WordPress cookie consent, from plugin install to blocked tags
WordPress core sets only sign-in and comment cookies, and the rest of a site's cookies come from plugins, themes and tags. This guide lists...
Cookie consent plugin for WordPress
Ask before you track.
Kukie.io adds a consent banner to your WordPress site, holds back known trackers until each visitor chooses and keeps a dated record of every choice.
The plugin is free. It connects to a Kukie.io account, and the Free plan covers up to 5 sites.
Watch the walkthrough
How the plugin works, step by step.
Install it, connect it and see your banner go live, then follow a visitor's choice and the settings you control in WordPress.
2 minutes 13 seconds, narrated, with captions in the player. The sites and rules in it are examples.
Read the transcript
- 0:00 Plugins, analytics and ads can all set cookies on your WordPress site, often before a visitor has said yes.
- 0:07 The Kukie.io plugin asks first. It shows a consent banner, holds back known trackers until each visitor chooses, and keeps a record of every choice.
- 0:17 Setting it up takes about a minute. Go to Plugins, Add New, search for Kukie.io, then install and activate it.
- 0:25 Then open Kukie.io in the admin menu, paste the API key from your site, and select Connect.
- 0:32 That's it. Your banner is live, and the plugin's dashboard shows its status, today's consents and your latest cookie scan.
- 0:39 The scan sends a real browser through your pages, and sorts every cookie it finds into a category, using a database of thousands of known cookies.
- 0:48 This is what your visitors see. In opt-in regions, Accept all and Reject all sit side by side, and look the same.
- 0:56 Until someone chooses, known trackers such as the Meta Pixel, Hotjar and TikTok stay blocked.
- 1:02 Manage preferences opens the categories. Here, the visitor switches on analytics, and leaves marketing off.
- 1:09 So Hotjar loads, and the Meta Pixel stays blocked. With Google Consent Mode switched on, Google receives the same choice.
- 1:17 Every choice is recorded with a receipt, and a small button stays in the corner, so visitors can change their mind at any time.
- 1:25 Back in WordPress, the Consent banner page holds the main settings. The layout, the revisit button, privacy signals like Global Privacy Control, iFrame blocking, languages and region rules.
- 1:38 The banner follows the page language set by WPML or Polylang, in more than 70 languages. It keeps working with caching plugins like WP Rocket and LiteSpeed, and it shares each choice through the WP Consent API.
- 1:54 Your settings and consent records live on Kukie.io, so updating WordPress never resets them.
- 2:01 The plugin is free on WordPress.org, and the free plan covers up to 5 sites. Kukie.io for WordPress. Ask before you track.
Why it matters
Every plugin can bring its own cookies.
Page builders, forms, analytics and ad plugins can each set cookies and load scripts. In the EU and the UK, the law asks for consent before a site sets cookies that are not strictly necessary.1
How it works
Install, connect, publish.
The plugin connects your WordPress site to your Kukie.io account. Your banner, scans and consent records live there, so updating WordPress never resets them.
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Step 1: Install the plugin
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New, search for Kukie and install and activate the plugin.
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Step 2: Copy your API key
Start free at Kukie.io and add your site. On the site's Installation card, open API Key and generate a key.
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Step 3: Paste it and publish
In WordPress, open Kukie.io, paste the key and select Connect to Kukie.io. Your banner appears on your site.
Consent banner
A banner that fits your site.
Pick a layout, set your colours and write your own text. Accept all and Reject all sit side by side on the first layer.
- 4 banner layouts: popup, bottom bar, top bar and floating
- Your colours and your own text
- Built-in text in 70+ languages when you turn on Auto-Translation
- Works with the keyboard and screen readers
Tracker blocking
Trackers wait for a choice.
Kukie.io holds back 30+ known trackers, such as Meta Pixel, Hotjar and TikTok, until the visitor agrees. For a service it does not recognise, add the service's domain and it waits too.
- Blocked until the visitor accepts that category
- Your own blocking domains for other services
- Embedded videos and maps held back when you turn on iFrame blocking
Google Consent Mode v2
Consent signals for your Google tags.
Turn on Consent Mode v2 in the plugin or your Kukie.io dashboard. Kukie.io then tells Google Analytics, Google Ads and Tag Manager what each visitor chose. Your Google tags need no changes.
