WordPress site owners have three fundamentally different ways to handle cookie consent and privacy compliance: a cloud based SaaS platform, a WordPress native plugin with a self hosted architecture, or a combined compliance and legal management platform. CookieYes, Complianz, and WPLP Compliance Platform each represent one of these approaches, and the differences go far beyond banner colors and pricing tiers. They affect where your consent data lives, how your site performs, what happens when traffic spikes, and how much you pay as you add sites.
This comparison looks at what each platform actually does in 2026.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | CookieYes | Complianz | WPLP Compliance Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Cloud based SaaS, connects to WordPress via plugin | WordPress native plugin, runs on your own server | WordPress native, two plugins plus an optional cloud dashboard |
| Free plan | Yes, 5,000 pageviews/month, 100 pages per scan | Yes, single region banner, basic scan | Yes, one site, manual cookie configuration, 5 dashboard scans a month |
| Entry paid price | $10/month per domain (Basic) | $59/year for 1 site (Personal) | $8/month, or $4/month billed yearly, for up to 3 sites |
| Pricing unit | Per domain, by pageviews | Per licensed site, by site count tier | Flat rate by number of sites, all features included |
| Google Consent Mode v2 | Every plan, including Free | Premium only | Free plugin and every paid plan |
| IAB TCF | v2.3, gated to Pro and Ultimate | v2.2, CMP ID 332, premium only | v2.3, included in every paid plan |
| Geo targeting | Pro plan and above | Premium only | Included in paid plans |
| Consent logs | Free tier included, capped; unlimited on paid | Unlimited records, no cap, free and premium | View and export, included in every paid plan |
| DSAR handling | Not a core listed feature | Included on paid plans | Included |
| Legal policy generator | Cookie policy and privacy policy generator | Full suite: Privacy Statement, Disclaimer, Impressum, Processing Agreement, more | 4 free templates, 30+ on paid plans, plus custom pages |
| Multisite or agency plan | Per domain billing, agency partner discounts by application | Multisite plugin bundled with agency license | Multisite dashboard included from the Professional plan |
| Platforms supported | WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and more | WordPress and Shopify only | WordPress only |
What Is CookieYes and How Does It Work
CookieYes is a cloud based, Google certified consent management platform that connects to WordPress through a plugin while the actual consent logic, banner rendering, and scan scheduling run on CookieYes servers. CookieYes is an official Google certified CMP that supports Google Consent Mode v2 and IAB TCF v2.3.
Because CookieYes is platform agnostic, the same account can manage a WordPress blog, a Shopify store, and a Wix site side by side, which matters for businesses running more than one type of website. CookieYes integrates with WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, Joomla, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, and Kartra.
The tradeoff is pricing structure. CookieYes charges per domain and by monthly pageviews rather than a flat WordPress license. CookieYes has four tiers, each priced per domain per month: Free at $0 with 5,000 pageviews, Basic at $10 with 100,000 pageviews, Pro at $25 with 300,000 pageviews and geo targeting, and Ultimate at $55 with unlimited pageviews and branding removal. A site that outgrows its pageview allowance on Basic or Pro pays extra rather than losing functionality outright, though pricing can climb during traffic spikes.
Because the banner and scanning logic run through CookieYes infrastructure, every domain needs a separate paid subscription with no bundled multi domain discount, which is the detail agencies most often overlook when estimating costs across client sites.
For general background on how WordPress cookie compliance plugins differ in approach, see WPLP’s guide to GDPR plugins for WordPress.
What Is Complianz and How Does Its WordPress Focused Approach Work
Complianz takes the opposite architectural route. It is a WordPress native plugin (with a separate Shopify app) that runs entirely on the site’s own server rather than routing consent data through an external SaaS dashboard. Complianz is lightweight and self-hosted. Unlike most consent management platforms, Complianz runs entirely on your WordPress server, so no visitor data is sent to external servers.
This self hosted model also removes pageview caps entirely, even on paid plans. A key feature of every Complianz plan, including free, is that it imposes no pageview caps or consent record limits, which keeps costs predictable as a site grows.
Complianz is credentialed for programmatic advertising work. Complianz holds IAB Transparency and Consent Framework CMP ID 332, a standardized identifier that signals compatibility with digital advertising consent infrastructure.
