Most small businesses don't have a dedicated privacy officer, and most don't have an enterprise compliance budget either. But they're still subject to the same body of privacy law as Fortune 500 companies: GDPR fines up to €20 million, CCPA fines up to $7,500 per intentional violation, and 13+ US state privacy laws now in active enforcement. Smaller businesses can still face enforcement, contract pressure from larger customers, or demand letters from plaintiffs' firms — none of which scale to company size.
The compliance-tool market reflects this gap. Enterprise platforms cost thousands of dollars a year and assume you have a dedicated team to operate them. Free WordPress plugins solve a slice of the problem but leave most of it unaddressed. In between sits a handful of tools that are genuinely fit for small business — and figuring out which one fits which situation is what this post is for.
This is an honest comparison of seven of them, including ScanComply (the platform you're reading this on). We're including ourselves because pretending otherwise would be silly, but we've structured the post so that another tool wins on at least one dimension. The goal is to help you pick the right tool for your situation, not to sell ours.
⚠️ Important: Verification note: All pricing and feature claims in this comparison were verified against each vendor's official pricing page on May 27, 2026. Privacy-tool pricing changes regularly — confirm the current numbers on the vendor's site before purchase, especially for paid tiers. We update this post when vendor pricing or feature sets meaningfully change.
What we tested
We rated each tool against six criteria that matter to small businesses, not enterprises:
• Free tier breadth — what you can actually accomplish without paying
• Scan depth — does it find real privacy gaps, or just check if a policy 'exists'
• Fix guidance — does it tell you what to do, or just what's wrong
• Ongoing monitoring — once-and-done audit, or continuous compliance
• Support quality — documentation, email, chat, dedicated rep
• 12-month total cost for a typical SMB with one site and a few thousand visitors per month
• Scan depth — does it find real privacy gaps, or just check if a policy 'exists'
• Fix guidance — does it tell you what to do, or just what's wrong
• Ongoing monitoring — once-and-done audit, or continuous compliance
• Support quality — documentation, email, chat, dedicated rep
• 12-month total cost for a typical SMB with one site and a few thousand visitors per month
No tool wins all six. That's intentional — different tools optimize for different jobs, and the right one for you depends on which job is most important.
At a glance: how the seven tools compare
| Tool | Type | Free tier? | Paid pricing starts at | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScanComply | Scanner + manual fix kit | ✅ Free scan | $97 one-time | One-time audit + concrete fixes |
| OneTrust | Enterprise privacy platform | ❌ Not disclosed | Custom (contact sales) | Companies with a privacy team |
| Cookiebot | Consent management (CMP) | ✅ 1 domain, 50 subpages | €7/month | Managed cookie consent banners |
| Termly | Policy generator + scanner | ✅ 1 policy, quarterly scan | $10/month (annual) | Auto-updating policies |
| iubenda | Legal-grade policies + CMP | ✅ Limited | $4.99/month (annual) | Lawyer-vetted EU compliance |
| CookieYes | WordPress consent + scanner | ✅ 100 pages, 5K pageviews | $10/month per domain | WordPress sites on a budget |
| Complianz | WordPress-native plugin | ✅ Free plugin (limited) | $59/year (1 site) | WordPress-native integration |
Pricing in this table is the starting paid tier. Most tools have higher tiers for more pageviews, more domains, or more features. Deep-dives on each tool follow.
1. ScanComply
🔍 What it is
ScanComply is a free instant privacy compliance scanner paired with an optional one-time fix kit. The scanner checks for privacy policy presence, cookie consent gaps, missing "Do Not Sell or Share" links, pre-consent tracker firing, HTTPS configuration, and CCPA/GDPR readiness in about 10 seconds. The $97 Privacy Compliance Action Kit adds a manual expert review of your scan results, plus five customer-facing deliverables: a Good Faith Certificate, plain-English executive summary, platform-specific step-by-step fix guide, developer handoff email, and remediation tracker.
Strengths
• Free scanner with no signup, instant results
• Manual review catches false positives the scanner misses, especially geo-targeted consent banners
• Fix guide is platform-aware — Shopify customers get Shopify admin instructions, WordPress customers get plugin recommendations, etc.
