Cookie Consent Tool Comparison: Cookiebot vs Usercentrics vs Complianz

A cookie consent tool, also known as a consent management platform or CMP, asks visitors for permission to set cookies and passes that choice on to your marketing and analytics tools. For most B2B sites in the Benelux, the cookie consent tool comparison comes down to three widely used options: Complianz (strong in WordPress), Cookiebot by Usercentrics (platform-independent, priced per domain) and Usercentrics itself (aimed at larger organisations). Which one fits best depends on your CMS, your traffic volume and how much the banner is allowed to cost you in conversions. In this article we put all three side by side on the criteria that genuinely matter for lead generation.

What does a cookie consent tool actually do?

A CMP displays the cookie banner, records each visitor’s consent and blocks tracking and marketing scripts until that permission is given. That is not just a legal formality. Since 16 January 2024, Google has required anyone showing personalised ads through Google advertising products to visitors in the EEA and the UK to use a Google-certified CMP that integrates with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). That same consent has to be passed on to Google Ads and Google Analytics via Consent Mode v2, otherwise you lose signal and, in some cases, ad serving.

For B2B that means: without a working CMP, your remarketing, your conversion measurement and your Google Ads reporting all fall apart. The tool is not separate from your growth, it sits right in the middle of it. A good choice protects you legally and at the same time keeps your conversion data in your forms and campaigns reliable.

What should you look at when choosing?

The right tool is the one that fits your CMS, your traffic and your conversion goals. Five criteria carry the most weight:

• Integration with your CMS. A plugin that clicks into your WordPress stack takes less work than a script you have to build into a headless or custom site by hand.
• Pricing model. The three bill in very different ways: per domain based on the number of subpages, per monthly session, or per year per site. With growing traffic, that makes a big difference.
• Compliance and certification. Google certification plus IAB TCF is practically a baseline if you advertise. All three tools meet it, but always check that it is included in your plan.
• Performance. The banner loads early in the page build. A heavy CMP drags down your Core Web Vitals and with them your rankings and user experience.
• UX and conversion. Banner design, language support and how pushy the tool is by default all help determine how many visitors stay and click through.

Cookiebot, Usercentrics or Complianz: what are the differences?

In short: Complianz is the natural choice within WordPress, Cookiebot works on any platform and bills per domain, and Usercentrics targets larger organisations with session-based pricing and more enterprise features.

Complianz is a WordPress plugin (and by now also available for Shopify) that scans your site and generates a matching banner and cookie statement on that basis. The free version scans the first pages automatically; after that you configure things manually. The paid WordPress plans typically run from a Personal licence for a single site to an Agency licence for multiple sites, billed per year rather than per month. An important plus: Complianz places no limit on your traffic or the number of stored consent records, which keeps costs predictable as you grow. The tool is Google-certified and registered as an IAB TCF CMP. The downside is the dependence on WordPress: outside that ecosystem you lose the biggest advantage. If you work on WordPress, this also ties in neatly with your broader WordPress SEO approach.

Cookiebot, part of Usercentrics for several years now, is platform-independent: you place a script and it works in any CMS. It scans your site automatically and keeps the cookie statement current with periodic scans. The free version usually covers one domain with a limited number of subpages. The paid price is set per domain and scales with the number of subpages. Note: Cookiebot raised its prices in 2025 and sometimes moved customers to a higher tier automatically, so work out your actual number of subpages and domains in advance. Its strength remains the broad applicability and the automatic scanning, which makes it suitable for anyone not on WordPress or juggling multiple platforms.

Usercentrics (the main tool, alongside the Cookiebot brand) is aimed at larger organisations and bills on monthly sessions rather than per domain or per site. There is a free tier for low volumes, after which the plans scale with your traffic. Higher plans add features such as A/B testing of banner variants and removing the branding. For a simple B2B site that is often more than you need; for an organisation with heavy traffic, multiple brands or strict internal compliance requirements it can be exactly right. Usercentrics is also Google-certified at the highest level.

Which tool suits which case?

The answer depends on three things: your platform, your volume and how advanced your consent needs are. We do not push any single tool as the standard, because the right choice differs per situation.

• You run on WordPress and want predictable costs: Complianz is the obvious pick. You pay per year, without session or record limits, and the integration is minimal work.
• You use a different or mixed platform (headless, custom, or several CMSes): Cookiebot makes more sense, because it works everywhere with the same script and bills per domain.
• You are a larger organisation with a lot of traffic or brands: Usercentrics scales on sessions and offers more control and testing options, at the cost of a higher price and more configuration.

One honest caveat: for a simple B2B lead site with a single domain, all three are more than compliant enough. In that case the pricing model and the fit with your CMS win out over the feature list. Always run your own numbers, because the rate structures differ significantly and prices change.

How does your cookie banner affect your conversion and leads?

The banner is the very first thing a visitor sees, so it hits your conversion rate directly. A slow CMP pushes your Core Web Vitals down and increases the chance that someone drops off before the page has fully loaded. An aggressive or confusing banner irritates people and pulls attention away from your value proposition and your form.

In practice that means: pick a tool that loads fast, test how the banner looks on mobile, and keep the design calm and in line with your brand identity. The legal function and the user experience are not separate things. A properly configured CMP protects you from risk and at the same time keeps your analytics and attribution reliable, so you know which channels really deliver leads. That fits our broader view on websites that turn visitors into leads: every element on the page, including the consent layer, has to serve that job.

The short summary

There is no universal winner. Complianz is strong and cost-predictable within WordPress, Cookiebot is the platform-independent choice that bills per domain, and Usercentrics suits larger organisations with session-based needs. Decide based on your CMS, your traffic volume and your pricing model, and weigh performance and UX just as heavily as the legal function, because a slow or pushy banner costs you leads. Want to set up your consent layer as part of a conversion-focused website rather than as a standalone plugin? Then take a look at the complete guide to having a B2B website built.

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