Introduction
Cookie Plugin Want to know which. WordPress plugin is best to display a cookie banner on your website? Or do you even need a cookie. Banner for your website? Then you are right here! In this article. I have tested 5 of the most popular and recommended WordPress cookie plugins for you. I’ll explain their pros and cons and how each plugin differs. So you can find the best plugin for your website.
contents
1. Real Cookie Banner
2. Borla’s Cookie
3. GDPR Pixelate
4. Compliance
5. Cookie Bot
1. Real Cookie Banner
Real Cookie Banner is currently the best WordPress cookie plugin on the market. It not only offers a slightly larger range of functions than the second-placed plugin. Borla’s Cookie, but can also be configured more quickly. Has a nicer interface and convinces with attention to detail. One of the biggest selling points of Real Cookie Banner is. Its huge selection of cookie templates.
It currently offers 110 templates, probably covering 80-90% of all services used. On WordPress websites: This saves a lot of setup work Because you have to enter. Far fewer details about your cookies or services yourself. Since version 2.6 there’s even a scanner. That scans every subpage on your WordPress site for services. That may require an opt-in: Once the scanner is ready, you can add the services found directly to your cookie banner.
The design of the cookie banner is also very simple. And visually customizable via the WordPress Customizer. With many other cookie plugins. You specify the colors, text. Size or position of the banner in the plugin settings and then first have to clear the cache of your caching plugin. (Real Cookie Banner does this automatically when changes are made to the banner). Finally, you need to clear the browser cache. So you can see your theme changes. And that 10 to 30 times. Until the design finally fits. Totally annoying!
A nice little detail on the side:
If you want to see what your cookie banner currently looks like. You can click on the Show cookie banner button in the admin bar at any time. The developers also attach great importance to legal details. e.g. B. can be seen in the consent history. Not only are all the details of the consent saved in the history. But also exactly what the cookie banner looked like at the time the consent was given:
There are also options to display an age notice for consent. in the cookie banner or to refer to data processing in the USA. ( according to Dr. Schwenke. The latter can reduce legal risks if the Privacy Shield becomes ineffective). The plugin also informs you that the content or behavior of the cookie banner. It has been adjusted and reminds you that you should rather ask all visitors for consent again:
advantages
- The design of the cookie banner is visually customizable with the customizer.
- Content blockers for embedded content (e.g. from YouTube. Google Maps, Instagram, Twitter or Vimeo)
- Scanner function with which the plugin searches for known services on all subpages
- Explanations or further links to each setting item
- fast loading and clear settings
- 101 templates for services and content blockers
- Support for TCF 2.0+
- German support
- Setup checklist with 10 points
- Geo-Restrictions (to hide the cookie banner for certain countries)
- Page is reloaded after opt-out (not so with Borla’s)
- Get a taste thanks to the free version
- Easy import and export of consents and settings
- Consent history shows how the banner was designed at the time of consent
- Age notice and information on data processing in the USA
Disadvantages
- Single license 10 € more expensive than Borla’s Cookie. (However, with my voucher it is balanced again)
- Agency license for €299 only includes 25 websites. (Borla’s Cookie offers 99 websites for the same price)
- frames are not automatically blocked (must be added as a service)
- Services and their cookies must be created manually. (However, there are many templates and a service scanner, which makes setup much easier).
2. Borla’s Cookie
Borla’s Cookie is one of the most popular cookie. Plugins for WordPress in German-speaking countries. In a survey in my Facebook group DSGVO & Internet Recht in April 2021. It was clearly ahead of other plugins and consent tools in terms of frequency of use:
3. Compliance
Complains is the jack of all trades among cookie plugins. It is characterized by a very large range of functions: It offers a content blocker. many design options for the cookie banner. cookie groups and a setup wizard. That guides you through the configuration process step by step.
The highlight of Complains is a cookie scanner. That can scan your website for cookies weekly or manually and suggests appropriate services for this. The Pro version also offers the creation of imprint,.data protection declaration and other legal texts. The possibility to carry out split tests for different designs of the cookie banner and the logging of consent.
In addition:
The basic version of the plugin, which already offers a lot, is free. So is compliance a better alternative to Borla’s Cookie or Real Cookie Banner? Unfortunately not quite. Although the cookie scanner is certainly helpful. You still have to configure many services manually and check whether the scanner found all services at all.
Despite an improvement in translation quality since the plugin was introduced. The Complains setup wizard and plugin settings are still not translated very well into German. I find that particularly critical. Because incorrect settings can lead to legal risks.
advantages
- Setup by wizard
- Useful free version
- Cookie scanner that automatically detects cookies on the website (with weekly scans)
- Takes into account non-EU legislation (such as COPPA or CCPA)
- Automatically generates a cookie policy
- Generation of imprint and data protection declaration (Premium)
- CSS and JS files are loaded entirely locally (and not from third-party servers like with Cookie Bot)
- Split testing of different cookie banners possible (Premium)
- To-do list in dashboard
- Significantly cheaper than Cookie Bot
- The design of the banner can be customized
- Support for TCF 2.0
Disadvantages
- Settings and setup wizard are partly not well translated into German
- The design of the cookie banner is rather bland
- You cannot create your own cookie groups or change the names of the predefined cookie groups
- The content blocker does not offer nice placeholders and is not 100% reliable
- Despite the cookie scanner, you still have to configure many services yourself
- no detailed overview of cookies directly in the cookie banner
4. GDPR Pixelate
The GDPR Pixelate cookie plugin was developed by Soul sites in cooperation with the lawyer Sabrina Keese-Hauf’s. It makes a good alternative for Borla’s Cookie or Real Cookie Banner if you…
- only for Google Analytics, the Facebook Pixel and/or a few other scripts need an opt-in.