• Single one-time fee instead of recurring subscription
• Manual review catches false positives the scanner misses, especially geo-targeted consent banners
• Fix guide is platform-aware — Shopify customers get Shopify admin instructions, WordPress customers get plugin recommendations, etc.
• Single one-time fee instead of recurring subscription
Limitations
• No ongoing consent management platform (CMP) — if you need a live cookie banner that talks to your CMS, pair ScanComply with one of the CMP-focused tools below
• Manual fulfillment caps throughput — designed for individual SMBs, not bulk processing
• Manual fulfillment caps throughput — designed for individual SMBs, not bulk processing
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free instant scan, no signup
• $97 one-time Privacy Compliance Action Kit (optional ADA Government Compliance Action Kit cross-sell adds $97 at checkout)
• 7-day money-back guarantee
• $97 one-time Privacy Compliance Action Kit (optional ADA Government Compliance Action Kit cross-sell adds $97 at checkout)
• 7-day money-back guarantee
Best for: SMBs who want a one-time audit + concrete fix plan without ongoing tooling costs. Particularly fits Shopify retailers, dental clinics, marketing agencies, and other small operators without an in-house privacy lead.
2. OneTrust
🏢 What it is
OneTrust is the dominant enterprise privacy management platform. It covers consent management, data subject request (DSR) automation, vendor risk, privacy impact assessments, and AI governance — essentially every privacy operation a Fortune 500 needs to run a regulated business. The product is organized into six modules: Consent & Preferences, Privacy Automation, Tech Risk & Compliance, Third-Party Risk Management, AI Governance, and Data Use Governance.
Strengths
• The most comprehensive privacy ops platform on the market — covers essentially anything a regulator could ask for
• Integrates with common enterprise IT and security stacks (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, and similar)
• Used and trusted by thousands of Fortune 500 companies, which provides regulator-grade documentation
• AI Governance module is unusually mature
• Integrates with common enterprise IT and security stacks (Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, and similar)
• Used and trusted by thousands of Fortune 500 companies, which provides regulator-grade documentation
• AI Governance module is unusually mature
Limitations
• Built for enterprise complexity, not SMB simplicity — heavy onboarding lift, requires real admin time to operate
• No public pricing — every deployment is a custom quote based on team size and module mix
• Likely overkill if your privacy operations consist of "we have a website and we want to be compliant"
• No public pricing — every deployment is a custom quote based on team size and module mix
• Likely overkill if your privacy operations consist of "we have a website and we want to be compliant"
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• No free tier disclosed publicly
• Custom pricing — contact OneTrust sales for a quote based on team size and chosen modules
• Pricing model uses "value-based usage meters" varying by module (admin users, daily visitors, data subject profiles)
• Custom pricing — contact OneTrust sales for a quote based on team size and chosen modules
• Pricing model uses "value-based usage meters" varying by module (admin users, daily visitors, data subject profiles)
Best for: Companies with 50+ employees, a dedicated privacy or legal function, and the budget for a full compliance platform. If you have a CISO or DPO, this is on your shortlist. If you don't, look elsewhere first.
3. Cookiebot (Usercentrics)
🍪 What it is
Cookiebot — now part of Usercentrics — is a dedicated consent management platform. Its core job is the live cookie consent banner: detecting trackers on your site, presenting visitors with a compliant consent choice, recording consent decisions for regulator audits, and respecting Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals automatically. It supports 47+ languages and produces the kind of consent logs regulators expect to see.
