Quick summary
Cookiebot (now part of Usercentrics) is a well-known cookie scanning and consent management platform. It handles consent banners, cookie categorisation, and consent logging across 47+ languages. GDPRWise takes a different approach: it scans your entire website with AI and builds a complete GDPR dossier covering processing registers, privacy policies, staff privacy policy, breach procedures, and ongoing monitoring. If your only need is a cookie banner, Cookiebot does that well. If you need actual GDPR compliance, the two tools serve very different purposes.
What Cookiebot does
Cookiebot has built a strong reputation in the consent management space. Its core function is straightforward: it scans your website for cookies, categorises them, and provides a consent banner that lets visitors accept or reject cookie categories. The platform logs every consent decision, which is useful for demonstrating that you obtained valid consent.
The cookie scanning technology is solid. Cookiebot crawls your pages, identifies first-party and third-party cookies, and maps them to known services. The resulting cookie declaration can be embedded on your website, giving visitors a transparent overview of what data is being collected through cookies.
International coverage is another strength. Cookiebot supports over 47 languages and is used across many countries. If you operate websites in multiple regions, the multi-language consent banner is a genuine advantage.
Pricing sits at approximately 30 to 90 euros per month depending on the number of pages on your website. For a tool that focuses specifically on cookie consent, this is a recurring cost that adds up over time. Cookiebot targets businesses of all sizes, from small websites to enterprise operations with thousands of pages.
What Cookiebot does not cover
Cookie consent is one piece of the GDPR puzzle. The regulation requires significantly more. Here is what Cookiebot does not provide:
- Processing register (ROPA) - the core document listing all your data processing activities, legal bases, retention periods, and security measures. This is what a supervisory authority asks for during an audit.
- Customer privacy policy generation - a tailored privacy policy reflecting your specific processing activities, not a generic template.
- Staff privacy policy - a separate document informing employees how their personal data is processed. This is a legal requirement that many businesses overlook entirely.
- Data breach procedures - documented steps for detecting, reporting, and handling data breaches within the required 72-hour window.
- Compliance scoring - an overview of where you stand and what still needs attention.
- Action tracking - a prioritised list of remaining steps to reach full compliance.
- GDPR dossier - a complete package of documentation that covers all GDPR obligations in one place.
This is not a criticism of Cookiebot. It was never designed to cover these areas. But it means that choosing Cookiebot still leaves you with most of the GDPR work ahead of you.
What GDPRWise does differently
Full GDPR scope beyond cookies
GDPRWise was built to cover the full breadth of GDPR requirements for small and medium businesses. Where Cookiebot focuses on one specific obligation (cookie consent), GDPRWise produces a complete dossier that includes your processing register, customer privacy policy, staff privacy policy, cookie report, action list, breach procedures, and compliance score.
The result is a single platform that addresses everything a supervisory authority would expect to see during an inspection. You do not need to piece together separate tools for consent, documentation, and monitoring.
AI-powered scanning and the three-layer dossier
The GDPRWise process starts with an AI-powered website scan. Within two minutes, the scanner analyses your website and detects cookies, trackers, forms, third-party scripts, and even your business sector. This goes well beyond cookie detection - it maps your entire data collection landscape.
The scan feeds into a three-layer dossier model:
- Sector foundation - pre-built documentation for your industry, covering typical processing activities, legal bases, and retention periods. Your dossier starts 60 to 70 percent complete.
- AI scan results - your specific website findings layered on top, with confidence labels (“Detected” or “Needs review”) so you know exactly where your input is needed.
- Guided refinement - business-level questions (not legal jargon) that fill in what the scan cannot detect, like employee data processing or CCTV usage.
This approach means you are never starting from scratch. The combination of sector knowledge and AI detection produces a dossier that is already substantially complete before you answer a single question.
Staff privacy policy
This is a requirement that catches many businesses off guard. Under GDPR, you must inform your employees about how you process their personal data. That means a separate privacy policy covering payroll, CCTV, access control, company vehicles, IT usage, and any other employee-related processing.
Cookiebot does not offer this. Most cookie consent tools do not, because it falls outside their scope entirely.
GDPRWise includes staff privacy policy generation as a standard feature. During the guided refinement, you answer questions about your HR processes, and the platform generates a document you can provide to employees as an appendix to their employment contract.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | GDPRWise | Cookiebot |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie scanning | Yes (part of AI scan) | Yes (core feature) |
| Consent banner | Via cookie report | Yes (core feature) |
| Consent logging | No | Yes |
| Processing register (ROPA) | Yes | No |
| Customer privacy policy | Yes (tailored) | No |
| Staff privacy policy | Yes | No |
| Data breach procedures | Yes | No |
| Compliance scoring | Yes | No |
| Action tracking | Yes | No |
| Sector-specific foundations | Yes | No |
| AI-powered website scan | Yes (full site analysis) | Yes (cookies only) |
| Continuous monitoring | Yes (Peace of Mind plan) | Yes (monthly scans) |
| Multi-language support | NL, FR, DE, EN | 47+ languages |
| Pricing model | One-off or subscription | Monthly subscription |
When Cookiebot might be the right choice
If your primary need is a polished consent banner with advanced customisation options and you already have the rest of your GDPR documentation handled through a lawyer or consultant, Cookiebot is a capable choice. Its consent management is mature, well-tested, and widely recognised.
Larger organisations that operate websites in many languages may also benefit from Cookiebot’s extensive language support. If you need consent banners in 20+ languages and already maintain your GDPR dossier through other means, Cookiebot specialises in exactly that.
When GDPRWise is the better fit
For most small and medium businesses, the challenge is not just cookie consent - it is the entire GDPR obligation. You need a processing register, privacy policies, breach procedures, and documentation that holds up during an audit. Handling these separately through different tools, templates, and consultants is time-consuming and expensive.
GDPRWise addresses this by producing a complete dossier in a single workflow. The AI scan analyses your website, the sector foundation provides a head start, and the guided refinement fills in the rest. Most business owners complete the process in one to three hours.
The inclusion of a staff privacy policy is particularly relevant. Many businesses are unaware they need one, and it is often the first gap a supervisory authority identifies. Having it built into the standard dossier means one less blind spot in your compliance.
Start with a free website scan and see what GDPRWise detects in 2 minutes. Then build your complete GDPR dossier in a single session.