The free plugin is functional but limited. The free plugin includes a GDPR and CCPA cookie banner, cookie scanning, and a policy generator, but not geo detection, consent logging, Google Consent Mode v2, or IAB TCF. Those capabilities sit behind a paid license priced by the number of sites. Complianz Premium for WordPress is billed annually at $59 a year for 1 site (Personal), $179 for 5 sites (Professional), and $399 for 25 sites (Agency). Complianz does not extend beyond WordPress and Shopify, which is a hard limit for agencies managing a mixed platform portfolio.
For a closer look at how cookie plugin pricing compares across vendors, see WPLP’s roundup of affordable WordPress cookie consent plugins.
What Is WPLP Compliance Platform and How Does It Combine Compliance and Legal Management
WPLP Compliance Platform bundles two WordPress plugins, WP Legal Pages and WP Cookie Consent, with an optional Compliance Dashboard that adds scanning automation and multisite management. Rather than treating cookie consent and legal documentation as separate purchases, WPLP ties them into one subscription so a site owner is not stitching together a consent plugin from one vendor and a policy generator from another.
Legal page generation, a cookie consent banner with script blocking, consent logging, DSAR handling, and Google Consent Mode are in the free plugins, while automated scanning, the full 30+ template library, and multisite management are Compliance Dashboard features, with a free tier available. Both ship in WPLP’s free plugins. On Complianz, both need a paid license. CookieYes has Google Consent Mode v2 on its free plan but no DSAR feature.
On paid plans, WPLP does not gate individual features behind higher tiers the way per domain or per site competitors often do. Every paid plan unlocks the complete feature set: IAB TCF v2.3, Google Consent Mode v2, DSAR handling, script blocking, consent logs, and extended law coverage for ePrivacy, UK GDPR, PIPEDA, PDPL, and APP, with only site count, scan limits, and pageview allowances changing between tiers.
For more on how the two plugins work together, see WPLP’s overview of cookie management with WP Legal Pages Compliance Platform and its explainer on which privacy laws WPLP Compliance Platform covers.
Detailed Feature by Feature Comparison
Cookie Scanning and Automatic Detection
All three platforms scan a site to detect cookies and third party scripts before publishing a banner. CookieYes ties scan depth to plan tier, from 100 pages on the Free plan up to a few thousand pages on Ultimate. Complianz uses what it calls a hybrid scan, combining a WordPress integrated check with simulated visits, and syncs against cookiedatabase.org for classification accuracy. WPLP’s scanning runs through its Compliance Dashboard, with the Professional plan covering 50 scans a month across up to 10,000 pages per scan, and the Business and Agency plans removing the monthly scan limit. To understand what a scan is actually looking for, WPLP’s guide to types of internet cookies is a useful primer.
Cookie Blocking and Consent Enforcement
Script blocking before consent is the mechanism that actually keeps a site compliant, not just the visible banner. All three platforms block scripts by default until a visitor makes a choice, though the underlying legal exposure of unblocked third party code is worth understanding on its own. WPLP covers this directly in its piece on who is legally responsible for third party scripts.
Banner Customization and Consent UX
CookieYes offers layout templates and, on paid plans, full color and CSS control. Complianz ships a guided setup wizard that walks through general settings, consent categories, legal documents, and a final review before publishing. WPLP’s free plugin includes banner templates, custom CSS and A/B testing. A custom logo needs a paid plan to compare banner variants, a feature WPLP explains further in its post on cookie banner A/B testing. Banner design choices carry real compliance risk if they nudge visitors toward accepting more than they intend; WPLP’s guide on avoiding dark patterns in cookie banner design covers what regulators flag.
Regional and Geo Based Consent
Showing the right consent model to the right visitor, rather than one banner for every jurisdiction, is a paid feature on both CookieYes (Pro plan) and Complianz (Premium only). WPLP includes geo targeted banners across its paid tiers. The mechanics of splitting cookie rules by region are covered in WPLP’s post on cookie banner geo targeting.