Strengths
• Real-time consent management with strong audit logs
• Multilingual support is genuinely deep, not just translated banner text
• GPC signal honoring works out of the box
• Free tier covers small sites (1 domain, 50 subpages)
• Multilingual support is genuinely deep, not just translated banner text
• GPC signal honoring works out of the box
• Free tier covers small sites (1 domain, 50 subpages)
Limitations
• Focused on consent — does not generate privacy policies, scan for non-cookie privacy issues, or guide remediation
• Free tier limit (50 subpages) means most e-commerce sites with product pages will need a paid tier
• Per-domain pricing can add up for multi-site operators
• Free tier limit (50 subpages) means most e-commerce sites with product pages will need a paid tier
• Per-domain pricing can add up for multi-site operators
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free: 1 domain, up to 50 subpages
• Premium Lite: €7/month — 1 domain, 50 subpages, banner customization
• Premium Small: €15-30/month per domain — 350 subpages
• Premium Medium: €30/month per domain — 3,500 subpages
• Premium Large / XL: €50-90/month per domain — for larger sites
• Usercentrics Advanced: enterprise tier with session-based pricing (contact sales)
• Premium Lite: €7/month — 1 domain, 50 subpages, banner customization
• Premium Small: €15-30/month per domain — 350 subpages
• Premium Medium: €30/month per domain — 3,500 subpages
• Premium Large / XL: €50-90/month per domain — for larger sites
• Usercentrics Advanced: enterprise tier with session-based pricing (contact sales)
Best for: Sites whose primary compliance need is a managed cookie consent banner with regulator-quality logs. Especially strong for EU-facing or multilingual sites.
4. Termly
📜 What it is
Termly is a privacy policy generator + scanner + consent banner combo aimed squarely at small businesses. You answer a questionnaire about your data practices, Termly generates the policies (privacy policy, cookie policy, terms, etc.), and the same dashboard scans your site for cookie usage and serves a consent banner. Policies auto-update as laws change — a feature most small businesses underestimate the value of.
Strengths
• Auto-updating policies — when CPRA, VCDPA, or a new state law changes, your policy updates without you needing to remember
• Generator + scanner + banner in one tool, at SMB-friendly pricing
• Free tier is genuinely usable for a small site with one policy
• Generator + scanner + banner in one tool, at SMB-friendly pricing
• Free tier is genuinely usable for a small site with one policy
Limitations
• Generated policies are template-driven — compliant, but not lawyer-vetted at the iubenda level
• Scanner is fully automated — no manual review like ScanComply's fix kit
• Free tier limits to quarterly scans (paid tiers move to monthly or weekly)
• Scanner is fully automated — no manual review like ScanComply's fix kit
• Free tier limits to quarterly scans (paid tiers move to monthly or weekly)
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free: $0/month — 1 basic legal policy, 10K monthly banner views, quarterly scans
• Starter: $10/month (annual) or $14/month (monthly) — 2 policies, monthly scans
• Pro+: $15/month (annual) or $20/month (monthly) — unlimited policies, weekly scans, multi-language
• Agency: custom pricing for bulk and multi-domain
• Starter: $10/month (annual) or $14/month (monthly) — 2 policies, monthly scans
• Pro+: $15/month (annual) or $20/month (monthly) — unlimited policies, weekly scans, multi-language
• Agency: custom pricing for bulk and multi-domain
Best for: Small sites that need both auto-updating policies AND ongoing automated scanning, where policy generation is at least as important as the scan.
5. iubenda
⚖️ What it is
iubenda is a European-flavored legal compliance platform built around lawyer-vetted policy text. The company employs in-house lawyers who write and maintain the policy clauses, so the output reads less like a Mad Libs template and more like an actual legal document. iubenda also covers cookie consent, Internal Records of Processing (GDPR Article 30), DSR handling, and increasingly US state laws.
