CookieFirst, cheap at the entry and tiered on compliance
CookieFirst does the basics well and prices them low: €9 a month for unlimited third-party scripts, monthly scanning, multiple languages and a white-label banner. For a single small site that needs a working banner and Google Consent Mode v2, it is a reasonable buy and honest about what it is.
Two things decide whether it stays reasonable. The first is IAB TCF, which appears on the €19 Plus plan rather than on Free or Basic — so if you run programmatic advertising, the entry price isn't your price. The second is that billing is per domain, on top of a soft limit of roughly 250,000 pageviews per domain per month. An agency or a group with eight brand sites is doing that arithmetic eight times.
Conzent vs CookieFirst at a glance
| Conzent | CookieFirst | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Per site, dropping as you add sites, from a few euros per site per month. See current tiers | Free (1 third-party script, one language), Basic €9/mo or €99/yr, Plus €19/mo or €209/yr, Enterprise on quote — all ex-VAT, billed per domain |
| IAB TCF | ✓ TCF v2.4 on every plan, including self-hosted | Plus plan only — TCF 2.2, not available on Free or Basic |
| GDPR / Consent Mode v2 | ✓ GDPR, CCPA & 25+ regional laws ✓ Consent Mode v2 (Basic & Advanced) — every plan | GDPR, ePrivacy, CCPA, LGPD · Consent Mode v2 supported and documented for both gtag and GTM |
| Traffic limits | None — no pageview cap on any plan; unlimited when self-hosted | Soft limit around 250,000 pageviews per domain per month, with a 25% overuse allowance across two consecutive months |
| CMS & platform integrations | 6 native integrations: WordPress, Wix, Joomla, Drupal, TYPO3, Umbraco — plus a universal script tag | WordPress, WooCommerce and React documented; broader integrations section in the support centre |
| Self-hosted / open source | ✓ Yes — OCI, Apache 2.0, one-line installer, unlimited sites and pageviews | ✗ No — hosted SaaS only |
| EU data residency | ✓ Yes — managed cloud data hosted in Germany; self-host it and it never leaves your own server | Not publicly specified — hosting region for consent data isn't stated on the public pages |
| Support | Priority email (cloud) · community & GitHub (self-hosted) | Tiered by plan: under 96 hours on Free, 72 hours on Basic. Reviewers cite support delays and unreliable statistics |
CookieFirst figures come from its public pricing page, support documentation and independent 2026 reviews. Prices are ex-VAT and change — confirm with CookieFirst before switching. See Conzent's current plans.
Switching from CookieFirst? Here's what to expect
The shape is the same as any CMP migration: run the new script alongside the old one during a short test window, re-scan to rebuild your cookie categories, configure and preview the banner, then cut the live script over and remove the old one. Consent records stay with the vendor that collected them and don't transfer, so plan on a fresh log. If you're on an annual Basic or Plus plan, check the renewal date first — the yearly prices are prepaid.
Why teams switch from CookieFirst to Conzent
TCF isn't an upsell
If you run programmatic ads, TCF isn't optional — and on CookieFirst it means the Plus plan. Conzent ships TCF v2.4 on every plan, including the free self-hosted one, so the framework you need doesn't decide your price band.
Multiple sites stop multiplying
Per-domain billing means ten client sites is ten subscriptions and ten renewal dates. Conzent's per-site price falls as you add sites, and self-hosting covers as many as you like at no additional cost.
You can see where consent data lives
CookieFirst doesn't publish where it stores consent records. Conzent's managed cloud keeps them in Germany, and if you self-host, they stay on your own server where you can point at them in an audit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does CookieFirst cost?
Free for one third-party script and one language; Basic is €9/month or €99/year; Plus is €19/month or €209/year; Enterprise is quoted. All prices are ex-VAT and billed per domain.
Does CookieFirst support IAB TCF?
Yes, TCF 2.2 — but only on the Plus plan. It isn't included on Free or Basic. Conzent includes TCF v2.4 on every plan.
Does CookieFirst have a pageview limit?
It applies a soft limit of around 250,000 pageviews per domain per month, with a 25% overuse allowance across two consecutive months. Conzent has no pageview limit on any plan.
What's the best alternative to CookieFirst?
If you're on Plus mainly for TCF, or paying per domain across several sites, compare against a CMP that includes the frameworks on every plan and prices by site count. That is how Conzent is built, and self-hosting it is free.