OneTrust offers security, privacy, and data governance systems from its cloud-based privacy management platform. This is a SaaS category known as Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance, or GRC. The GRC field is a booming market and is focused on providing companies with systems that check for data protection standards compliance issues.
Although industry-specific data protection standards, such as PCI DSS and HIPAA, require tight security and tracking of data access, GRC systems don’t usually cover the requirements of those two standards or SOX, which requires the traceability of financial data. Rather, OneTrust and its main rivals watch general data privacy issues that impact the wider population.
Here is our list of the best OneTrust alternatives:
- TrustArc Privacy Management Platform EDITOR’S CHOICE A wide range of services from this cloud-hosted service includes legal advice and research, vendor assessments, risk tracking, data discovery, cookie consent management, and tracker development advice. It covers GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD.
- Osano Consent Manager A cloud-based consent management system includes legal advice bundled in with its paid plans and also offers a free version for website developers. It is suitable for compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD.
- Cookiebot A hosted consent management platform that focuses on cookie deployment and legality. This system is available in free and paid plans and is suitable for compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and the ePrivacy Directive.
- InMobi CMP This consent management system is free and operates on mobile devices as well as websites. You can also sign up your app or game to host advertising from the InMobi client network.
- Piwik Pro Consent Manager A cookie manager for compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD that can be self-hosted on a cloud platform in the location of your choice.
- CookieYes An easy-to-use consent manager that is available directly from within content management systems, such as WordPress, and will cover you for GDPR.
OneTrust provides the checks and data access tracing that is needed to prevent a business from falling foul of standards like the EU’s GDPR, California’s CCPA and CPRA, Virginia’s CDPA, Brazil’s LGPD, Canada’s PIPEDA, South Africa’s POPIA, and ISO 27701. All of these standards are legal requirements that can lead to criminal prosecution and fines placed on the business by the state. They are not just formulas that can be adopted as standards between contracting businesses.
What does OneTrust do?
The tools provided by OneTrust aren’t just of interest to IT departments. Legal teams access the privacy management platform as well. OneTrust maintains a team of legal experts to keep an eye on the changing legal landscape for data privacy issues and redefine the scope of the OneTrust system.
The menu of services offered by OneTrust is divided into three categories: Privacy, Security, and Consent.
OneTrust privacy services
The Privacy category of OneTrust’s services covers the tools that help regulatory requirements over Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This section includes as many information services as IT tools and it is this part of the platform that will be extensively accessed by legal departments rather than IT processes.
The IT services in the privacy category include data discovery for sensitive data and also data usage tracking for those identified PII stores. The system includes automated processes to fulfill requests for information about the data held, which is called a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR). Access to the audit trail laid down by data access logs is another service of this category. The system also includes an Incident Response module, which manages the process tracking and reporting data misuse or leakage.
A vendor risk management module in the privacy services part of the OneTrust platform is of interdepartmental interest. This system includes process automation for information gathering. However, it is a service that is particularly needed by the legal department.
Other services in the privacy category include awareness training, the provision of toll-free numbers for customer access, and a library of privacy-related legal research. There is also a benchmarking system, which provides advice for system assessment by aggregating information about what other businesses are doing to protect PII.
OneTrust security services
The Security category of OneTrust services is concerned with systems to control access to data and log actions. There is an Audit and Controls module, which is a guide for assessing a system for data governance issues. These guides help you set your data governance policy for the business. A Policy Management module tracks the enforcement of that data governance strategy. A Business Continuity service guides companies in setting up contingencies for failure.
This section of the platform also includes an internal Risk Management service. This focuses on access controls and tracking the areas of the system that store and process PII. This also includes vulnerability scanning.
OneTrust consent services
The Consent section of the OneTrust platform includes turnkey tools that manage user consent and data usage preferences. These systems are delivered as plugins that can be added to websites. All processing for these services is hosted by OneTrust, so it is an API-based service.
Features in this list include a cookie consent and data usage consent banner. The service also manages a database of visitor responses on behalf of each client. A Digital Policy and Notice Management service ensures that the business gives the correct notifications to users of their services about legal liability and the rights of the user.
There is also a module that provides statistics on consent rates, which can provide useful input for Web designers by highlighting pages or services that users seem to reject. This is also a very important service for marketers that want to implement user behavior tracking through cookies. A Universal Consent Management service provides another input for web designers and marketers when they are planning new campaigns because it provides advice on what is and isn’t legal.
