Complianz vs iubenda: WordPress Licence or Pageview Plan

The short answer: if every site you run is on WordPress, Complianz is the cheaper route as traffic grows: its free plugin has no pageview or session limit, and Premium, which adds Consent Mode v2, records of consent and the IAB framework, costs $59 a year for one site or $179 for five (Complianz pricing, checked on 26 October 2026). If any site is not on WordPress, or a small site needs Consent Mode without paying, choose iubenda: Consent Mode is on every plan including Free, and Essentials is €4.99 a month per site billed yearly for 25,000 pageviews (iubenda pricing). One company stands behind both.

Disclosure: I may earn a commission through some links on this site. It does not change what this page says.

What decides it:

1. Price five sites, not one. For example, five WordPress sites at 40,000 pageviews a month each: Complianz Professional covers all five for $179 a year. On iubenda Essentials each site runs 15,000 over, so 15 x €0.05 = €0.75 and the month costs €4.99 + €0.75 = €5.74; x 12 months x 5 sites = €344.40 a year before VAT (iubenda pricing, Complianz pricing).
2. Start from where your tags live. Complianz works through WordPress itself: plugin integrations, a Script Center and the WP Consent API that shares the visitor's choice with other plugins (plugin listing). iubenda installs as a snippet, through its WordPress or Shopify integration, or through Google Tag Manager (iubenda pricing).
3. Decide how you will prove it works. A private window, every category refused, the browser's network tab open: no analytics or advertising request should leave. Repeat it after every release, and keep the date of each test.

The law that decides the category, and what stays with you

The rule both tools serve is paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the ePrivacy Directive, in the wording it was given in 2009: anything a site stores on a visitor's device, or reads back from it, needs the visitor's consent after they have been told clearly what it is for, unless it serves only to carry a communication or the service they asked for cannot work without it (consolidated text on EUR-Lex). How the Dutch regulator reads the analytics exception is covered in the consent-friendly analytics use case.

Neither tool makes a site lawful by being installed. Complianz's listing says the plugin can help you meet the requirements but the user must ensure that all of them are met (plugin listing). iubenda's own guide calls its auto-blocking experimental, with accuracy that may not be flawless, and loads anything you file under Necessary without consent (auto-blocking guide). Categorising each service, choosing Basic or Advanced Consent Mode, and running the refusal test remain the site owner's work.

For ad revenue there is a second gate. Google requires publishers using AdSense, Ad Manager or AdMob to use a Google-certified consent platform integrated with IAB's Transparency and Consent Framework when serving personalised ads in the EEA and the UK, from 16 January 2024 (Google's requirement). Its certified list, read on 26 October 2026, includes Complianz (CMP ID 332, web) and iubenda (CMP ID 123, web and app), and Google says it does not check certified platforms for full compliance with the framework or with privacy law. Both IDs also appear on IAB Europe's CMP list.

What each documents

Prices on 26 October 2026

Complianz Premium, checked on 26 October 2026, billed yearly and renewed automatically, with a 30-day refund: $59 for 1 site, $179 for 5, $399 for 25 with a Multisite plugin; the pricing FAQ adds that no tier limits pageviews or stored consent records (Complianz pricing).

iubenda per site, checked the same day, billed yearly, excluding VAT: Essentials €4.99 a month for 25,000 pageviews, Advanced €19.99 for 50,000 with geo-targeting and all languages, Ultimate €79.99 for 150,000 with hourly scans and a mobile SDK; extra pageviews are €0.05 per 1,000 on every paid plan, and every plan has a 14-day trial (iubenda pricing).

An assistant that drafts the policy

iubenda runs a connector for Claude and ChatGPT with 28 tools, on any plan including Free (connector page). Ask "Generate a privacy and cookie policy for my site" and it creates the policy in your account, matched to the services it finds, with the embed code; "Set up my cookie banner" configures the banner and returns the snippet. The human check: the person who owns privacy reads every clause and every listed service against the site's tag list before the code goes live, and the connector asks for confirmation before anything is finalised or deleted. Complianz's listing and pricing page describe no assistant connector; on WordPress its setup wizard does the drafting.

One owner, two price models

Complianz's footer says it is part of iubenda, and iubenda's footer calls the company the parent of Complianz, consentmanager and CookieFirst (Complianz pricing, iubenda pricing). So this is not a contest between rivals for your money; it is one group sorting buyers into a licence for WordPress and a meter for everything else. Pick the model that matches your traffic and platform, because either way the same owner is paid.

Choose Complianz if

• Your job is consent on WordPress sites you or your agency run, with traffic that would push a meter up a tier.
• You want the banner, cookie scan and policy inside the WordPress admin.
• You run a Multisite network, which the Agency licence covers.

Choose iubenda if

• Your job spans sites on several platforms, or apps, where a WordPress plugin cannot go.
• A small site needs Consent Mode and the IAB framework without a licence per site, or at no cost under 5,000 pageviews.
• You want an assistant to draft and update the policy in plain language.

FAQ

Are Complianz and iubenda the same company?

They are in one group. iubenda's footer describes it as the parent company of Complianz and as subject to the direction and coordination of team.blue NV (iubenda pricing).

Does the free Complianz plugin include Consent Mode?

No. Google Consent Mode and the IAB integration are listed under Premium features (plugin listing).

Does a certified consent tool make a site compliant?

No. Google states that it does not check certified platforms for full compliance with the framework or applicable privacy law (Google's requirement), and Complianz puts the final check on the site owner.