The best cookie consent plugins for WordPress

In Europe and certain US states, website operators using cookies for an­a­lyt­i­cal, market research, or ad­ver­tis­ing purposes, are now required to provide a cookie policy that includes a statement warning users that their data is being collected. The General Data Pro­tec­tion Reg­u­la­tion (GDPR), for example, requires an active opt-in or at the very least implied consent. The Cal­i­for­nia Consumer Privacy Act passed in 2018 requires website users to opt-out rather than opt-in to the use of cookies. Compared to the GDPR, however, websites operating solely in the US do not require explicit cookie consent from their users.

However, unless you are certain that only US users will access your website, it can be a good idea to provide cookie notices that require an active opt-in. Some website owners operate multiple sites across different countries. In that case, different cookie policies could apply. For example, an in­ter­na­tion­al fashion retailer will need to ask for active consent to its cookie policy on its German website, but only be required to include a note saying that the website collects cookies on its US coun­ter­part.

In this article, we’ll show you the best WordPress cookie plugins to ensure cookie com­pli­ance across the popular web hosting platform.

WordPress websites generally use plugins to issue cookie notices. Because seeking cookie consent on WordPress and consent for other storage of user data have become legal re­quire­ments in many countries, some excellent plugins are now available to make the process even easier.

Many of these plugins can be used to ask a website visitor to actively consent to the use of cookies and other data pro­cess­ing methods via an opt-in action such as clicking on an “Accept all cookies” button. Beware that in certain ter­ri­to­ries prefilled options for cookie consent are not con­sid­ered “active consent”. In addition, it’s important that visitors have an op­por­tu­ni­ty to gain clar­i­fi­ca­tion on the use of their collected data.

Operators of WordPress sites should take a closer look at cookies – es­pe­cial­ly if they’ve operated their website for quite some time. Some WordPress themes and many plugins do use cookies, often without a website operator being aware of them. If you’re using Google Analytics or have connected your WordPress website to Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter, you’ll likely be using ad­di­tion­al cookies by these providers, and sharing in­for­ma­tion about your site visitors with other companies.

WordPress itself uses cookies. These are generally technical cookies which are not affected by cookie notice re­quire­ments. However, the comment function on WordPress, for example, stores the name and email address of a user and the website the comment was left on. WordPress provides an option for de­vel­op­ers to install their own checkbox, which users leaving a comment can click on to consent to their data being stored.

To find out whether a website uses cookies or which types of cookies are being used, different types of cookie scanners are available online, such as Cook­ieserve or Cook­ieMetrix. Simply enter the website address and view the list of used cookies.

Using a plugin, it’s simple to create a fully compliant cookie opt-in notice on WordPress. Various man­u­fac­tur­ers have developed plugins that cover the necessary features that a good WordPress cookie consent must include:

• Ac­ti­va­tion of cookies after active opt-in by website visitors
• Appealing user interface with the option to actively consent to use of cookies
• Pos­si­bil­i­ty to separate consent into different cat­e­gories, for example “technical,” “data analysis”, or “marketing”
• Simple handling alongside increased flex­i­bil­i­ty for special additions
• The option to block external content until a user consents to view the content

Im­por­tant­ly, a WordPress cookie plugin should include all the pre­req­ui­sites to implement a legally compliant cookie notice. That’s because it’s the website owner’s sole re­spon­si­bil­i­ty to ensure that legal re­quire­ments are met by the selected WordPress cookie plugin.

The WordPress cookie plugins presented below regularly achieve top ratings. All of them allow users to add an opt-in feature. Whether an opt-in notice is compliant depends on the changes website owners make to them. The WordPress cookie plugin you ul­ti­mate­ly select should factor in the following:

• Size and scope of website
• Type of tracking method used
• Sig­nif­i­cance of cookies for own ad­ver­tis­ing and marketing purposes
• Technical know-how of web owner in using cookies
• Costs of plugin

In line with monthly scanning, Cookiebot separates used cookies au­to­mat­i­cal­ly into various cat­e­gories – unknown cookies can be manually allocated. Im­por­tant­ly, cookies are auto-blocked until a user actively consents to their use.

With over 1 million downloads, Cookie Notice is among the favorite free WordPress cookie plugins. However, it only fulfills the most basic functions of an opt-in cookie plugin and its design can appear outdated. Its ad­van­tages include its sim­plic­i­ty of use and its free avail­abil­i­ty. The plugin is a good solution for private websites.

Step 4: Once every­thing is set up, you should check the WordPress cookie notice in different browsers to ensure it works correctly.

Real Cookie Banner also addresses the issue of ad­block­ing. Thanks to its in­te­grat­ed anti-adblock tech­nol­o­gy, the WordPress cookie plugin ensures that consent and cookie banners are not detected by ad-block ex­ten­sions. It’s a feature that many of its com­peti­tors do not include.

When it comes to user-friend­li­ness, Real Cookie Banner is a great example of an extension. After in­stal­la­tion into the WordPress backend, users can go through a checklist which takes them step-by-step through the process of adding legally compliant notices. The extension even au­to­mat­i­cal­ly documents the status of consent from visitors, so that website owners have a record of them.

Although the WordPress cookie plugins discussed above differ in many aspects, they all share the option to create opt-in cookie banners to meet legal re­quire­ments. Which plugin you choose will depend on your in­di­vid­ual re­quire­ments and whether you accept ad­di­tion­al charges.

Click here for important legal dis­claimers.