- Defaults set before any Google tag runs
- Updated the moment the visitor chooses
- Microsoft UET Consent Mode for Microsoft Ads
Cookie scanner and consent records
Know what your site sets, and what visitors chose.
The scanner opens your pages the way a visitor would and sorts the cookies it finds, using a database of 3,300+ known cookies. Every choice a visitor makes is kept with its date and a consent ID.
- Cookies, localStorage and sessionStorage
- Scheduled scans on paid plans
- Consent records you can export as CSV
Built for WordPress
Works with the plugins you already use.
WPML and Polylang
The plugin tells the banner which language each page is in, so the banner can match it. You choose the banner languages in your Kukie.io dashboard.
WP Consent API
If you use the WP Consent API plugin, Kukie.io passes each visitor's choice to it, so other plugins that read consent follow the same answer.
Caching and optimisation plugins
The plugin keeps the banner script out of JavaScript optimisation in WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, W3 Total Cache, Autoptimize, WP Fastest Cache and SiteGround Optimizer.
Settings in WordPress or online
Change the layout, languages, Google Consent Mode v2 and regions from WordPress, or design every detail in your Kukie.io dashboard. Both stay in sync.
Hide for administrators
Keep the banner out of your way while you edit with a page builder such as Elementor or Bricks. Visitors still see it.
Light on your pages
The shared banner script is about 36 KB compressed2 and loads without holding up your page.
Regions
A rule for each region.
Choose opt-in, opt-out or notice only for each country or region. The banner reads the visitor's country and shows the rule you set.
A new site starts with one rule for every visitor: opt-in, the strictest model. On plans with unlimited region rules, it starts instead with ready-made rules for the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Brazil, the US and California.
| Region | Consent model |
|---|---|
| European Union | Opt-in |
| United Kingdom | Opt-in |
| California | Opt-out |
| Everyone else | Your choice |
Questions about the plugin
Is the WordPress plugin free?
Yes. The plugin is free on WordPress.org. It connects to a Kukie.io account, and the Free plan covers up to 5 sites with unlimited pageviews. Paid plans add scheduled scans, custom CSS and more sites.
Do I need a Kukie.io account?
Yes. The plugin connects your site to Kukie.io, where your banner settings, cookie scans and consent records are kept. Creating an account is free and needs no credit card.
How do I install the plugin?
In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New, search for Kukie, then install and activate the plugin. Open Kukie.io in the admin menu and paste your site's API key.
Where do I find my API key?
In your Kukie.io dashboard, open your site and go to Installation > API Key. Generate a key, copy it and paste it into the plugin. The key is 64 characters long.
Does it support Google Consent Mode v2?
Yes. Turn it on in the plugin under Consent banner > Google Consent Mode v2, or in your Kukie.io dashboard. Kukie.io then sets consent defaults before your Google tags run and updates them when the visitor chooses. Your Google tags need no changes.
Does it work with caching plugins?
Yes. The banner script loads from Kukie.io with your settings built in, so cached pages still show the banner. The plugin also keeps the script out of JavaScript optimisation in WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, W3 Total Cache, Autoptimize, WP Fastest Cache and SiteGround Optimizer.
Will it slow down my site?
Only a little. The shared banner script is about 36 KB compressed (measured in November 2026) and loads asynchronously, so it does not hold up your page. Your site's own file is larger because it also carries your settings and the banner languages you turn on.
Can I customise the banner design?
Yes. Choose from 4 layouts, set your colours and write your own text in the Kukie.io dashboard, with a live preview. Custom CSS and your own logo are available on paid plans.
Which privacy laws does it help with?
Kukie.io gives you the tools that privacy laws ask for: a consent banner, blocking until consent and a record of each choice. Laws that ask for them include the GDPR, the UK GDPR, the ePrivacy rules, Germany's TDDDG (formerly the TTDSG), the CCPA and Brazil's LGPD. You choose the consent model for each region. Whether your site meets a law also depends on how you set it up and use it.
Add a consent banner to your WordPress site.
The plugin is free, and the Free plan covers up to 5 sites. Create your account, then connect the plugin with your API key.
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Footnotes
Kukie.io provides tools to collect and record consent. It is not legal advice, and using it does not by itself make a website compliant with any law.
- 1. Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) in the EU, and regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations in the UK. Back to footnote 1 in the text
- 2. Measured on 2 November 2026 with gzip at its default level. Your site's own file also carries its settings and the banner languages you turn on, so it is larger. Back to footnote 2 in the text
