Looking for a free cookie banner usually means a small site, a tight budget and a deadline. That is a reasonable situation, and you do not need an enterprise tool to handle it. You do need to know what you are installing. This guide explains what a generator really produces, the checklist a free banner must pass, the free options available in 2026 and how to create yours step by step. For the complete legal framework, see our GDPR cookie banner compliance guide.
What does a cookie banner generator actually do?
The term covers two very different kinds of tools.
Code generators ask for a few settings (colors, position, text, a link to your cookie policy) and return a snippet of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to paste into your site. The result looks like a cookie banner. In most cases, it only shows a message and stores the visitor's click in a cookie. Your Google Analytics tag, your Meta pixel or your embedded videos keep loading as before, whatever the visitor chooses.
Consent management platforms (CMPs) also generate a banner, but their script does more. It holds back the tags that set non-essential cookies, releases them only for the categories the visitor accepts, records each choice and sends the consent signals that Google expects. Many CMPs call their setup screen a "generator", which adds to the confusion.
The difference matters because regulators judge what happens in the browser, not what the banner says. A banner that announces "we use cookies" while trackers already run on page load is exactly the situation that the CNIL in France and the ICO in the UK have targeted in their cookie enforcement.
Do you need a cookie banner at all?
Not always. If your site only sets strictly necessary cookies (a session cookie for a cart, a load-balancing cookie, the cookie that stores the consent choice itself), Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive does not require consent, and you can inform visitors in your cookie policy instead.
As soon as you add analytics, advertising pixels, embedded YouTube videos or chat widgets that set cookies, you need prior consent. Our article on whether your website needs a cookie banner walks through the common cases. Some audience measurement tools can be exempted under strict conditions set by the CNIL, but that exemption is narrow and does not cover Google Analytics in its standard configuration.
What a free cookie banner must do to be GDPR compliant
Whatever tool you use, check these seven points. They come from the GDPR, the ePrivacy rules and the guidance of European data protection authorities.
- Block before consent. Non-essential scripts must not run, and must not set or read cookies, before the visitor accepts.
- Make rejecting as easy as accepting. The CNIL expects a "Reject all" option at the same level as "Accept all". In December 2021, it fined Google €150 million and Facebook €60 million because refusing cookies took more clicks than accepting them. Designs that push visitors toward acceptance are covered in our article on cookie dark patterns.
- No pre-ticked boxes. In Planet49 (C-673/17, 2019), the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that a pre-ticked box is not valid consent.
- Offer granular choices. A visitor should be able to accept analytics and refuse advertising, for example.
- Inform clearly. The banner names the purposes and links to the list of cookies and third parties. Our cookie banner text templates give wording you can adapt.
- Allow easy withdrawal. A link or button lets visitors change their mind at any time, as easily as they gave consent.
- Keep proof of consent. Article 7(1) of the GDPR requires you to be able to demonstrate that a visitor consented. That means storing a record of each choice, with its date and the version of the banner. Our guide on proof of cookie consent lists what to keep.
If you use Google Ads or Google Analytics with visitors in the European Economic Area, add an eighth point: send Google Consent Mode v2 signals, which Google has required since March 2024 to keep its measurement and ad personalisation features.
Most code-only generators fail points 1, 6 and 7. That is why a free banner from a generator can cost more later than the free plan of a real CMP.
Check in 30 seconds which cookies your site sets with the free cookie scanner. The result tells you whether you need a banner at all and which categories to declare.
The free cookie banner options in 2026
Open-source scripts
tarteaucitron.js and Klaro are free and self-hosted. You get full control and no licence cost, but you handle hosting, updates, configuration and Consent Mode yourself. By the publisher's own choice, tarteaucitron.js keeps no consent log, so you need another way to prove consent. Our tarteaucitron vs FlowConsent comparison shows where each approach fits.
Free WordPress plugins
Complianz and Real Cookie Banner both publish a free version on wordpress.org, with fewer service templates and features than their paid editions. They are a sensible choice if your site runs on WordPress and will stay there. They do not help if you also manage a Shopify, Webflow or Wix site.
Free plans of hosted CMPs
Most hosted CMPs offer a free plan. According to their pricing pages in October 2026, the limits look like this:
- Cookiebot: up to 50 subpages on one domain.
- CookieYes: 5,000 page views per month.
- CCM19: 5,000 page views per month.
- Termly: 10,000 banner views per month; consent logs require the paid Pro+ plan.
- Usercentrics: 1,000 sessions per month.
- FlowConsent: 25,000 sessions per month, with the consent log included.
A small blog may fit in any of them. A shop or a site with regular campaigns passes 5,000 page views quickly, so compare the quota with your real traffic before you choose. Our CMP comparison pages review each tool side by side.
Code-only generators
They are fine for the visual part. To make them compliant, you have to change each tracking script so that it does not run on load (for example with type="text/plain") and activate it from your own code after consent. You then maintain blocking, the consent log and Consent Mode yourself. For most small sites, that is more work than installing a free CMP.
How to create a free cookie banner, step by step
- List your cookies. Use a scanner or your browser's developer tools; our guide on how to check the cookies on a website shows both methods.
- Sort them into categories. Strictly necessary, analytics, marketing and preferences cover most sites. Note the third party behind each cookie.
- Choose your tool. Match it to your platform (WordPress only, or several builders) and to your monthly traffic.
- Write the texts. A short first layer that names the purposes, a second layer with the details per category, and a link to your cookie policy.
- Design the buttons. "Accept all" and "Reject all" with the same size, color and position. Our GDPR cookie banner examples show layouts that respect this.
- Install the script. Place it as high as possible in the
<head>, before any other tag, so that it can hold back the scripts that follow. - Test the refusal. Open your site in a private window, click "Reject all", then check in the developer tools that no analytics or advertising cookie appears and that no request leaves for Google, Meta or other vendors.
- Keep it up to date. Rescan after every new tool or plugin, and keep your consent records for as long as you may need them as evidence.
The limits of free plans to check before you choose
Free plans differ less in their banner than in what they leave out. Ask four questions before you commit:
- What happens when I exceed the quota? Some tools invite you to upgrade, others stop logging or showing the banner. A silent failure is the worst case.
- Can I export my consent records at any time? Without export, your proof stays locked in the vendor's dashboard.
- Does the free plan block scripts exactly like the paid plan? If it does not, it is a demo, not a compliance tool.
- How many languages and sites does it cover? A bilingual site needs at least two languages on the banner.
Also check whether the vendor's branding appears on the banner, and how long consent logs are kept on the free plan.
How FlowConsent handles a free cookie banner
FlowConsent's Free plan is a full CMP rather than a display-only banner. It blocks scripts before consent, scans your site for cookies, records each choice and includes Google Consent Mode v2. It covers one banner in two languages and up to 25,000 sessions per month, with no credit card.
On Free, the banner runs on your own Cloudflare account, which also stores the consent log; you can export it as CSV. The cookie scan runs manually once a week, and the FlowConsent mention stays on the banner. When you need more languages, daily automatic scans or one-click hosting on FlowConsent's CDN, Pro costs €14.99 per month for up to 100,000 sessions. Installation takes about ten minutes on Webflow, WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Framer or through Google Tag Manager. The Free vs Pro documentation details each limit.