iubenda vs CookieYes: Languages, IAB Framework, Overage

The short answer: if your banner has to speak more than one language, CookieYes Basic does it for $10 a month per domain with 100,000 pageviews, where iubenda asks for Advanced at €19.99 a month billed yearly; if your site earns ad revenue that needs the IAB framework, the order flips, because iubenda lists it from Essentials at €4.99 and CookieYes keeps it for Pro at $25 (iubenda pricing, CookieYes pricing, both checked on 26 October 2026). On a single-language site without ads, iubenda's overage is the cheaper meter as traffic climbs.

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Price it on your own traffic first:

1. Two traffic levels, worked through. For example, one site in one language. At 100,000 pageviews, iubenda Essentials runs 75,000 over: 75 x €0.05 = €3.75, so €4.99 + €3.75 = €8.74 a month, against CookieYes Basic at $10, or $100 a year. At 300,000, iubenda is €4.99 + 275 x €0.05 = €18.74, while CookieYes Basic would be $10 + 200 x $0.30 = $70, which makes Pro at $25 the plan (iubenda pricing, CookieYes pricing).
2. List what the site already has. The languages it publishes in, whether AdSense or Ad Manager serve ads on it, and the privacy policy it carries today. Those three answers pick the plan more than traffic does.
3. Agree what you will read afterwards. CookieYes counts every load of a page carrying its code, whether or not the visitor touches the banner, so its totals run above GA4's by design (pageview pricing). Track the consent rate inside each tool, week by week, rather than comparing its counts with analytics; which GA4 numbers survive consent is covered in the consent-friendly analytics use case. Under 5,000 pageviews a month, both free plans run a real banner, so start there and run the refusal test before paying.

Why there is a banner at all

One provision drives this category. Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, in its 2009 wording, lets a site place or read information on a visitor's device only once that visitor has agreed with the purpose explained, and its carve-outs cover sending the communication itself and whatever a service the visitor asked for strictly needs (consolidated text on EUR-Lex). Both tools document auto-blocking and categories; deciding which service belongs in which category, and testing that refused means refused, stays with you. iubenda's own guide calls its auto-blocking experimental (auto-blocking guide).

Ad revenue adds Google's rule. Publishers using AdSense, Ad Manager or AdMob need a Google-certified platform integrated with the IAB framework to serve personalised ads in the EEA and the UK since 16 January 2024, and in Switzerland since 31 July 2024 (Google's requirement). Google's certified list, read on 26 October 2026, includes CookieYes (CMP ID 401) and iubenda (CMP ID 123), both for web and app; Google adds that certification is not a check of full compliance with the framework or privacy law. Both are on IAB Europe's CMP list, and both carry Gold status in Google's CMP Partner Program for advertisers using Consent Mode.

Feature by feature

Rows without their own link come from the two pricing pages linked in the first row.

Prices on 26 October 2026

CookieYes, per domain, USD, checked on 26 October 2026: Free; Basic $10 a month or $100 a year; Pro $25 or $250; Ultimate $55 or $550 with unlimited pageviews; local taxes on top, and a 14-day trial on paid plans (CookieYes pricing). Ultimate's unlimited is subject to a fair-use policy (pageview pricing). The same page quotes €9, €23 and €50 a month in euros.

iubenda, per site, billed yearly, excluding VAT, checked the same day: Essentials €4.99 a month for 25,000 pageviews, Advanced €19.99 for 50,000, Ultimate €79.99 for 150,000, each with extra pageviews at €0.05 per 1,000 and a 14-day trial (iubenda pricing).

Two assistants with different reach

Both vendors let an AI client into the account, and the reach differs. CookieYes's MCP server offers read tools for domains, banner status, scan results and compliance status, and only three write tools: banner colours, banner layout and starting a scan; consent logs, cookie values and personal data are never exposed, and an account owner must switch on OAuth access first (MCP docs). iubenda's connector goes further: it generates policies and adds clauses to the live policy in place (connector page).

A monthly run on CookieYes: the agent starts a scan, reads the results, compares them with your list of approved services and drafts a short note on anything new with a proposed category. The human check: approve the scan call when the client asks, then move each service in the dashboard yourself, since categories are not among the write tools. With iubenda, read every clause the connector proposes before you confirm it, because it edits the policy visitors read.

The setting that is on for new accounts

CookieYes switched extra pageviews on by default for accounts opened after 23 December 2025, billed at $0.30 per 1,000 once a site passes its plan (pageview pricing). A traffic spike that would once have suspended the banner now keeps it running and lands on the next invoice instead. That is better for consent coverage, and it is revenue that arrives without anyone choosing an upgrade, so check the toggle under Billing and Invoices and set an alert.

Choose iubenda if

• Your job includes ad revenue that needs the IAB framework, on a budget.
• Traffic is high and in one language, where €0.05 per extra 1,000 keeps the bill low (iubenda pricing).
• You want an assistant that writes and updates the privacy policy as well as the banner.

Choose CookieYes if

• Your job is a multilingual banner on a site under 100,000 pageviews a month, without ad-tech requirements (CookieYes pricing).
• You want unlimited scans from the first paid plan.
• You want an assistant that can watch status and run scans but cannot reach consent records.

FAQ

Does CookieYes's free plan stop at 5,000 pageviews?

For sites created on Free since 1 July 2025, yes; sites already on Free before that keep 15,000. At the cap the banner is suspended until the count resets or you upgrade, since extra pageviews are not offered on Free (pageview pricing).

Is the IAB framework on CookieYes Basic?

No. The plan table lists IAB TCF v2.4 and the pre-built TCF banner on Pro and Ultimate only (CookieYes pricing).

Which one needs the cookie policy written elsewhere?

Neither. CookieYes lists privacy and cookie policy generators on every plan, and iubenda's generator includes up to 20 clauses on Essentials (CookieYes pricing, iubenda pricing).