The services of the OneTrust Consent system can also be extended to mobile devices, smart TVs, and OTT set-top boxes.
Rivals to OneTrust
OneTrust has built up an impressive list of services and there aren’t many rivals that can match the full range of legal and digital services in the OneTrust platform. There are a number of rival privacy management systems that are primarily concerned with managing cookie consent issues and others that are heavily geared towards targeted marketing services and include consent management.
The best fit for your organization will depend on where your main strategy emphasis lies. However, whether you just want to be legally compliant or want to protect your marketing campaigns from legal action, there is the perfect system out there for you that could prove to be a better option than OneTrust.
What should you look for in an alternative to OneTrust?
We reviewed the market for privacy management services like OneTrust and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:
- A platform that includes a hosted cookie consent banner
- A service that includes a user consent management database
- A system that can identify all of the cookies currently in use on a website
- A mechanism for blocking cookie downloads if consent not given
- Options for consumer research and visitor journey monitoring
- A free trial for a no-cost assessment period or a free tool
- A service that beats OneTrust on price and has focused privacy management services so you aren’t forced to pay for services that you don’t need
OneTrust is very expensive and it has a long and complicated menu of services. If you are on a tight budget, you might find the cost of a OneTrust account very expensive once you have added in all of the tools that you really need. There are cheaper options out there that work very well.
The best OneTrust alternatives
1. TrustArc Privacy Management Platform
TrustArc is a very close competitor to OneTrust. Not only do its Privacy Management Platform tools match OneTrust’s IT services, but the company also offers training and bespoke legal advice, just like OneTrust. The pricing strategy of TrustArc is very similar to OneTrust as well; whereas many businesses in this sector offer packages of services, OneTrust and TrustArc price each service individually.
Key Features:
- A Cloud Platform: The second biggest data privacy platform in the world
- Data Protection Systems: Sensitive data discovery, classification, and mapping
- Consent Management: For cookies and data storage
- Risk Assessment: Including third-party risk
- Vulnerability Scanning: Identifies system weaknesses and compliance breaches
Why do we recommend it?
The TrustArc Privacy Management Platform offers a menu of data protection services rather than a package. This allows companies to choose just the services they need rather than taking on a bundle of services they might not need. This is important because the TrustArc system offers detailed bespoke services.
The TrustArc service list includes vendor risk assessments, internal vulnerability scanning, risk identification, data discovery, and usage plus policy formation support and implementation monitoring tools. Data breach notification and disclosure reporting systems are also available.
The system has a very good consent management service, which is perhaps slightly better than that of OneTrust. The TrustArc service identifies all cookies on the system, generates suitable consent popups for websites, manages a response database, and blocks cookies where necessary. This service conforms with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD.
Who is it recommended for?
Tailored services, such as the TrustArc area of competence favor large businesses because they don’t provide economies of scale that make those services affordable to small enterprises. The managed services of TrustArc will appeal to mid-sized businesses that find that they are large enough to need privacy management but can’t afford full-time specialists.
Pros:
- A Suite of Privacy Protection Modules: Priced individually
- Legal Advice and Training: Available for extra fees
- System Hardening: Also patch management
- Discovery and Classification of Sensitive Data: Creates a data inventory
- Generation and Hosting of a Consent Form: Storage for responses is included in plans
Cons:
- A Menu of Services: Not one out-of-the-box package
TrustArc’s Privacy Management Platform is available for a demo. You can get a 14-day free trial of the platform’s Cookie Consent Manager.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
TrustArc Privacy Management Platform is our top pick as an alternative to OneTrust because it includes all the user consent services you need plus the support of a strong legal team. The legal services and risk assessment features of TrustArc make it the closest match we could find to OneTrust. The highly granular services menu of TrustArc is very similar to the module-by-module approach of OneTrust. You can choose just to take the cookie consent management services of TrustArc to get your sites legal or push for the full legal research and vendor assessment services offered by the company.
Request a demo: trustarc.com/demo-request/
Operating system: Cloud-based
2. Osano Consent Manager
Osano is a very widely-used privacy platform that is particularly successful for its Consent Manager. The company has a very sharp legal team that keeps up to date with all new legislation around the world to ensure that the system remains compliant. At present, the Osano Consent Manager is compliant with the EU’s GDPR, California’s CCPA, and Brazil’s LGDP.
Key Features:
- Cookie Consent: Choice of banner
- Compliance Management: For GDPR, CCPA, and LGDP
- Cookie Discovery: Categorizes inline and third-party cookies
- Three Plan Levels: Free plan available
Why do we recommend it?