- you can do without advanced settings and customization options.
- Want to spend less money (GDPR Pixelate costs €39 one-time for a website, while Bor Cookie and Real Cookie Banner cost a similar amount annually).
GDPR Pixelate is particularly impressive. Because it can be configured quickly and easily. To integrate Google Analytics or the Facebook Pixel, you need e.g. B. not the complete tracking code. The Google Tracking ID or the Facebook Pixel ID is sufficient: Other scripts can also be easily and quickly integrated into the head, body or footer. Depending on the type, you can divide them into the necessary , tracking , advertising or other cookie groups :
However, it is unfortunately not possible to individually name the cookie groups or add your own. Similar to Borla’s Cookie and Real Cookie Banner , GDPR Pixelate also has an option to block external resources and only make them available after the click ( called data control in the settings ). An integrated Vimeo video with activated data control looks like this:
Disadvantage:
Unfortunately, the overlay is only displayed for Vimeo and YouTube. Accordingly, the text can only be individually adapted for the two services. All other external services are blocked by data control, but without an overlay being displayed.
advantages
- one-off price, no annual or monthly subscription
- easy to use
- easy integration of Google Analytics and the Facebook Pixel
- Other scripts can be integrated with the plugin in the head, body or footer
- The design of the cookie banner can be customized
- The scripts can be divided into cookie groups
- Option to block all external resources e.g. B. for YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter and Google Maps
- own Facebook group for the cookie plugin. where you can ask questions.
- developed in cooperation with a lawyer
- A revocation button can be displayed (appears in the footer)
Disadvantages
- not so well suited to manage many services or cookies
- no detailed information on the cookies used can be stored
- no statistics on opt-in rates
- Design adjustments for the cookie message not very extensive
- no short code to block external resources
- Placeholders for blocked external resources can only be modified to a limited extent (only texts for YouTube and Vimeo videos can be changed)
5.Cookie Bot
Cookie Bot is a cookie plugin and cookie consent manager that aims to differentiate. Itself by removing as many settings as possible from users. Like Complains. It has a cookie scanner on board. This automatically divides a large number of cookies into different categories. Which visitors can then select or deselect when opting in. You can manually divide cookies that are unknown to Cookie Bot into categories.
When your website is called up, all cookies found by the cookie bot are. Then automatically blocked and only set after the user has consented to this. But despite its innovative concept, the plugin only comes in 5th place. And there are three reasons for that. Firstly, the cookie scanner is unfortunately not particularly reliable. It often fails to find cookies or shows cookies from services.
Secondly, the content blocker cannot block as much content as the two test winners. And only shows an ugly placeholder text instead of the blocked content. Which unfortunately cannot be customized either. Third, Cookie Bot is loaded via an external and not a local script. Which I personally don’t find particularly privacy-friendly. Another big disadvantage is the pricing model. Which depends on the number of subpages on a website:
For €108 per year you get 499 subpages. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t. Because this includes not only posts or pages in WordPress, but also tags, categories or even media pages. That said, most longer-established WordPress blogs or websites will likely fall into the next higher plan at $252 per year. That’s more than 8 times more expensive per year than Borla’s Cookie, Real Cookie Banner or Complains.
advantages
- easy installation
- for sites up to 100 pages free
- automatic cookie scan, which collects all cookies on your. Website and divides them into categories.
- all scripts and external resources can remain included as they are included. And do not need to be moved into the plugin. (As is the case with Borla’s Cookie or GDPR Pixelate).
- Compatible with many third-party plugins, such as B. Google Analytic Ator, Opti monster, Google Analytics Dashboard for WP (GADWP), Add This, Jetpack or Addona.
- Compatible with any website, not just WordPress.
- has a content blocker to block embedded content.
- Support for TCF 2.0
Disadvantages
- requires creation of a user account through which most settings are managed
- Cookie Bot loads external script (which is not particularly privacy-friendly)
- Content Blocker does not block all external resources
- Content only blocks cookies from external resources, but not the entire connection (i.e.
- blocker doesn’t offer nice placeholders
What does a good cookie plugin need?
1. An opt-in feature
A good cookie plugin must offer an opt-in function. This means that scripts and associated cookies are only loaded after the user’s consent. Everything else (simple cookie notice or opt-out) is questionable in terms of data protection.
2. A content blocker
Embedded content such as B. YouTube and Vimeo videos, podcast players or Google Maps set cookies. When the page is loaded and establish connections to third-party servers. A good cookie plugin includes a content blocker that only loads embedded content after user consent.
3. Links to the imprint and data protection declaration in the cookie banner
Despite the cookie banner, legally required pages must remain accessible.
This means that links to the data protection declaration and imprint should either be in the cookie banner. (Or at least not be covered by it).
4. The possibility to deselect cookies again after consent
After a user has given consent for cookies. He must be able to revoke this consent With Borla’s Cookie and Real Cookie Banner. This can be implemented by placing short codes in the footer and privacy policy.
5. Logging of Consent
According to Art. 7 Para. 1 GDPR website operators must be able to prove consent to data processing. This means that in order to ensure maximum legal certainty A cookie plugin should log user consent.
6. Details about cookies directly in the cookie banner
According to recital 32 of the GDPR . That the data subject consents to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.”
according to dry Schwenke is legally on the safest side. If the cookie banner already contains detailed information about the cookies to which website visitors consent. This includes the type and functionality of the cookies. Their lifespan and the associated services.(e.g. Matombo or Google Analytics) as well as an option to object.
