2026 edition

Long reads on website compliance in Europe

Web Compliance Journal

Review/Consent management platform (CMP)/No. 9 of 10

CookieFirst review

Amsterdam consent platform with a cookie scanner, a cookie policy that updates itself, and a free plan.

In this article

Digital Data Solutions B.V. in Amsterdam runs CookieFirst, which was founded in 2019 and bought by iubenda (part of team.blue) in January 2025. It offers a customisable consent banner, a scanner that finds and classifies cookies and local-storage items, blocking before consent and a cookie policy that updates automatically. Consents are stored in an encrypted database. The free plan includes one third-party script, the banner and a single scan in one language; Basic is €9 per domain per month or €99 a year excluding VAT, with monthly scans and several languages.[1]

01In detail

Kees and Tom van den Bos founded CookieFirst in the Netherlands in 2019, and Digital Data Solutions B.V. in Amsterdam operates it. iubenda, part of the team.blue group, acquired it in January 2025, and CookieFirst says no features were dropped.

It is a consent management platform. The scanner detects first-, second- and third-party cookies and local-storage items, sorts them into necessary or removable, and refreshes the cookie table after every scan; paid plans scan monthly. Scripts can be held back until consent. The cookie policy is created and maintained automatically. Consents go into an anonymous, encrypted database, and consent audit trails and IAB TCF 2.2 come with the Plus plan. CookieFirst is a Google Certified CMP partner. Its support centre names 44 banner languages, while other pages give other figures.

There is no public URL scanner; scanning happens inside an account. Privacy policies, imprints and terms are neither generated nor checked, and accessibility and e-shop duties are not checked either.

Prices appear on the homepage, per domain and excluding VAT. Free costs €0 a month and includes one third-party script, the banner only, a single scan and one language. Basic costs €9 a month or €99 a year and adds all third-party scripts, monthly scans, multiple languages, a white-label banner and consent statistics. Plus costs €19 a month or €209 a year and adds audit trails, IAB TCF 2.2 and faster support. Enterprise is available on application. Every plan has a soft limit of 250,000 page views per domain per month. Paid plans come with a 14-day trial, and annual plans include a free month.

CookieFirst is an uncomplicated EU-based consent banner with reasonable published prices and a generous page-view allowance.

Our verdict on CookieFirst

02What it checks

Of the 7 areas we track, CookieFirst’s published materials cover 2: cookies in browser storage and third-party trackers. It does not check consent banner behaviour, the privacy policy, the imprint, e-shop consumer information or accessibility.

What it inspects

  • Cookie and storage scanYes
  • Consent banner behaviourNo
  • Tracker and third-party request detectionYes
  • Privacy policy reviewNo
  • Imprint (legal notice) checkNo
  • Consumer-law information (e-commerce)No
  • Accessibility checkNo

What you get

  • Exportable evidence reportYes
  • Fix guidanceNot published
  • Continuous monitoringYes
  • Consent management platform includedYes
  • Certificate or sealNo

Languages: Banner in 44 languages (support centre); one on Free. Countries covered: Global (GDPR, ePrivacy, CCPA, LGPD and others per vendor).

03Pricing

Price from€9 per domain per month or €99 per year, excl. VATBasic
Free tierYes
Modelfreemium subscription, per domain

Free costs €0 a month with one third-party script, the banner only, a one-time cookie scan and one language. Basic costs €9 a month or €99 a year, with all scripts, monthly scans, multiple languages and a white-label banner. Plus costs €19 a month or €209 a year, with audit trails and IAB TCF 2.2. Enterprise is available on application. A soft limit of 250,000 page views per domain per month applies. Prices exclude VAT, there is a 14-day trial, and annual plans include one free month.[1]

Prices as published by the vendor, checked in . Source: cookiefirst.com. Prices change; check the vendor’s page before you buy.

04How it scores

CookieFirst ranks No. 9 of 10 in our 2026 ranking, with an overall score of 5.8 out of 10 (Fair). The table shows the score on each criterion and the weight it carries; the method is explained on how we review.

How the score is made up
CriterionWeightScore barScore
Breadth of legal checks25%2.1
Quality of evidence20%6.5
Guidance on fixing15%6.0
Fit for European law15%8.0
Clear prices and value15%8.0
Time to first result10%7.0
Weighted overall100%5.8

05Pros and cons

What we like

  • The free plan needs no credit card
  • Basic costs €9 per domain per month or €99 a year excluding VAT, with monthly scans and a white-label banner
  • The scanner finds and sorts cookies and local-storage items, and the cookie policy updates itself
  • Google Certified CMP partner, with IAB TCF 2.2 on the Plus plan
  • Every plan has a soft limit of 250,000 page views per domain per month

What could be better

  • The free plan is restricted to one third-party script, a single scan and one language
  • There is no public URL scanner; scans happen inside an account
  • Privacy-policy content, the imprint, consumer-law duties and accessibility are not checked
  • Consent audit trails and IAB TCF require Plus (€19 a month)

06Verdict

Our score: 5.8/10Fair

CookieFirst is an uncomplicated EU-based consent banner with reasonable published prices and a generous page-view allowance. Judged as a checker it is narrow: it lists cookies inside an account and leaves privacy texts, provider information, e-shop duties and accessibility to other tools.

Best for: Small businesses in the EU that want a low-cost, customisable consent banner with a cookie policy that maintains itself.

07Sources

Every factual statement in this review is taken from the pages below. Where a page did not state something, we say “not published” rather than guess.

  1. Homepage with plans and prices (cookiefirst.com)
  2. Cookie scanner (cookiefirst.com)
  3. Features (cookiefirst.com)
  4. Privacy policy (legal entity) (cookiefirst.com)
  5. Acquisition by iubenda (team.blue press release) (press.team.blue)

Sources checked in .