Wix cookie consent starts with Wix's own banner, built with Usercentrics, whose free version sorts cookies into four categories and holds non-essential ones until visitors agree. Wix itself says the banner cannot control some App Market apps, and custom code only waits if you give it a category. So before a Wix site goes live, decide whether the built-in banner covers everything it loads or whether you need a separate consent tool added through Custom Code.
Why cookie consent matters on a Wix website
Every Wix website sets cookies as soon as it loads. Some are strictly necessary for the site to function, such as session, security and sign-in cookies. Others track visitor behaviour for analytics or advertising.
Under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive and the GDPR, you must get informed consent before placing non-essential cookies on a visitor's device. That applies to any Wix site that serves visitors in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom. Other laws, including the LGPD in Brazil and PIPEDA in Canada, set their own consent rules.
Enforcement is real. On 1 September 2025 France's CNIL fined SHEIN 150 million euros for placing advertising cookies before visitors made a choice and for banners that left out the advertising purpose. In the UK, the ICO checked the country's top 1,000 websites and reported on 4 December 2025 that 979 met its checks, including that rejecting cookies was as easy as accepting them.
Wix site owners are not exempt because they use a hosted platform.
Cookies that Wix sets by default
Wix places a range of first-party cookies on every site it hosts. Wix's own cookie list marks these as essential:
| Cookie name | Purpose | Category (Wix) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
svSession | Identifies unique visitors and their sessions | Essential | 12 months |
XSRF-TOKEN | Protects against cross-site request forgery | Essential | Session |
hs | Security | Essential | Session |
TS* | Security and anti-fraud | Essential | Session |
SSR-caching | Indicates how a page was rendered | Essential | 24 hours |
bSession | Measures system effectiveness | Essential | 24 hours |
_wixAB3 | Platform feature experiments | Essential | 6 months |
Wix's banner uses four categories: essential, functional, analytics and marketing. These are only the platform cookies. Once you add Google Analytics, the Meta Pixel, a live chat widget or an App Market integration, more cookies appear. Cookies such as _ga, _fbp and _gcl_au are non-essential and need consent before they are set.
What the Wix built-in banner covers
Wix's original cookie banner is no longer available for new sites. Wix's help article says it has partnered with Usercentrics to offer a consent banner, added from Privacy & Cookies in the dashboard and switched on with the Show banner toggle. According to that article:
- The basic version is free. Translations, custom text and some placement options need a paid Usercentrics plan.
- Until a visitor consents, only essential cookies and scripts load. Visitors can accept all or switch individual categories off.
- A Website Scan reports the cookies on your site, monthly for all users and on a schedule for premium users.
- A consent log records visitors' choices and can be exported.
- Google Consent Mode v2 is supported, and placeholders can keep embeds such as Google Maps from loading before consent.
The limits are in the same article. Custom code can be given a cookie category, but the article does not say uncategorised code is blocked. Wix also says the banner cannot control some third-party App Market apps, so it cannot guarantee their non-essential cookies are blocked. A site with only Wix's own features may manage with the built-in banner. A site with App Market tracking or custom scripts needs to check each one.
Third-party tracking and why it complicates consent
Most Wix sites do not run on Wix cookies alone. A typical set-up includes two or three third-party services, each with its own cookies.
Google Analytics 4 sets _ga and _ga_<container-id>, each for two years by default. The Meta Pixel sets _fbp for ad attribution. With Google Consent Mode v2, Google's tags can send cookieless pings while consent is denied, but the cookies themselves still need consent.
On Wix, these scripts often arrive through App Market apps or custom code in the site header. Your banner has to hold them until consent and release them once the visitor opts in. If it cannot control them, cookies are placed before consent, the pattern the CNIL fined in the SHEIN decision.
How to add an external consent tool to your Wix site
Adding a dedicated consent tool to Wix means adding its script to the site header:
- Open your Wix dashboard and go to Settings.
- Select Custom Code, under the Advanced section.
- Select Add Custom Code and paste the consent tool's script. For Kukie.io, that is
<script src="https://cdn.kukie.io/s/YOUR-SITE-KEY/c.js" async></script>. - Set the placement to Head and apply it to all pages.