Consent Logs and Reporting
CookieYes logs consent choices with export options on paid plans and a capped record count on Free. Complianz stores unlimited consent records on its own server, at no additional cost, once Records of Consent is unlocked on a paid plan. WPLP logs and lets users view and export consent records across every paid plan. How long these records should be kept is a separate compliance question WPLP addresses in data retention periods for consent logs, and for teams tracking how consent choices trend over time, WPLP’s piece on cookie consent analytics and metrics is a useful next read.
Google Consent Mode and IAB TCF
CookieYes is a Google certified CMP Partner that supports seamless integration with Google Consent Mode V2 and IAB TCF v2.3. Complianz matches this on paid plans, with Google CMP certification received in July 2024 and its own IAB registration. WPLP holds the same certifications, per its pricing page, which lists IAB TCF v2.3 support and Google Consent Mode v2 on every paid plan, with the Google Consent Mode toggle configurable without custom code. WPLP explains the standard in plain terms in what is IAB TCF, and covered its own certification milestone in WPLP Compliance Platform is now a Google certified CMP partner.
Legal Policy Generation and DSAR
This is where the three platforms diverge most. CookieYes and Complianz both generate a cookie policy and, on paid Complianz plans, a wider legal document suite that includes Privacy Statement, Disclaimer, Impressum, and Processing Agreement templates. CookieYes has no DSAR feature. Complianz includes data request handling on its paid plans.
WPLP, through WP Legal Pages, ships more than 30 legal templates, and per WPLP’s own FAQ, DSAR handling ships in the free plugin. For background on what a data subject access request actually involves, see WPLP’s complete guide to DSAR, and for a broader checklist of which pages a site typically needs, what policies do I need for my website.
Multilingual Support
CookieYes supports multiple banner languages on paid plans, gated on Free. Complianz publishes its plugin interface in numerous locales and supports multi region banners on Premium. WPLP’s free plugin supports 50+ banner languages and detects the visitor’s browser language, with automatic banner language detection.
Multisite and Agency Use Cases
Agencies managing several client sites face very different math on each platform. CookieYes bills per domain with no bundle rate, softened only by an application based Agency Partner Program offering discounts up to 50%. Complianz bundles a separate multisite plugin into its Agency license, covering cross domain consent and automatic subsite configuration. WPLP includes a multisite dashboard from its Professional plan onward, with the Agency plan supporting 25, 50, or 100 sites under one flat subscription and every feature unlocked regardless of tier.
WordPress Workflow, Ease of Implementation, and Cloud vs WordPress Based Approaches
CookieYes installs as a plugin but manages configuration through an external CookieYes dashboard, meaning updates and banner logic depend on an outside service staying available. Complianz configures entirely inside WordPress through a four part wizard (General, Consent, Documents, Finish), which keeps everything in one admin screen but requires excluding the plugin from caching tools by hand to avoid banner display issues.
WPLP follows a similar in dashboard setup pattern, connecting the plugin to a WPLP account for template access while storing operational data in WordPress. Sites running WooCommerce carry extra compliance considerations around checkout and customer data, covered in WPLP’s guide to privacy compliance for WooCommerce stores.
Pricing and Value Comparison
| Plan level | CookieYes | Complianz (WordPress) | WPLP Compliance Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 1 domain, 5,000 pageviews, capped scan | 1 site, single region banner | 1 site, manual setup, 5 dashboard scans/month |
| Entry paid | $10/month per domain | $59/year for 1 site | $8/month (or $4/month billed yearly) for up to 3 sites |
| Mid tier | $25/month per domain | $179/year for 5 sites | $12/month (or $6/month billed yearly) for up to 10 sites |
| Top published tier | $55/month per domain (Ultimate) | $399/year for 25 sites | $28/month (or $14/month billed yearly) for 25+ sites |
The structural difference matters more than the sticker price. CookieYes scales cost with traffic and with each domain. It keeps geo-targeting and IAB TCF v2.3 for Pro and up. Complianz scales with its 1, 5 or 25-site licenses, and every paid license has the same features.
WPLP prices by site count alone and, per its own FAQ, includes every feature on every paid plan. All features are available in every paid plan; you only pay more if you want to use them on more sites, with no hidden feature based upgrades or upsells. An agency running ten client sites on CookieYes Pro would pay roughly $250 a month before discounts; the same ten sites sit inside WPLP’s Business plan at $12 a month, or $72 a year on annual billing.
