.2.66, Complianz v6.5.6, Cookiebot v4.3.1
You want to know more?
Have we caught your interest in Real Cookie Banner? The WordPress plugin offers you even more than what you’ve seen here. To learn more, have a look at the full list of features, services templates and more in the product description!
Real Cookie Banner as alternative to Cookiebot
Real Cookie Bannner tries to be a better cookie banner solution for WordPress websites than Cookiebot. By specializing in one ecosystem, we can address all requirements in detail. Cookiebot, on the other hand, can also be used on non WordPress websites as well, which is why less specific solutions have been implemented. In addition, Real Cookie Banner is significantly cheaper for one site per year compared to the cheapest purchase version of Cookiebot.
With Real Cookie Banner, you get more than 150 templates for WordPress plugins, embedded content and external services to load only after consent. In Cookiebot, on the other hand, you can create the services and cookies manually or use a cookie scanner that tries to find all cookies. How this works, whether it finds all cookies or which data is stored for which services, is not made clear. If we would use Cookiebot on our website, we would therefore check manually in any case. In addition, services can only be assigned to predefined groups. In Real Cookie Banner, however, you can also define custom service groups.
Cookiebot tries to block scripts, iframes etc. from external sources automatically and you have to explicitly mark if something should not be blocked. This can be tricky with WordPress, depending on whether your plugins support such a Cookiebot parameter. If you want to let scripts load explicitly only if there is a consent, you have to program that yourself according to the developer documentation of Cookiebot. Here you can also only check if a service group has been consented to, but not if a single service has been consented to. Real Cookie Banner takes an alternative approach. You can explicitly specify which scripts per service should be executed only on opt-in, opt-out or on page load. If, for example, a WordPress plugin or content already loads something that should be loaded only after the consent, this can be safely server-side removed by a content blocker until the consent or get replaced by a content blocker if necessary. The content blocker then asks for consent. The blocking works on the basis of URLs, HTML elements and also within inline CSS styles for individual CSS selectors. The Cookiebot alternative Real Cookie Banner helps you with more than 60 templates for well-known services and WordPress plugins.
In the cookie banner, Real Cookie Banner shows you a notice that users under a certain age may not consent without a parent or guardian. This is an effort to implement youth protection regulations according to Art. 8 DSGVO. In addition, your website visitors will be explicitly informed if a service processes data in the USA. After the end of the Privacy Shield by the ECJ, we see this as important to obtain informed consent. With Cookiebot you have to take care of both issues yourself, as there are no text templates.
Your cookie banner should not only look somehow, but fit to the design of your website. However, Cookiebot has only eight settings that allow you to change the design of the cookie banner. You can’t see these changes in a live preview, but have to reload the cookie banner after each change. Real Cookie Banner offers you over 200 options to customize your Cookie Banner. 20+ design templates help you to quickly and easily find the right look. All changes are, of course, displayed in a live preview.
Many websites require consent in accordance with the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF). For example, if you display ads on your website using Google Adsense, the revenue can differ significantly whether you collect consents with or without TCF. Both Cookiebot and Real Cookie Banner support TCF. With Real Cookie Banner you can comfortably select the used vendors in an interface, determine via Publisher Restrictions for what purposes consent shall be requested in your cookie banner, and you will be pro-actively warned if you misconfigure the design of the cookie banner. Content blockers also work with TCF vendors. With Cookiebot the TCF configuration is more technical. You have to manually look up the required vendors in IAB Europe’s vendor-list.json and the purposes to implement publisher restrictions. You have to put this information in a script on your website according to the documentation. For everything else to comply with the TCF policy, like a correctly confugured design, you should take care yourself.
Whether with or without TCF, consent should be documented. According to Art. 82 of the GDPR, there is a burden of proof for the website operator. Cookiebot documents many relevant things, except for the design settings. This could be a small remaining risk, if it is doubted that e.g. a reject button was visible. Alternatively, with Real Cookie Banner, all cookie banner settings are fully documented for each consent. This allows you to see visually what the cookie banner looked like at the time of consent. In addition, the Cookiebot alternative Real Cookie Banner notifies you after the change of content in the cookie banner, if you should obtain a new consent. You have to think about this yourself with Cookiebot.
A disadvantage of Cookiebot is also that it is loaded from the cloud by default. So, you have to trust that the Cookiebot servers are always available. If the script is not loaded, YouTube videos, for example, will not be blocked. This can potentially lead to privacy violations. Real Cookie Banner is directly integrated into your WordPress. No scripts are loaded from external servers to display the cookie banner. And even if the JavaScript is not executed (correctly), you don’t have to worry. Our solution replaces scripts, content and services that require consent using content blockers already on the server side, so that they can only be enabled if the cookie banner works technically. In addition, we try to use some mechanisms to prevent your cookie banner from being blocked by adblockers, cookie notice blockers, etc. as much as possible. Ultimately, we want you to get consents as often as possible. Cloud cookie banners like Cookiebot can be blocked quite easily.
As mentioned in the beginning, Cookiebot is just not built specifically for WordPress, which also means that you can’t manage translations with WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress or Weglot. Also, integrating with WordPress mulisites or clearing any of the vast number of page caches that exist in the WordPress ecosystem is rather basic solved and accordingly with limitations. Here, Real Cookie Banner offers more profound integration as an alternative to Cookiebot and supports all the above mentioned.
Wow, you are still here looking for an alternative to Cookiebot?
It looks like you are really interested in trying Real Cookie Banner. But if you don’t like or can’t install the free version into your WordPress right now, we have an alternative for you:
Just create a free sandbox. This is a WordPress installation in which Real Cookie Banner PRO is pre-installed for you. You can try all features without any risk. And if you break this test website, we won’t hold it against you. We promise!