- Turn off the Wix cookie banner so visitors do not see two.
Kukie.io's Wix installation guide in the Help Centre covers the same steps. Once the script is in place, the consent tool shows the banner, records consent and blocks scripts, and a scan of the site lists every cookie it sets.
What to look for in a consent tool for Wix
Not every consent tool fits Wix equally well. When comparing options, look for these capabilities:
- Prior blocking: the tool must stop non-essential scripts before consent. A banner that only informs visitors does not give valid consent.
- Automated scanning: regular scans catch new cookies from Wix updates, app installations and code changes.
- Geo-detection: EU visitors need opt-in consent, while California visitors under the CCPA need an opt-out. Geo-detection applies the region rules you set.
- Google Consent Mode v2: if you run Google Ads or GA4, the tool should send consent signals to Google. Without them, your ad measurement for European traffic is limited.
- Consent logging: a timestamped record of each choice is your evidence if a data protection authority asks.
The Wix App Market also offers consent apps. Check each one for the same capabilities, and remember that Wix's own warning about App Market apps it cannot control applies to apps that set cookies, not only to banners.
Common consent mistakes on Wix sites
Certain errors appear again and again on Wix websites.
Pre-ticked consent boxes. The EDPB has confirmed that pre-ticked boxes are not valid consent. A banner that defaults to "accept all" without a real choice fails the consent test.
No reject option on the first layer. The CNIL and the ICO both expect refusing cookies to be as easy as accepting them. A prominent "Accept" button next to a buried "Manage preferences" link is a dark pattern, and regulators fine for it.
Cookies set before the banner loads. If Google Analytics or the Meta Pixel loads through an App Market app before your consent banner starts, each page view sets cookies without consent. The banner must load first and hold everything else until the visitor chooses.
A cookie policy that does not match the site. Wix lists svSession as essential with a 12-month lifetime. Make sure your cookie policy lists the platform cookies with Wix's own durations, plus every app and pixel you add.
Wix compared with other website builders
Wix is not alone in leaving consent gaps, but the details differ by platform. The Shopify vs Wix comparison goes deeper for online stores.
| Platform | Built-in banner | Blocks scripts you add | Cookie scanning | External consent tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | Yes, Usercentrics (basic version free) | Categorised custom code, not every App Market app | Website Scan | Yes (Custom Code) |
| Shopify | Yes, for Shopify cookies and Pixels | Through Shopify Pixels, theme scripts need a tool | No | Yes (theme code) |
| Squarespace | Yes, with Decline all and Manage cookies | Not all third-party content | No | Yes (Code Injection) |
| WordPress | Through plugins | Depends on the plugin | Depends on the plugin | Yes (plugin or code) |
The common thread: hosted platforms cover their own cookies but rarely everything you add. A dedicated consent tool fills the gap on any builder.
Wix cookie consent questions
Does Wix handle cookie consent automatically?
Wix offers a free Usercentrics banner that holds non-essential cookies until consent and supports Consent Mode v2. It cannot control some App Market apps, and custom code needs a category, so you remain responsible for checking what your site loads.
What cookies does a Wix website set by default?
Wix sets essential platform cookies including svSession (12 months), XSRF-TOKEN and hs for security, and SSR-caching and bSession (24 hours). More cookies appear when you install App Market apps or add tracking code.
Can I use an external cookie consent tool on Wix?
Yes. Paste the consent tool's script into Settings > Custom Code, place it in the head of all pages so it loads before other tracking scripts, and turn off the Wix banner to avoid showing two.
Do I need cookie consent if my Wix site only has UK visitors?
Yes, for non-essential cookies. The UK GDPR and PECR require consent much like the EU rules, with exceptions since February 2026 for some low-risk analytics and appearance cookies that need clear information and a way to object instead.
Is the Wix cookie banner free?
The basic version is free. Translations, custom text and some placement options need a paid Usercentrics plan, and scheduled scans are a premium feature, while every user can run a Website Scan monthly.
Check which cookies your Wix site sets
Wix documents its own cookies, but not the ones your apps and custom code add. The Cookie scanner loads your site like a visitor and lists every cookie it finds by name and category, so you can see what still runs before a choice.