WordPress and Agency Considerations
Agencies choosing between these platforms are really choosing between three different operating models. CookieYes suits agencies that also manage non WordPress clients, since the same dashboard covers Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace properties. Complianz suits agencies that want compliance data to remain entirely inside each client’s own WordPress database, with no external processor to disclose.
WPLP suits agencies managing a large roster of WordPress only sites where predictable, flat, feature complete pricing matters more than cross platform reach. All three require basic care around plugin conflicts and caching exclusions regardless of which is chosen, and none of the three should be treated as a substitute for a lawyer’s review on edge cases specific to a business.
Which Solution Fits Different Website Scenarios
- A solo blogger or small brochure site with light traffic: The free tiers of any of the three cover a basic banner and policy pages; CookieYes and Complianz both cap functionality more tightly on Free than WPLP’s free plugin combination.
- A single ecommerce store needing Google Ads and programmatic ad compliance: CookieYes and Complianz both carry IAB TCF certification on paid plans; WPLP carries the same certification with DSAR handling included from the free plugin.
- An agency managing many WordPress only client sites: WPLP’s flat, per site pricing with every feature unlocked on every plan tends to produce more predictable costs than per domain billing.
- An agency or business managing a mixed platform portfolio (WordPress plus Shopify, Wix, or custom sites): CookieYes covers the widest range of platforms from one dashboard.
- A business that wants consent and traffic data to never leave its own server: Complianz’s fully self hosted model and WPLP’s WordPress native storage both keep data in house, compared with CookieYes’s cloud based architecture.
- A site that needs legal policy generation and cookie consent under one subscription: WPLP combines both by design; CookieYes and Complianz focus primarily on consent, with lighter policy generation attached.
Frequently Asked Questions
CookieYes is a cloud based, platform agnostic consent management service that works across WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and other site builders, billed per domain and by pageviews. Complianz is a WordPress and Shopify only plugin that runs entirely on the site’s own server, billed per licensed site with no pageview cap.
WPLP serves the same core function, cookie consent and privacy compliance, but adds legal policy generation and DSAR handling as part of the same subscription rather than as a separate purchase, and prices by site count with every feature included on each paid plan.
Google Consent Mode v2 is on every plan, including Free. IAB TCF v2.3 is on Pro and Ultimate.
No. Google Consent Mode v2, IAB TCF, geo detection, and consent logging are Premium only features on Complianz, starting at $59 a year for one site.
Pricing structure matters more than the headline number. WPLP prices flatly by site count with all features included at every tier, which tends to produce lower effective costs at scale than CookieYes’s per domain, per pageview model or Complianz’s per site tier jumps.
No plugin or platform can guarantee full compliance on its own, since requirements vary by region and by what a specific site collects. Each of these tools handles the technical mechanics, consent logging, script blocking, and policy generation, that regulations require, but a lawyer’s review remains worthwhile for anything specific to an individual business.
Yes, though most regulations expect both a functioning consent mechanism and a published privacy or cookie policy. WPLP bundles both; CookieYes and Complianz focus primarily on consent with lighter built in policy generation.
Which one should you choose?
CookieYes is a cloud based, Google certified CMP with the broadest platform support outside WordPress, billed per domain by pageview volume, with core features like geo targeting and branding removal gated to higher tiers. Complianz is a self hosted WordPress and Shopify plugin with no pageview caps, certified for Google Consent Mode v2 and IAB TCF on Premium plans starting at $59 a year per site. WPLP Compliance Platform combines cookie consent and legal policy generation in one WordPress native subscription, prices flatly by site count starting at $8 a month for up to three sites, includes DSAR handling, Google Consent Mode, and every other feature across all paid tiers. Each platform fits a different priority: cross platform reach, self hosted control, or combined compliance and legal management at flat, predictable pricing.
If you like this article, you might also like:
- What is Data Processing? Types and Compliance Requirements
- How to Add a GDPR-Compliant Cookie Policy To Your Website
Pricing, plan limits, and framework versions are based on each vendor’s publicly published pages as of September 2026. Confirm current details before purchasing.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and reading purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