Osano offers two layers of service. One is a straightforward cookie consent plug-in for websites and the other is a full corporate privacy program management system that extends out to vendor risk management. These two levels are very different packages that will appeal to different markets.
The Osano Consent Manager has been in operation since 2016 and has managed more than one billion cookies since then. This is mainly a cookie consent system. The service is entirely hosted and access to its functions is integrated into your own sites and monitors through plug-ins and APIs.
The service scans your sites and discovers all of the cookies that it deploys. It then generates a cookie consent banner, which you integrate into your site by inserting a piece of code. The service collects responses, stores them in a database, and manages cookie downloads to block those that do not have consent.
Who is it recommended for?
Osano’s lowest plan is Free and will appeal to sites that have up to 5,000 visitors per month. Businesses that exceed that throughput will need to move up to the lowest paid package, which is quite expensive and caters to up to 30,000 site visitors per month. The top plan is a corporate solution for large organizations.
Pros:
- A Hosted Service: Slots into your website through the addition of a line of code
- Generates a Consent Form and Gathers Responses: Cloud storage included
- PII Discovery and Third-Party Risk Assessment: But only In higher plans
- International Service: Coverage for the languages and regulations of 50 countries
Cons:
- Code not Accessible: You can’t host the system yourself
There is a free package of Osano Consent Manager available. However, the three paid plans have much more features, such as a PII tracker, tag manager, vendor risk management service, and vendor lawsuit alerting system. The paid packages also include a policy change detector, which creates notifications to members and users of a site, and a bulletin of privacy law updates.
You can get a 30-day free trial of an Osano Consent Manager paid plan.
3. Cookiebot
Cookiebot is a cloud-based, hosted service, that focuses on the task of getting consent from website visitors for cookies. The system includes a cookie discovery service and a consent banner generator. The actual implementation of that banner is hosted by Cookiebot and you link to it by inserting a line of code into your site. It creates compliance with GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive, and CCPA.
Key Features:
- Cookie Consent Management: The largest cookie consent system in the world
- Regulation Compliance: For GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, and CCPA
- Cookie Discovery: Also classification
Why do we recommend it?
Cookiebot offers a straightforward solution to a complicated legal minefield. The company has done a good job at providing standard companies with legal cover for cookie consent that meets all legal requirements with little fuss. Scaleable pricing means that this is an affordable solution for all sizes of businesses.
When users respond to a consent banner question, Cookiebot stores those answers and blocks cookies where necessary. The system offers access to the consent database and also reports on cookie acceptance rates in the system dashboard, which can be accessed through any standard Web browser.
Who is it recommended for?
Cookiebot’s pricing structure is more appealing than that of Osano because it works on the number of pages on a site rather than the number of visitors. This makes the choice of which plan to go for a lot easier to predict. It also means that many more sites qualify for the Free edition of Cookiebot.
Pros:
- Cloud Storage: Holds consent records
- Generates an Appropriate Consent Form: Gathers responses
- Hosted Consent Database: Provides analytics
Cons:
- No Self-Hosting Option: SaaS only
There are four plans for Cookiebot and the first of these is Free. This covers up to 100 pages on one domain. The three paid plans work for successively larger sites. Cookiebot also offers a 1-month free trial of its paid plans.
4. InMobi CMP
InMobi CMP is a consent management platform for mobile apps, websites, and games. It is free to use and is aimed at providing an extra income stream for the producers of mobile apps and games. The platform provides access to an advertising network, which is similar to Google Ads.
Key Features:
- Cookie management: Compliant with GDPR, CCPA, IAB TCF 2.2, & Google
- Multi-Platform: Mobile apps and websites
- Free Tool: Monetization opportunities for mobile apps and games
Why do we recommend it?
InMobi CMP is a competent cookie consent management system and it is particularly appealing because it is free to use and host. The system is very easy to integrate into your mobile app, game, or website. InMobi is less interested in your website but the service will work there anyway.
The system was originally called Quantcast Choice and it was a companion tool to a market research service. With that offer, the tool was free and a lure for Quantcast’s consumer behavior monitoring needs. Now it has moved to InMobi, the platform has fewer analytical tools – it is now just a cookie consent manager.
Although this package will give you a cookie banner for your website, InMobi is more interested in working with publishers of mobile apps and games. The company sells advertising space on your apps, paying you a fee. The ads you get will be served in rotation and the advertisers have a choice over which apps and games their ads appear on. Publishers don’t get to pick and choose.
