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Self-hosted cookie consent plugin with a setup wizard, cookie scan, script blocking and generated legal documents for EU, UK, US and other…
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Real Cookie Banner
Self-hosted EU-focused consent plugin from devowl.io with a service scanner, content blockers and consent records; PRO adds templates, TCF and Consent Mode.
Free installs100K+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~42KLikely 27K–63K
Vendor claims200K+Vendor's own figure
Rating4.9/5492 reviews
Price from€59/yrFreemium
Last updated14 Oct 2026Version 5.4.0
Overview
Real Cookie Banner is a consent management plugin from devowl.io, a German WordPress company. It is built around EU rules: the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, plus national laws such as Germany’s TDDDG. The banner, the service configuration and every consent record live in your WordPress database, and there are no page-view or scan limits.
Instead of a list of cookies, the plugin works with services (for example Google Analytics or YouTube) and content blockers. A built-in scanner checks your pages for known services and suggests matching templates. Content blockers then hold back scripts, styles, fonts, iframes and URLs until the visitor agrees, and can show a visual placeholder instead of a blocked video or map. Consents are documented with their origin and can be exported to CSV by date range or by consent ID.
Free vs PRO
The free version allows unlimited custom services and content blockers, the scanner, consent documentation, accessibility tooling aimed at WCAG 2.2 AA, multilingual support for WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress and Weglot, multisite compatibility and automatic cache flushing for many caching plugins. Most of the time-saving extras are in PRO: 160+ service templates and 130+ content blocker templates, 20+ design presets and 200+ design options, Google Consent Mode, IAB TCF support (devowl says it is a Google-certified CMP), geo-restriction, automatic cookie policy generation, consent statistics and consent forwarding across sites. PRO licences are yearly in euros, VAT included, from €59 for one site to €299 for 25.
Strengths and limitations
- Very detailed EU-focused feature set, with strong reviews (4.9/5 from nearly 500 ratings) that often mention support.
- Placeholders for blocked embeds and lazy-loaded content blockers are available in the free version.
- Google Consent Mode and TCF need PRO, and the free version leaves you to set up most services by hand.
- US state laws, Global Privacy Control and data-subject request forms are not part of the product, and the WP Consent API is not listed.
It is a good fit for European businesses, especially in German-speaking markets, that want detailed, self-hosted consent handling and are willing to spend some time on setup. Sites with mainly US audiences may find the EU focus limiting. The plugin provides tools; whether a configuration meets the law is still the site owner’s responsibility.
Best for: EU-based sites, especially in German-speaking markets, that want detailed self-hosted consent management with content blockers.
Real Cookie Banner offers one of the most thorough EU-oriented feature sets among WordPress consent plugins, and the free version is usable for sites willing to configure services themselves. PRO is reasonably priced for the templates, Consent Mode and TCF it unlocks, but sites targeting US privacy laws will find gaps.
Pros
- Unlimited custom services and content blockers in the free version
- Service scanner suggests matching templates and flags unknown services
- Visual placeholders for blocked videos, maps and other embeds
- Consent records stored locally with CSV export by date range or consent ID
- Accessibility tooling aimed at WCAG 2.2 AA and the European Accessibility Act
- PRO adds Google Consent Mode, IAB TCF and 160+ service templates
Cons
- Google Consent Mode and TCF are PRO-only
- Free version needs more manual setup because most templates are paid
- No support for US state privacy laws or Global Privacy Control
- No data-subject request forms and no WP Consent API listing
- Detailed options mean a steeper learning curve than simple banners
Key features
What Real Cookie Banner highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Guided setup with compliance checklist
- Service scanner with template suggestions
- Unlimited custom services and blockers
- Content blockers for scripts and iframes
- Visual placeholders for blocked embeds
- Consent documentation in WordPress
- CSV export of consent records
- Do Not Track header handling
- WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility focus
- WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress, Weglot support
- Multisite compatible
- Automatic cache flushing
- JS, hooks and REST developer APIs
Pro / paid adds From €59/yr
- 160+ service templates
- 130+ content blocker templates
- 20+ design presets
- 200+ design options
- Google Consent Mode
- IAB TCF support
- Geo-restriction by country
- Automatic cookie policy generation
- Consent statistics
- Consent forwarding across websites
- Google and Matomo Tag Manager support
- Licences cover matching staging sites
Feature checklist
21 of 25 features we track in Cookie Consent & GDPR, feature score 83/100
Consent banner 7/7
Banner design & customisation Key
Change layout, colours, text and position without code.