Strengths
• Genuinely lawyered policy language — the differentiator over template-driven generators
• Strong EU coverage including GDPR Article 30 records of processing
• Multilingual support across major European languages
• Reasonable entry-level pricing for the depth you get
• Strong EU coverage including GDPR Article 30 records of processing
• Multilingual support across major European languages
• Reasonable entry-level pricing for the depth you get
Limitations
• EU-first means US state law coverage can feel bolted on rather than first-class
• UI is more "legal portal" than "marketing dashboard" — feels dated to some users
• No manual expert remediation review like ScanComply's kit
• UI is more "legal portal" than "marketing dashboard" — feels dated to some users
• No manual expert remediation review like ScanComply's kit
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free: limited tier — explore essentials, upgrade when ready
• Essentials: $4.99/month (annual) or $5.99/month (monthly) — 25K pageviews, 1 language
• Advanced: $24.99/month (annual) or $27.99/month (monthly) — 50K pageviews, all languages, geo-targeting
• Ultimate: $99.99/month (annual) — 150K pageviews, mobile SDK, hourly scans, consent recovery
• Accessibility add-on: $7-60/month separately
• Essentials: $4.99/month (annual) or $5.99/month (monthly) — 25K pageviews, 1 language
• Advanced: $24.99/month (annual) or $27.99/month (monthly) — 50K pageviews, all languages, geo-targeting
• Ultimate: $99.99/month (annual) — 150K pageviews, mobile SDK, hourly scans, consent recovery
• Accessibility add-on: $7-60/month separately
Best for: EU-facing SMBs or multilingual operators who need lawyer-grade policy language and Article 30 records, and who are willing to navigate a more legal-flavored UI to get them.
6. CookieYes
🔌 What it is
CookieYes is a WordPress-first cookie consent platform. It also works on other CMSes via a JavaScript snippet, but its sweet spot is the WordPress plugin install: one click, banner deployed, scan running. The free tier is unusually generous for a CMP, which makes it a popular default choice for budget-constrained WordPress sites.
Strengths
• Best free tier in this list for WordPress sites — 100 pages per scan, 5,000 monthly pageviews
• One-click WordPress install with sensible defaults
• Pricing is per-domain monthly, so single-site operators pay less than enterprise per-seat models
• One-click WordPress install with sensible defaults
• Pricing is per-domain monthly, so single-site operators pay less than enterprise per-seat models
Limitations
• Sweet spot is WordPress — works elsewhere but the install experience is clunkier on Shopify or custom platforms
• Less depth in consent logs than Cookiebot
• Focused on cookies and consent — doesn't generate policies or guide remediation
• Less depth in consent logs than Cookiebot
• Focused on cookies and consent — doesn't generate policies or guide remediation
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free: 100 pages per scan, 5,000 pageviews/month, basic customization
• Basic: $10/month per domain — 600 pages per scan, 100K pageviews/month
• Pro: $25/month per domain (most popular)
• Ultimate: $55/month per domain
• Annual billing saves 2 months; 14-day free trial on paid plans
• Basic: $10/month per domain — 600 pages per scan, 100K pageviews/month
• Pro: $25/month per domain (most popular)
• Ultimate: $55/month per domain
• Annual billing saves 2 months; 14-day free trial on paid plans
Best for: WordPress sites on a budget that need a working consent banner and basic compliance signaling, without paying for features they won't use.
7. Complianz
🔧 What it is
Complianz is a WordPress-native compliance plugin — meaning it lives inside WordPress admin and handles policies, consent, and DSR workflows there rather than via an external dashboard. For shops where the whole stack is WordPress, this integration depth matters: there's no second login, no JavaScript snippet to maintain, and policies generate inside the same admin you already use.
Strengths
• Deepest WordPress integration of any tool in this list — runs natively inside wp-admin
• Hybrid cookie scanning (WordPress scans + simulated visits) covers more pages than pure client-side scans
• IAB TCF and Google CMP certifications for ad-tech compatibility
• Multisite support on the Agency tier
• Hybrid cookie scanning (WordPress scans + simulated visits) covers more pages than pure client-side scans
• IAB TCF and Google CMP certifications for ad-tech compatibility
• Multisite support on the Agency tier
Limitations
• WordPress-only. Stop reading this section if you're on Shopify, Squarespace, or custom
• No manual expert review — fully self-service like Termly and CookieYes
• Free version is meaningfully limited compared to paid tiers
• No manual expert review — fully self-service like Termly and CookieYes
• Free version is meaningfully limited compared to paid tiers
Pricing (verified May 2026)
• Free WordPress plugin (limited functionality)
• Personal: $59/year — 1 website
• Professional: $179/year — 5 websites
• Agency: $399/year — 25 websites, multisite plugin included
• Roughly 15% savings on annual vs monthly billing
• Personal: $59/year — 1 website
• Professional: $179/year — 5 websites
• Agency: $399/year — 25 websites, multisite plugin included
• Roughly 15% savings on annual vs monthly billing
Best for: WordPress-native shops where the privacy stack should live inside WP admin rather than via a separate vendor dashboard. Particularly strong for agencies managing multiple WordPress sites.
