Quick answer
Concord - Concord wins for most builders who need a free privacy/compliance starter that can grow into DSARs, multiple domains, and broader policy work; CookieFirst wins only if you just need a very light cookie banner on one site.
How the free tiers compare
The two free tiers solve different problems. Concord is a broader privacy and compliance starter: even on free, you get a banner plus privacy center, manual scans, one policy, one domain, one user, and support for one regulation. That makes it useful if you are building toward consent management and privacy operations, not just cookie notice compliance. CookieFirst is narrower and lighter: the free plan is mainly a single-site banner with one third-party script, one language, a one-time scan, and a soft page-view cap. It is easier to understand and probably enough for a simple marketing site, but it gives up a lot of room to expand. Paid pricing also diverges: Concord stays flat and adds deeper compliance features, while CookieFirst stays flat but remains centered on banner management and page-view limits.
Concord vs CookieFirst free tier, side by side
| ConcordFTV 52 | CookieFirstFTV 42 | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly sessions / page viewsConcord measures sessions; CookieFirst measures page views and allows 25% overuse for two consecutive months. | 5,000 monthly sessions | 250,000 page views per domain per month soft limit |
| Domains / appsCookieFirst’s free-plan domain count is not provided in the input. | 1 domain | Not stated in the free plan |
| UsersConcord explicitly limits the free tier to one user. | 1 user | Not stated in the free plan |
| PoliciesConcord includes one policy on free; CookieFirst does not list policy management in the free tier. | 1 policy | Not stated |
| RegulationsConcord includes one regulation such as CCPA or GDPR. | 1 regulation | Not stated |
| ScriptsCookieFirst free includes one script; Concord’s free tier emphasizes scans rather than a script count. | Manual cookie and script scans | 1 third-party script |
| LanguagesCookieFirst free includes one language; Concord’s free-plan language count is not provided. | Not stated | 1 language |
After you outgrow the free tier
Both products use flat monthly pricing at the first paid step, so the main difference is capability, not metered cost. Concord starts at Essentials for $7/month, then moves to Pro at $29/month and Premium at $99/month, with an Enterprise tier for 1M+ monthly sessions and contact sales pricing. CookieFirst starts at €9/month ($9), then Plus at €19/month, with Enterprise as contact sales. For small teams, Concord’s first paid tier is cheaper and adds broader compliance features; CookieFirst stays focused on banner management and page-view limits.
Cost at real usage
| Usage | Concord | CookieFirst |
|---|---|---|
| small compliance starter, 1 domain, 1 userBoth free tiers are perpetual, but both are capped. | $0/mo within free tier | $0/mo within free tier |
| site growing beyond free limitsThese are the first paid tiers; neither product provides usage-based pricing here. | $7/mo for Essentials | €9/mo for Basic |
| multiple domains and DSAR workflowConcord’s Pro adds DSARs, identity verification, and full API access; CookieFirst’s Plus mainly upgrades support. | $29/mo for Pro | €19/mo for Plus |
Estimates, not quotes. Usage-based rates change - verify with the vendor's pricing page before committing.
When to pick each one
Pick Concord when…
- You need a free privacy center as well as a cookie banner on a small site.
- You expect to manage one policy and one regulation today, then add DSARs later.
- You want a free plan that can cover a real compliance workflow, not just first-run consent notice setup.
- You are likely to expand from one domain to multiple domains and more users over time.
Pick CookieFirst when…
- You only need a cookie banner for one website and do not want extra privacy tooling.
- You are comfortable with a one-time cookie scan and one language on the free tier.
- Your site is simple and you mainly care about page-view-based consent management.
- You want the smallest possible setup before deciding whether to pay for banner customization and more scripts.
Bottom line
For the most common builder use case, Concord is the better free-tier starting point because it is useful beyond a basic cookie notice. It gives you a banner, privacy center, scans, and small but real compliance structure, which matters once you start thinking about regulations, policies, and requests. CookieFirst is the simpler choice if all you need is a single-site consent banner and a light scan. If you expect the project to grow into actual privacy ops, Concord is the better bet.
Read the full listings: Concord and CookieFirst. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more head-to-heads on /compare, or see the top-ranked free tiers on /top.