CookieYes vs. Zest
CookieYes is one of the most popular consent platforms, known for its WordPress plugin, a 100,000+ cookie database, and a real free plan. Zest is an open-source toolkit: one 16KB script, no account, no quotas.
Head to head
| CookieYes | Zest | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan, then $10 to $55/month per domain | Free forever |
| Open source | No | Yes, MIT |
| Free plan limits | 5,000 pageviews/month, 1 domain per account, no custom colors | None, ever |
| Compliance coverage | GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, POPIA, IAB TCF v2.3 (Pro+), GPC (Pro+), geo-targeting (Pro+) | GDPR, UK GDPR, 19 US state laws, LGPD, POPIA, PIPEDA and more via geo-targeting, Consent Mode v2, GPC on every install |
| Setup | Account, dashboard, script paste | Paste one script in your <head> |
| Weight | External script from cdn-cookieyes.com | 16KB, self-hostable |
| Consent records | Server-side logs with CSV export | On the visitor’s device, nothing leaves your site |
| Cookie scanning | Automatic, 100k+ cookie database | Manual: you list your trackers |
| Languages | 170+ on paid tiers | 12, auto-detected |
Where CookieYes wins
- You need IAB TCF v2.3 certification for programmatic advertising.
- You want an automatic cookie scanner that documents your tags for you.
- You need server-side consent logs exportable for audits.
Where Zest wins
- No pageview cap, no per-domain pricing, no “one free site per account.”
- Geo-targeting and GPC on every install, not gated behind a $25/month tier.
- No platform dependency: your banner cannot be switched off by a vendor.
- Open source, self-hostable, no phone-home.
Pick CookieYes if
You run programmatic EU ads needing TCF, or you want the scanner to do the documentation work on a site where nobody knows what the tags do.
Pick Zest if
You want unlimited, free, self-owned consent. The sharpest difference is the free plan: CookieYes free covers 5,000 pageviews on one domain; Zest free covers everything forever. Past a few thousand monthly visits, that difference becomes an invoice. Try the playground.
FAQ
Is CookieYes free forever? The free plan is, but capped at 5,000 pageviews a month on one domain, without custom colors, multilingual banners, GPC, or geo-targeting. Those unlock at $10 to $55 per month per domain.
Does Zest support IAB TCF? Not yet. If TCF certification is a hard requirement, CookieYes Pro covers it today.
Can I migrate from CookieYes to Zest? Yes: generate your snippet in the playground, paste it where the CookieYes script was, and remove the CookieYes plugin. Visitor choices reset once.
* Pricing and plan details for third-party products change often. This page reflects what we could verify on October 7, 2026 — check the vendor's current pricing before you decide.