Free design customisation with a live preview; 200+ extra options are PRO.
Included
Banner templates
Ready-made banner styles and layouts.
20+ ready-made design presets are a PRO feature.
Paid version Single
Granular consent categories Key
Visitors accept or reject categories such as statistics and marketing.
Visitors consent per service group or individual service.
Included
Region-based banners Key
Show the right banner for EU, UK, US states and other regions.
PRO geo-restriction decides per country whether the banner is shown.
Paid version Single
Multilingual banners
Translated banners, or integration with WPML, Polylang and similar.
Works with WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress and Weglot; banner texts available in many EU languages.
Included
Cookie & privacy policy generator
Generates a cookie policy or privacy policy page.
PRO generates a cookie policy automatically from configured services.
Paid version Single
Accessible banner
Keyboard-friendly, screen-reader-friendly banner.
Free accessibility score and banner designed for WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
Included
Scanning & blocking 6/6
Cookie scanner Key
Scans the site and lists the cookies and services it finds.
Free scanner finds known services and unknown external URLs; vendor notes it is not a per-cookie scanner.
Included
Prior blocking of scripts Key
Blocks tracking scripts until the visitor consents.
Content blockers block matching scripts until consent, but free users mostly create them by hand.
Partial
Embed blocking & placeholders
Blocks YouTube, maps and other embeds behind a consent placeholder.
Free visual replacements for blocked embeds; advanced visual blockers are PRO.
Included
Google Consent Mode v2 Key
Sends consent signals to Google tags, required for Google Ads and GA4 in the EEA.
PRO supports Google Consent Mode v2 and newer, with GTM integration.
Paid version Single
IAB TCF 2.2
Supports the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework for ad publishers.
PRO supports TCF 2.2+; vendor says it is a Google-certified CMP listed by IAB Europe.
Paid version Single
Service templates
Pre-built settings for common services such as Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and Hotjar.
160+ service and 130+ content blocker templates are PRO; free includes only a few.
Paid version Single
Compliance & records 4/7
GDPR & ePrivacy
Opt-in consent for EU and UK visitors.
Built around GDPR and EU/EEA ePrivacy laws such as TDDDG, with opt-in consent.
Included
US privacy laws (CCPA and others) Key
Opt-out banners and Do Not Sell or Share links for US state laws.
No CCPA, US state law or Do Not Sell features are described.
Not included
Other privacy laws
LGPD, PIPEDA, POPIA and other national laws.
Documentation targets EU/EEA rules; no LGPD, PIPEDA or POPIA modes are listed.
Not included
Consent logs Key
Stores proof of each visitor's consent choice.
Consents are documented in the WordPress database with their origin.
Included
Export consent records
Download consent logs as CSV or PDF.
Consents download as CSV, filtered by date range or a single consent UUID.
Included
Data subject request forms
Forms for access, deletion and do-not-sell requests.
No access, deletion or do-not-sell request forms are described.
Not included
Global Privacy Control & Do Not Track
Respects browser privacy signals automatically.
Respects the Do Not Track header; Global Privacy Control is not mentioned.
Partial
Technical 4/5
Works without an external service
Banner and consent records run on your own site, not a SaaS account.
Banner, settings and consent records are stored in your own WordPress install.
Included
WP Consent API
Shares consent with other plugins through the WP Consent API.
Not listed by the WP Consent API plugin or in RCB docs; it uses its own JS API and hooks.
Not included
Caching & page builder compatibility
Works with caching plugins, CDNs and page builders.
Automatically flushes the cache of many page caching plugins and systems.