Which one is right for your situation
None of the seven tools wins on every dimension. Here's how to map your situation to the right pick:
If you want a one-time audit + concrete fixes at a fixed price → ScanComply
The combination of free scan, manual expert review, and platform-specific remediation guidance fits SMBs who want a project, not a subscription.
If you need ongoing real-time consent management at scale → Cookiebot or OneTrust
For active management of consent across many pages or domains with regulator-grade logs, the CMP-focused tools win. OneTrust if you have enterprise budget and a privacy team. Cookiebot if you're a level below that.
If you want auto-updating policies + ongoing scanning at SMB pricing → Termly
The generator-first approach with bundled scanning is the right pick when policy maintenance is your biggest pain.
If you need lawyer-grade legal text, especially for EU compliance → iubenda
The genuinely-lawyered policy language is the differentiator. Worth it if you're regulated, exporting to EU customers, or in a litigation-heavy jurisdiction.
If you're on WordPress and free-tier matters → CookieYes
The most generous free tier in this list for WordPress sites. Upgrade to Basic at $10/month/domain when you need it.
If you're WordPress-native and want everything inside wp-admin → Complianz
Deepest WordPress integration. Pick over CookieYes if you value the unified admin experience and don't mind paying annually instead of monthly.
If you have a privacy team and enterprise complexity → OneTrust
Comprehensive but heavy. Right if you have the budget and the staff to operate it. Wrong if you don't.
Note: Many small operators benefit from combining tools — for example, ScanComply for a one-time audit + Termly or Cookiebot for ongoing consent management. These categories aren't mutually exclusive.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a scanner if I already have a privacy policy?
Yes. Having a privacy policy is necessary but not sufficient for compliance. Most regulator actions and demand letters trigger on tracker and cookie behavior — for example, third-party scripts that fire before consent, missing "Do Not Sell or Share" links, or geo-targeting failures that show a banner to some visitors but not others. The policy you wrote doesn't catch any of that. The scan does.
What's the difference between a CMP, a policy generator, and a scanner?
A Consent Management Platform (CMP) like Cookiebot or OneTrust actively manages the consent banner shown to visitors and logs their choices. A policy generator like Termly or iubenda produces the legal text of your privacy policy and keeps it updated. A scanner like ScanComply audits your site for compliance gaps and tells you what to fix.
Many tools blur the lines — Cookiebot has a basic scanner, Termly has a basic CMP — but the dominant function of each tool tells you what it's built to do well.
Free or paid — what should I start with?
Always start with a free scan. Several tools above offer one. Move to paid only when you've confirmed (a) the scan found real issues, (b) you don't have the in-house capacity to fix them on your own, and (c) the cost of the tool matches the value of the fix. Paying $200/month for a CMP when you have one Shopify store and no EU traffic is overkill. Running a free scan, getting a one-time fix kit, and revisiting in six months is often the right pattern for SMBs.
Want to see where your site stands?
Run a free privacy compliance scan in 10 seconds. No signup, no credit card — just an honest report of where your site sits today against GDPR, CCPA, and 13+ US state privacy laws.
Run a free privacy scan →The right privacy tool depends less on which one is "best" in the abstract and more on which one fits your specific situation today: your platform, your traffic, your geography, your team, and your budget. The free tiers of every tool in this comparison (except OneTrust) let you test that fit before committing. Use them.
If the scan finds real issues and you want one-shot help fixing them without committing to a subscription — that's what we built ScanComply for. If your situation looks more like ongoing consent management at scale, follow the matchups above. Either way, the worst position is the one most small businesses are in right now: aware that compliance matters, unsure where they stand, and waiting for a demand letter to find out.
This comparison was last verified May 27, 2026. We update it when vendor pricing or feature sets meaningfully change.