Free Cookie Policy Generator: Build a GDPR-Ready Policy in Minutes

Most cookie policies are quietly out of date the day they're published. They list cookies a site no longer uses, miss the trackers marketing added last quarter, or promise a "consent-first" setup while analytics fire on page load anyway.

A good free cookie policy generator fixes the first half of that problem fast: it gives you a structured, GDPR- and ePrivacy-ready document you can actually publish. CookieSentry now offers one — alongside a free privacy policy generator — and this guide covers what a compliant policy must contain, how to build one in minutes, and the single step most teams skip.

What a GDPR-ready cookie policy must include

Under Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, you need the user's prior consent before storing or reading non-essential cookies — and the GDPR sets the standard that consent must meet. A policy that doesn't reflect that reality isn't doing its job.

A defensible cookie policy covers six things at minimum:

• What cookies and similar technologies are, in plain language
• The categories you use — strictly necessary, functional, analytics, advertising
• An inventory of the actual cookies, with provider, purpose and duration
• Which third parties set cookies, and links to their policies
• How users give, refuse and withdraw consent (refusing as easy as accepting)
• The legal basis, retention, and how to exercise data-protection rights

The hardest part is the inventory. Regulators have made clear that vague, incomplete disclosures don't cut it: the European Data Protection Board's cookie banner taskforce report (January 2023) singled out deceptive design and missing information as recurring failures across the EU.

If your policy can't name the cookies your site sets, it isn't finished.

How the free cookie policy generator works

The free cookie policy generator turns those requirements into a short form. You add your site name, URL and contact details, tick the cookie categories you use, and select the marketing and analytics tools on your site.

The difference is the cookie inventory: selecting a tool injects its real cookies automatically — accurate names, providers, purposes and typical durations — instead of leaving you to guess.

• GA4 adds _ga and _ga_<container-id> (analytics, 2 years)
• Meta / Facebook Pixel adds _fbp, fr and _fbc (advertising)
• TikTok Pixel, Google Ads and Google remarketing add their conversion and targeting cookies
• LinkedIn, Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar, HubSpot, Stripe and others are covered too

The policy builds live as you type, and you can export it as HTML, Markdown or plain text — whichever drops cleanest into your CMS. The whole thing takes a few minutes, free, with no signup to preview.

A generator that fills in the real cookies saves you the one task most people get wrong.

Don't forget the privacy policy

A cookie policy explains what happens on the device; a privacy policy explains how you handle personal data overall. Under the GDPR you almost certainly need both, and they should agree with each other.

The free privacy policy generator follows the same approach. You choose the categories of personal data you collect — identity and contact details, account data, usage analytics, payment data, and so on — and it maps each to a purpose and a legal basis under Article 6 of the GDPR.

It also lists your processors and triggers an international-transfers section automatically when you select tools that send data outside the EEA, with the safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) that the GDPR requires. Both tools live together on the free tools page.

Two documents, one consistent story — that's what regulators and customers expect to see.

A generated policy is a starting point, not proof

Here's the step most teams skip. A generated policy describes what you say your site does. It can't tell you what your site actually does — and that gap is exactly where enforcement happens.

The most common cookie failure isn't a missing policy; it's non-essential trackers firing before anyone consents, often injected by a tag manager the policy never mentions. France's CNIL fined Google and Meta a combined €210 million in January 2022 over cookie practices — including making refusal harder than acceptance — and the CJEU's Planet49 ruling (2019) confirmed that pre-ticked or default-on consent is invalid.

You can't fix what you can't see, so the honest move is to verify the policy against reality. Run a free scan of your live pages to capture every cookie and tracker — and crucially, which ones fire before consent — then make your generated policy match. CookieSentry is built for exactly this: it's the independent scanner that checks your setup, not another consent banner.

Scan your site for free, compare the result to your new policy, and close the gaps before a regulator or customer does.

The policy is the claim; the scan is the evidence.

When a free template isn't enough

Free generators are deliberately generic: English-only, a single document, mapped to the EU baseline. That's perfect for getting live quickly — but the rules that decide whether your banner is lawful mostly live in national law, and it differs by market.

Germany's Section 25 TDDDG, for example, sets its own prior-consent requirement enforced by the state data protection authorities; other EU markets layer their own transpositions on top of the GDPR and ePrivacy baseline.

When you need localized, counsel-grade documents — the full set, mapped to your country, with DOCX export — that's where the paid GDPR document program comes in. It covers the privacy policy, cookie policy, records of processing (Article 30), data-processing agreement, retention policy and breach procedure as one localized pack.

Start free to get compliant fast; upgrade when the stakes — or the jurisdictions — get serious.

Frequently asked questions

Is a free cookie policy generator GDPR compliant?

It produces a GDPR- and ePrivacy-aligned document, which is a strong starting point. Compliance, though, depends on the policy matching what your site actually does and on your consent setup working — so generate the policy, then verify it with a scan and confirm any country-specific requirements.

Do I need both a cookie policy and a privacy policy?

In almost all cases, yes. They cover different things: the cookie policy explains technologies stored on the device, while the privacy policy explains how you process personal data overall. They should reference each other and stay consistent.

What cookies should my cookie policy list?

Every cookie your site actually sets, grouped by category, with provider, purpose and duration. Selecting your tools in the generator fills in the common ones automatically; a scan confirms the complete, current list — including anything that fires before consent.

Is a generated cookie policy legally binding or enough on its own?

A policy is a disclosure, not a consent mechanism. You still need a working consent banner and a site that genuinely waits for consent before loading non-essential cookies. The document is necessary, but it isn't sufficient by itself.

How often should I update my cookie policy?

Whenever you add or remove a tool that sets cookies, and otherwise on a regular review cycle. Because marketing and analytics stacks change quietly, periodic scans are the most reliable way to catch drift.

Does a cookie policy replace a consent banner?

No. The banner collects and records consent; the policy explains your practices. You need both, and they have to tell the same story.

Generate yours, then prove it holds up

Build your documents in minutes with the free cookie and privacy policy generators — then run a free scan to make sure your live site does what your new policy says it does. That combination, claim plus evidence, is what real compliance looks like.