Included
Multisite support
Works across a WordPress multisite network.
Multisite compatible in the free version; consent forwarding between sites is PRO.
Included
No page-view limits
No cap on page views or pages scanned in the plan.
Self-hosted with no page-view or scan quotas mentioned in any plan.
Included
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
Freeper yearUnlimited
Free version on WordPress.org.
Single
€59per year1 site
Gross price incl. VAT; each licence also covers the same number of staging/dev sites.
Starter
€89per year3 sites
Gross price incl. VAT.
Professional
€129per year5 sites
Gross price incl. VAT.
Business
€229per year10 sites
Gross price incl. VAT.
Agency
€299per year25 sites
Gross price incl. VAT; custom quotes above 25 sites; switch offer of €1 for the first year for users of a similar tool.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Real Cookie Banner?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
100K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
200K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~42K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: WordPress.org shows 100K+ free installs, which could mean anything from 100K to 200K. The vendor says 200K+ sites, so we put the free count halfway between the middle of that range and the vendor figure, at about 180K. Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder real-cookie-banner-pro) on 22,600 live sites; they find the free version on 77,425 sites against about 180K WordPress.org installs, so each site found stands for about 2.3, giving 51K. About 180K free installs x 8% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when some key features are paid) gives 14K. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 42K. Likely range: 27K to 63K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
14,325 downloads last week, 14.2M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 5.4.0 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 14 Oct 2026 (19 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 6.1+, PHP 7.4.0+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 2 of 2 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 17 Nov 2020 |
Company & policy
| Founded | 2015 (source, 11 Oct 2026) devowl.io (formerly MatthiasWeb) has been a German web development company since 2015. |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | No right of withdrawal for digital goods (source, 11 Oct 2026) Vendor says there is no right of withdrawal for digital goods; subscriptions can be cancelled anytime before renewal. |
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FAQ
Is Real Cookie Banner free?
Yes. Real Cookie Banner has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at €59/yr.
How many sites use Real Cookie Banner?
WordPress.org reports 100K+ active installations of the free version. The vendor claims 200K+ sites in total. We estimate around 42K sites run the paid version.
Does Real Cookie Banner have banner design & customisation?
Yes: included. Free design customisation with a live preview; 200+ extra options are PRO.
Does Real Cookie Banner have granular consent categories?
Yes: included. Visitors consent per service group or individual service.
Does Real Cookie Banner have region-based banners?
Yes: paid version (Single). PRO geo-restriction decides per country whether the banner is shown.
Does Real Cookie Banner have cookie scanner?
Yes: included. Free scanner finds known services and unknown external URLs; vendor notes it is not a per-cookie scanner.
Does Real Cookie Banner have prior blocking of scripts?
Yes: partial. Content blockers block matching scripts until consent, but free users mostly create them by hand.
Does Real Cookie Banner have google consent mode v2?
Yes: paid version (Single). PRO supports Google Consent Mode v2 and newer, with GTM integration.
Does Real Cookie Banner have us privacy laws (ccpa and others)?
No: not included. No CCPA, US state law or Do Not Sell features are described.
Does Real Cookie Banner have consent logs?
Yes: included. Consents are documented in the WordPress database with their origin.
Is the free version of Real Cookie Banner usable on its own?
Yes. It includes the scanner, unlimited custom services and content blockers, consent records and placeholders. The main difference is that PRO provides ready-made templates, design presets and features such as Google Consent Mode, TCF and geo-restriction.
Does it support Google Consent Mode v2?
Yes, in PRO. Devowl's product page says Consent Mode v2 and newer is supported, and it is aimed at sites using Google Ads or GA4 in the EEA.
Is the scanner a cookie scanner?
Not exactly. It looks for known services and external URLs on your pages and suggests templates, rather than listing every cookie set in the browser.
Can I export consent records?
Yes. Consents can be downloaded as a CSV file filtered by a date range or by a single consent ID.
Does it cover US privacy laws such as CCPA?
The product is built around GDPR and EU ePrivacy rules; US state laws, Do Not Sell links and Global Privacy Control are not described.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.