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Cookie Control vs OneTrust: cookie banner speed and features compared

Results for

On emulated mobile, Cookie Control showed its banner sooner, in a median 2.47 s against 3.92 s for OneTrust. Their delay to the main content was about the same. The 95% intervals overlap. Neither leaked a tracker in the checks that ran. We could not run 1 of 4 checks for Cookie Control. Per vendor docs, only Cookie Control offers a free tier. Per vendor docs, only OneTrust offers self-hosting.

Cookie ControlCivic

Cookie Control Tested: v9, hosted
All Cookie Control results

OneTrustOneTrust

OneTrust Tested: Hosted
All OneTrust results

Which is faster, Cookie Control or OneTrust?

Shorter bars are better. The exception is tracker blocking, where the bar shows the share of checks passed.

Cookie Control and OneTrust on the mobile (emulated) profile, Next.js 16
QuestionCookie ControlOneTrustDifference
Banner appearsTime from navigation until the banner is visible on screen. Lower is better.
2.47 sFast
3.92 sModerate

Cookie Control’s banner appeared 1.45 s sooner.

Page slowed byExtra time before the main content paints (LCP), compared with the same page without a consent manager.
+492 ms95% interval 484 ms to 504 msSmall
+476 ms95% interval 444 ms to 508 msSmall

About the same. The 95% intervals overlap.

Click responds inTime from pressing Accept until the screen updates. Under 200 ms feels instant.
24 msOne visit measuredFast
16 msOne visit measuredFast

About the same. They are less than 16 ms apart.

Blocks trackersChecks that no tracker runs, the page sets no cookie and no data leaves the page before the visitor chooses.
3 of 4 checks passed1 could not be checkedPartly checked
4 of 4 checks passedBlocked

Neither leaked a tracker in the checks that ran. We could not run 1 of 4 checks for Cookie Control.

Adds to pageExtra data transferred during the first load, compared with the same page without a consent manager.
+99 KB95% interval: 99 KBLight
+211 KB95% interval: 211 KBModerate

Cookie Control added 113 KB less to the first load.

“About the same” means that the two results fall within each other’s spread. We measure both against the same page without a consent manager. We do not publish a direct head-to-head interval yet.

Page vitals and load times

Lab detail for engineers. All values are medians on the mobile profile. Both CMPs ran on Next.js 16.

Page vitalsChange against the same page without a consent manager.
MetricCookie ControlOneTrust
TTFBNo measurable delaypage 7 msNo measurable delaypage 6 ms
FCPNo measurable delaypage 248 msNo measurable delaypage 248 ms
LCP+492 mspage 3.94 s+476 mspage 3.93 s
CLSNo measurable shiftpage 0.00No measurable shiftpage 0.00
Load timesMilliseconds from navigation.
MetricCookie ControlOneTrust
CMP script requested
CMP script loaded
Consent state known
Banner visible2.47 s3.92 s
After AcceptMilliseconds from the click.
MetricCookie ControlOneTrust
Screen responds24 ms16 ms
Banner gone
Consent applied
Analytics active

Which features differ between Cookie Control and OneTrust?

Statuses come from each vendor’s documentation. Each status links to its source.

  • Verified by test
  • Per vendor docs
  • Partial
  • Not supported
  • Unknown
Features that differ between Cookie Control and OneTrust, from vendor docs
FeatureCookie ControlOneTrust
Only Cookie Control · 1
Free tierPricingCommunity edition (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Quote-based pricing (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Only OneTrust · 1
Self-hostableDeveloperHosted service (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Script only; hosted backend (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Not confirmed for one side · 1
IAB GPPStandardsUnknownPer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Same on both · 13
Features with the same status for Cookie Control and OneTrust
FeatureCookie ControlOneTrust
IAB TCFStandardsTCF v2.3 (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)TCF v2.2 and v2.3 (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Google Consent Mode v2StandardsPer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Google-certified CMPStandardsPer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Global Privacy ControlStandardsPer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Geo-targeted bannersCompliancePaid editions (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Script blockingCompliancePer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Consent recordsCompliancePer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Cookie scanningCompliancePaid editions (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Open sourceDeveloperProprietary (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Proprietary (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
Headless UIDeveloperJavaScript methods only (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Mobile and CTV only (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
TypeScript typesDeveloperUnknownUnknown
Script tagFrameworksPer vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Per vendor docs (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)
First-party SDKsReact, Next.js, Vue, Nuxt, Svelte, SvelteKit, Astro, TanStack StartScript tag only (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)Script tag only (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab)

Should you choose Cookie Control or OneTrust?

We built these lists from the measured and documented differences above. Neither list is a recommendation.

Choose Cookie Control if

  • You want a free tier
  • A fast banner matters to you: Cookie Control’s banner appeared 1.45 s sooner
  • Page weight matters to you: Cookie Control added 113 KB less to the first load

Choose OneTrust if

  • You want self-hosting

What was tested?

Deployment
Both ran from their vendor-hosted services. Network distance to each vendor is part of the result.

How we test: methodology cookiebench-v3.2.4

Questions about Cookie Control and OneTrust

Answers come from the benchmark run and from each vendor’s documentation.

On the emulated mobile profile, Cookie Control’s banner appeared in a median 2.47 s and OneTrust’s in 3.92 s. Their delay to the main content was about the same. The 95% intervals overlap.