You don’t have to carry adverts in order to use the cookie consent system and if you only have a website, InMobi won’t pester you at all. The system is hosted on the cloud and integrates with your site through the insertion of a line of code.
Who is it recommended for?
The package is suitable for any type of business and it is a little more sophisticated than the free editions of the other cookie consent platforms on this list. You don’t get any PII scanning or protection with this service – it only offers cookie consent management. You don’t have to store the cookie consent responses because InMobi manages that for you.
Pros:
- Cookie Discovery: Scans a site, discovers cookies, and classifies them
- Generates a Cookie Consent Form: Gives you design options
- Gathers Consent and Stores Responses: Stored on the cloud
Cons:
- This is a Loss Leader: InMobi provides this service as a lure to get advertising space
Onboarding with InMobi CMP is very easy and you don’t need any technician skills. Get access for free.
5. Piwik Pro Consent Manager
Piwik Pro also offers a Consent Manager module. This service creates compliance to privacy legislation of the EU, the USA, Brazil, China, and Russia. It also has PII tracking systems that enable compliance with HIPAA.
Key Features:
- Market Research Platform: 14 months data retention
- Consent Management: With a tag manager
- International Legal Awareness: Automatically detects the visitor’s location and displays the appropriate banner.
Why do we recommend it?
Piwik Pro Consent Manager gives website owners a reason to pause a little before signing up for the InMobi service. This is another very tempting offer for businesses that are driven by their marketing teams. The tool will scan for cookies and create a consent form and provides support for marketing tags.
Piwik Pro includes a Tag Manager, which scans for all cookies and tracking libraries. The Consent Manager then generates a suitable consent form to appear on the site. This gets included in the site by inserting a piece of code that the Consent Manager will provide.
Who is it recommended for?
The free edition, called the Core plan, is attractive to all sizes of businesses who are looking for a marketing analysis tool and the fact that it creates a cookie consent form as well is just a fantastic bonus. Some very large organizations and even governments use the paid edition.
Pros:
- Free and Paid Versions: The paid edition can be hosted on your own cloud account
- Gets Consent for Cookies and Trackers: Set up your own tags
- Hosts a Response Database for Analysis: Hosted on Azure in Germany
Cons:
- The Paid Edition is Very Expensive: It is priced in Euros
The final piece of the compliance services of Piwik Pro is the Customer Data Platform. This enables site visitors to interact with the system and alter consent choices. The Customer Data Platform can also be used as a source of marketing data and it can be fed into your CRM. Piwik Pro is available for a demo.
6. CookieYes
CookieYes is a system that seeks consent for cookies on websites and complies with the requirements of GDPR and CCPA. The big selling point of this system is that is available from the integration libraries of all of the major content management systems. The service is available from WordPress, Drupal, Magneto, Blogger, Joomla, and Wix. That integration makes it very easy for website owners operating sites within those systems to get the cookie consent problem sorted and then move on to other issues.
Key Features:
- Widely-Used System: This is the third largest cookie consent platform in the world
- Regulation Compliance: With GDPR and CCPA
- Free Version Available: Provides a basic cookie consent banner
Why do we recommend it?
CookieYes is the market leader in automated website consent form management. The tool is very easy to use and provides everything a website needs to be legally compliant. This tool is very affordable, although it doesn’t include the excellent marketing tools that Quantcast and Piwik Pro provide.
This system scans for cookies, generates a consent form and makes it available within the CMS, accepts and stores responses, and allows or blocks cookies accordingly. CookieYes is by no means as comprehensive as the service offered by One Trust. However, it is very affordable, quick and easy to implement.
Who is it recommended for?
The Free edition is attractive and the CookieYes system is very easy to use. The step up to the paid system for larger visitor volumes is less painful than the upgrade price of the Osano service – even the top paid plan is cheaper than the lowest paid lan of Osano.
Pros:
- Plugs into Content Management Systems: Including WordPress, Drupal, and Magneto
- Discovers Cookies, Generates a Consent Form, and Stores Responses: Cloud storage included
- Blocks Cookies According to the Visitor’s Responses: Blocks third-party cookies by default and then lets them through if the visitor allows
Cons:
- Doesn’t Provide Detailed Analytics: Just cookie management
CookieYes overs a free version plus three paid plans. You can access the paid service on a 14-day free trial.
