Ketch vs Usercentrics: cookie banner speed and features compared
On emulated mobile, Usercentrics showed its banner sooner, in a median 4.16 s against 7.95 s for Ketch. Usercentrics delayed the main content 900 ms less. Both held trackers back in every check. Per vendor docs, only Ketch offers open-source code.
Ketch Tested: Hosted
All Ketch results
Usercentrics Tested: Hosted
All Usercentrics results
Which is faster, Ketch or Usercentrics?
Shorter bars are better. The exception is tracker blocking, where the bar shows the share of checks passed.
| Question | Difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Banner appearsTime from navigation until the banner is visible on screen. Lower is better. | 7.95 s | 4.16 s | Usercentrics’ banner appeared 3.79 s sooner. |
| Page slowed byExtra time before the main content paints (LCP), compared with the same page without a consent manager. | +1.74 s | +844 ms95% interval 836 ms to 864 ms | Usercentrics delayed the main content 900 ms less. |
| Click responds inTime from pressing Accept until the screen updates. Under 200 ms feels instant. | 40 msOne visit measured | No comparison. Usercentrics has no result here, so we call neither one better. | |
| Blocks trackersChecks that no tracker runs, the page sets no cookie and no data leaves the page before the visitor chooses. | 4 of 4 checks passed | 4 of 4 checks passed | Both held trackers back in every check. |
| Adds to pageExtra data transferred during the first load, compared with the same page without a consent manager. | +532 KB | +164 KB95% interval: 164 KB | Usercentrics added 368 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 We do not publish a direct head-to-head interval yet.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.
| Metric | Ketch | Usercentrics |
|---|---|---|
| TTFB | +1 mspage 6 ms | No measurable delaypage 7 ms |
| FCP | +12 mspage 252 ms | No measurable delaypage 252 ms |
| LCP | +1.74 spage 5.19 s | +844 mspage 4.30 s |
| CLS | No measurable shiftpage 0.00 | No measurable shiftpage 0.00 |
| Metric | Ketch | Usercentrics |
|---|---|---|
| CMP script requested | ||
| CMP script loaded | ||
| Consent state known | ||
| Banner visible | 7.95 s | 4.16 s |
| Metric | Ketch | Usercentrics |
|---|---|---|
| Screen responds | 40 ms | |
| Banner gone | ||
| Consent applied | ||
| Analytics active |
Which features differ between Ketch and Usercentrics?
Statuses come from each vendor’s documentation. Each status links to its source.
- Verified by test
- Per vendor docs
- Partial
- Not supported
- Unknown
| Feature | Ketch | Usercentrics |
|---|---|---|
| Only Ketch · 1 | ||
| Open sourceDeveloper | SDKs and samples only (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab) | Commercial licence (vendor documentation, opens in a new tab) |
Same on both · 15
Should you choose Ketch or Usercentrics?
We built these lists from the measured and documented differences above. Neither list is a recommendation.
Choose Ketch if
- You want open-source code
Choose Usercentrics if
- A fast banner matters to you: Usercentrics’ banner appeared 3.79 s sooner
- Page load time matters to you: Usercentrics delayed the main content 900 ms less
- Page weight matters to you: Usercentrics added 368 KB less to the first load
What was tested?
- Deployment
- Both ran from their vendor-hosted services. Network distance to each vendor is part of the result.
Questions about Ketch and Usercentrics
Answers come from the benchmark run and from each vendor’s documentation.
On the emulated mobile profile, Usercentrics’ banner appeared in a median 4.16 s and Ketch’s in 7.95 s. Usercentrics delayed the main content 900 ms less.
Both document it. Statuses come from vendor docs.
Both held trackers back in every check. Each check loads the page. Then it looks for trackers that ran, cookies that the page set or data that left the page before the visitor chose.
Other comparisons
c15tvs
Usercentricsc15t’s banner 3.92 s sooner · 1 standard differsc15tvs
Ketchc15t’s banner 7.71 s sooner · 1 standard differsOneTrustvs
UsercentricsBanner times about the same · 2 features differ
Didomivs
UsercentricsBanner times about the same · 2 features differ
KetchvsOneTrustOneTrust’s banner 4.03 s sooner · 3 features differ
c15tvs
OneTrustc15t’s banner 3.68 s sooner · 1 standard differs