The lightweight alternative to
bloated consent platforms
Most consent tools were built for ad-tech. LiteConsent was built for product teams who need compliant, fast, and simple cookie consent without the overhead.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.
Feature-by-feature comparison
See how LiteConsent stacks up against the most popular consent management platforms.
Last updated: March 2026
LiteConsent | Cookiebot | OneTrust | CookieYes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance | ||||
| GDPR | ||||
| CCPA / CPRA | ||||
| Google Consent Mode v2 | ||||
| Auto cookie scanning | ||||
| Consent proof / audit log | ||||
| IAB TCF v2.2 | By design* | |||
| Performance | ||||
| Script size | ~10 KB | ~27 KB | ~120 KB | ~95 KB |
| Page speed impact | Negligible | Low | Significant | Moderate |
| Async / non-blocking | ||||
| Cookie matching | Exact rules | Regex dictionary | Regex dictionary | Regex dictionary |
| Self-hosted script | ||||
| Auditable source code | ||||
| Works if vendor goes down | ||||
| No pageview tracking by vendor | ||||
| Developer Experience | ||||
| Setup time | 5 min | 15-30 min | Hours+ | 10-20 min |
| GTM integration | ||||
| Custom CSS / full styling | Limited | Limited | ||
| Custom banner templates | Complex builder | |||
| JavaScript API | ||||
| Multi-language banners | 40+ languages | 40+ | 100+ | 30+ |
| Pricing | ||||
| Free trial | 14 days | Limited free tier | Limited free tier | |
| Starting price | €7/mo | €7/mo | ~$833/mo | $10/mo |
| Full-feature equivalent* | €7/mo | €30/mo | ~$833/mo | ~$21/mo |
| Pageviews free (pay per consent) | ||||
| Transparent overage pricing | ||||
*Full-feature equivalent: compared at the lowest tier that includes consent audit log with export, full CSS customization, and geo-targeting. All LiteConsent plans include these features.
*Why no IAB TCF? LiteConsent is built for product websites and SaaS, not for ad-tech publishers. IAB TCF (Transparency and Consent Framework) is required only if you run programmatic advertising with vendor-list-driven consent. If you do not sell ad inventory, you do not need it, and it adds significant complexity and script weight for no benefit.
LiteConsent is not built for:
Head-to-head breakdown
A closer look at what makes LiteConsent different from each platform.
vs Cookiebot
- Site-specific rules instead of a universal regex dictionary that runs on every pageload
- Simpler pricing based on consent records, not page count or subpage limits
- Self-hosted script with auditable source code and built-in fallback
- No IAB complexity if you do not run programmatic ads
- Full CSS control + custom templates you can build and reuse, not just pick from presets
vs OneTrust
- Setup in minutes instead of days with an implementation team
- Transparent pricing starting at €7/mo, cancel anytime
- 12x lighter script with zero render-blocking requests
- No enterprise bloat when all you need is cookie consent
- Self-serve dashboard your whole team can use on day one
vs CookieYes
- Full audit log with export on every plan, not just premium tiers
- 10x smaller footprint for faster page loads
- Equal-weight buttons for Accept and Reject (proper GDPR UX)
- No third-party scripts loaded before consent is given
- Build your own templates from scratch and reuse across sites, not just tweak 4 preset layouts
Script size matters
Every kilobyte counts for Core Web Vitals. Here is how much each consent tool adds to your page.
Measured as total JavaScript transferred (gzipped). Smaller is better.
Size is only half the story
Competitors ship a universal cookie dictionary with hundreds of regex patterns. On every pageload, every cookie is matched against these patterns to guess its category. That regex work costs CPU time on each visit.
Your cookie rules are generated at setup, specific to your site. No universal dictionary, no regex matching. Just exact string lookups against a thin, site-specific ruleset. Near-zero CPU overhead per visit.
Your consent tool shouldn't need its own consent
Most consent tools send your visitor data to a third-party server before consent is even given. That defeats the purpose.
The banner script loads from the vendor's CDN. Every pageview generates a request to their server. Your visitors share data with a third party before they even click "Accept." If the vendor goes down, all banners break simultaneously.
The script is hosted on your domain. The only external call is a lightweight geolocation lookup to determine which privacy rules apply. If our API is unreachable, the banner falls back to your default ruleset. No visitor data is stored on our servers. The code is open and auditable.
Pricing at a glance
Simple, predictable pricing without surprises or sales calls.
- All features on every plan
- Pageviews are free
- Transparent overages
- Lite: 50 subpages
- Branding on free/basic
- Page-based limits
- $10K/yr minimum (2026)
- Annual contracts only
- Implementation fees extra
- Free tier: 100 page scans
- Pageview-based billing
- Branding on free plan
Competitor prices based on publicly available data and third-party sources as of March 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Cookiebot raised its prices in August 2025. Their Lite plan starts at €7/mo for 50 subpages, but for features like geo-targeting and full CSS customization you need Premium at €30/mo. LiteConsent includes all features on every plan from €7/mo, with no page limits and free pageviews.
LiteConsent starts at €7/mo with all features included: GDPR and CCPA compliance, consent audit log, full CSS customization, and geo-targeting. Most competitors charge €20-30/mo for an equivalent feature set.
Only if you run programmatic advertising with vendor-list-driven consent. If your site is a product, SaaS, blog, or portfolio, you do not need IAB TCF. It adds significant complexity and script weight for no benefit. LiteConsent deliberately skips IAB TCF to stay lightweight and focused on what most websites actually need.
LiteConsent is ~10 KB gzipped, making it one of the smallest full-featured consent tools available. Cookiebot is ~27 KB, CookieYes is ~95 KB, and OneTrust is ~120 KB. The difference comes down to architecture: LiteConsent uses site-specific exact rules instead of a universal regex dictionary.
Yes. With LiteConsent, the banner script is served from your own domain. The only external call is a lightweight geolocation lookup to apply the right privacy rules per visitor. If our API is unreachable, the banner falls back to your default ruleset, so your consent flow never breaks. No visitor data is stored on our servers.
Yes. LiteConsent only counts consent records, not pageviews. You can have millions of pageviews and only pay for actual consent interactions. Most competitors bill based on pageviews, which means you pay even when returning visitors already gave consent. See how consent-based pricing works →
Switch in under 5 minutes
Add a single script tag, configure your categories, and you are live. No migration tools needed.
Looking for a Cookiebot alternative after the 2025 price increase? Start here.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.