New regulations and Law 25 require businesses to be more transparent about how they use the data they collect. Companies must now obtain clear, informed, and specific consent from users freely given and allow them to review and modify that consent at any time. In this context, Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) play an increasingly essential role in helping businesses comply with Law 25 and protect the privacy of users in Québec.
Our specialists tested several of these platforms to identify the most effective solutions for our clients. Why not take advantage of our findings? Here’s what we discovered.
Why use a consent management platform (CMP)?
The implementation of Law 25 has made the adoption of a CMP virtually essential to meet new consent management requirements. These platforms help you collect and manage user consent, build trust with your audience, and ensure your business remains compliant with privacy regulations.
A CMP allows you to implement banners or pop-ups that clearly and transparently inform users about the purpose of data collection, ensuring their consent is obtained explicitly. Users must be able to accept certain cookies while refusing others, in full respect of their privacy. They should also have easy access to review and modify their preferences at any time.
Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) help you efficiently and easily manage cookie preferences while ensuring compliance with current regulations. They store each user’s consent choices and generate reports that allow businesses to demonstrate compliance in the event of an audit or request from authorities.
How to choose your consent management platform
There are already a number of solutions available, each offering different features depending on your needs and budget. Make sure to choose the CMP that best fits your business by considering these key points:
- Ease of Integration: Your CMP should be easy to implement—not only on your website but also with other platforms you use, such as Google Tag Manager or Google Analytics.
- Legal Compliance: Make sure the platform complies with Law 25 and other relevant privacy regulations in the regions where you operate.
- Consent Banner Customization: Evaluate how much you can customize consent banners and pop-ups to match your website and audience. This is key to providing a seamless user experience and increasing your consent rate.
- Measurement & Reporting: It’s crucial to have access to clear, detailed reports to monitor consent acceptance and refusal rates. These insights will help you optimize your performance.
Beyond these core features, many CMPs offer additional tools to simplify consent management such as A/B testing or automated personal data withdrawal forms. Some platforms also assist in drafting your privacy policy in line with applicable laws and how your business handles data. No matter which solution you choose, be sure to discuss it with your media agency to ensure you’re selecting a platform that keeps you compliant and aligned with your specific needs. But first, here’s a summary of what our specialists found when testing the most popular CMPs on the market!
Which CMP is right for your business?
1. CookieYes
User Interface of CookieYes.
For us, CookieYes is currently the most optimal solution, as it checks all the boxes that matter to us at a price we consider fair. It’s also the platform we recommend to our clients.
Its greatest advantage lies in how easy it is to install and use. The support team is responsive, and you’ll have access to extensive documentation to guide you. CookieYes also lets you integrate Google Consent Mode, which helps model missing data when a user declines cookies—while still respecting their privacy, as the data remains anonymized. You can highly customize your cookie banner, and the dashboard provides real-time insights into how cookies are being managed across your site.
Another strong point of this solution is its very attractive pricing. On average, you can expect to pay around $20 per month per domain, depending on your traffic with a free plan available for smaller websites. Note that the cookie pop-up feature is reserved for paying users. While CookieYes does have some limitations such as the inability to run A/B tests it remains a well-rounded option that covers all the most essential features.
2. Illow
User Interface of Illow.
The Illow platform is also very user-friendly and intuitive. One of its standout features is the ability to centralize personal data, making it easier to delete information upon user request. Illow also stands behind its compliance promise by offering coverage of up to $30,000 in the event of regulatory fines, helping ensure your business stays protected.
However, with this solution, banner customization is still limited aside from color and a few minor elements. For instance, you can’t modify the call-to-action buttons. This means that if your consent rate is low, you’ll have very little flexibility to improve performance. It’s also a more expensive platform, with pricing ranging from $10 to $269 depending on the number of domains and pages.
3. Didomi
User Interface of Didomi.
Didomi offers a wealth of content in French to help users understand Law 25 and how it applies to businesses. This solution stands out for its more advanced and personalized support compared to other platforms. It allows for a high degree of banner customization and automates personal data withdrawal requests, giving users the ability to easily modify their preferences as required by law and to ensure a better user experience.
Due to its extensive features and configuration options, Didomi is, in our view, a more complex solution better suited for medium to large businesses. Its setup requires more time and technical involvement. Its premium service also comes with a higher price tag, which importantly is not publicly listed on the CMP’s website.
4. Quantcast
User Interface of Quantcast.
Quantcast is one of the few fully free CMP solutions currently available. Its offering is quite basic, with limited customization options and the default banner isn’t particularly appealing. The platform’s reports are also fairly standard and lack depth. That said, Quantcast can still be a worthwhile option for small businesses that aren’t ready to invest heavily in consent management.
For our specialists, however, Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) have become so essential that they represent a necessary investment to achieve business objectives and ensure long-term marketing ROI especially for companies pursuing acquisition strategies through media campaigns.
5. CookieBot
User Interface of Cookiebot.
Cookiebot is a widely adopted solution already used by many websites. Its subscription is very affordable ranging from $20 to $70 on average and it also offers a free option for smaller sites. By default, only the pop-up is available; the banner feature is part of the paid plan.
The design of the cookie pop-up and banner is visually appealing, but customization options are fairly limited. Performance reports are also quite minimal, which makes it difficult to optimize results. For our specialists, the main drawback of Cookiebot is its user interface for configuring and managing banners it’s not very intuitive and can be hard to navigate.
As you can see, each CMP has its own features depending on the size of your business and the challenges you face. Since this is a tool you’ll be using on a daily basis, it’s essential to choose it wisely. Feel free to reach out to our specialists for personalized guidance beyond this article we’re here to help you make the right choice.
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. To ensure full compliance with Law 25, we recommend consulting a lawyer or a qualified legal expert.
