Our iubenda review was a highly positive overall experience. By using iubenda, you can have a website or app which is compliant with international laws such as the GDPR, Cookie Law, and CalOPPA. The legal agreements generated by iubenda also contain an illustrated & simplified version, which is very easy to understand for the end-user.
Iubenda is designed to help organizations achieve legal compliancy with the GDPR in a quick and efficient manner.
Overview
While GDPR compliance is the most common reason large companies utilize iubenda, it is not its only function. Iubenda also covers numerous other international laws, such as the EU Cookie Law and the California Online Privacy Protection Act.
Iubenda’s most popular tools are its document generators for cookies & privacy policies. However, iubenda also offers complete cookie solutions, consent solutions, and internal privacy management tools on their platform. For a website or app which has users in the EU, the first two are compulsory to have. You need to have a privacy policy, and you also need to have a mechanism through which you gather cookie consent from your users.
If you want to go a step further than cookie & privacy policies, then you can implement iubenda’s Consent Solution and Internal Privacy Management Tools. These two tools combined are able to make even large organizations compliant with the GDPR. However, this solution does come at a premium cost with recurring fees.
If you want a great generator with a one time fee ( or can even be free) then check out this TermsFeed review.
iubenda Pricing
Iubenda’s pricing is based on recurring fees instead of one-time fees. The yearly discounted price of $24.30 includes iubenda’s cookie & privacy policy generation, plus iubenda’s Cookie Solution. While it’s true that a yearly payment system adds up over time, it still has its advantages.
Iubenda’s pricing may seem unreasonable at first. After all – why would you charge recurring fees just for an online document?
But, in reality, the pricing system of iubenda can work in favor of the user. One example of this is that iubenda will update your policies regularly to ensure compliance with new legislation. If a new law is implemented which concerns you, then you can rest assured that iubenda will update your policy accordingly.
For a monthly price of just ~$2, this feature is incredibly useful. And it’s just one of the many useful features which iubenda has in its Pro license.
Pro license: $24.30 per year (10% discount applied with link)
Iubenda’s pro license includes:
- Cookie & Privacy Policy Generation
- Cookie Solution
Full license: $35 per month (10% discount applied with link)
Iubenda’s full license includes:
- Consent Solution
- Internal Privacy Management Tool
We examined each of these four features one-by-one for this iubenda review. Doing so gave us a better overall picture of the software and its individual components.
Policy Generation
Iubenda’s cookies & privacy policies are fully lawful and thorough. During generating you can list absolutely all services which handle personal data. There are over 600 services to choose from, and it’s possible to customize your own. No other document generators we have reviewed go the extra mile as iubenda does. Iubenda takes care in order to list out absolutely all data collection services of a company, resulting in a highly comprehensive legal agreement.
Generating, updating, and integrating policies on iubenda is very easy and intuitive. You can update your policies through the iubenda dashboard. As such, you can update your policy whenever need. Without ever having to change any text or code on your website. The integration methods work in such a way that any change you make in the iubenda system will also take place right away in your real policy.
The endless amount of customization options available makes iubenda’s policies stand out from those of its competitors. Unlike most privacy policy generators, iubenda will allow you to list ALL of your companies services in the privacy policy. As a result, you will generate the most accurate and lawful legal agreement possible. As a result of the vast amount of options, creating a privacy policy with iubenda does take more time than with its competitors, though.
One additional cool feature of iubenda’s policies is that they always contain a simplified version. This version is much easier to understand for the end-user. It showcases the most important clauses of the policy in a clear and quick way.
Privacy Policy Generation
Privacy policies created on iubenda are the most in-depth out of any generator, and they are continuously updated for compliance.
Here is The Legality’s privacy policy. It’s our current active privacy policy and it was created with iubenda:
Clicking the policy creates a modal pop-up box which gives users a quick overview of the policy. It’s designed to be easy to read and simple for the end-user. And, if the user wants to read further information about the policy, they have means to do so. Situated in the bottom right, there is a button which allows you to “Show the complete policy”. Click this button will direct the user to the full text of the legal agreement.
From an end-users standpoint, the simplified version is very helpful, as it’s easily legible and nicely illustrated. The icons make the policy easy to follow, and the modal popup solution works well from a design standpoint. We have tried numerous document generators, but iubenda’s solution has proven itself to be the best so far.
The process of creating a privacy policy on iubenda involves the following steps.
- Filling information about your website
- Adding your services
- Paying for the policy
- Integrating the policy to your website
Let’s take a further look at one of the previous steps which truly set iubenda’s policy generation apart from the others. It is adding services to your privacy policy.
iubenda has 655 different services to choose from, making it by far the most detailed and accurate privacy policy generator currently out there. You can even create your own custom services if you find that the default options are not enough to reflect the data collection services of your firm.
All other premium privacy policy generators lag behind iubenda, with the second best being TermsFeed, which has approximately 40 services to choose from. Compared to the 655 of iubenda, though, all other privacy policy generators have little in ways to compete.
Cookie Policy Generation
The following link is The Legality’s cookie policy. Just like our privacy policy, it was created with iubenda.
Cookie Policy
Iubenda has hit the nail on its head with its cookies policy design. It’s made very easy to follow for the end-user, and it highlights the most important clauses in a simple manner.
All too often, policy generators create complicated legal texts which users cannot understand. However, in the case of iubenda’s legal texts, they are very easy to follow. Any user who clicks on the policy will understand what it’s about, and depending on this, they can refuse or accept the cookie services in a truly informed manner.
Iubenda’s cookie policies not only feature all the necessary clauses, but they also take the extra step to ensure that the reader actually understands the text. This is achieved through quick introductory sections of the policies which feature user-friendly icons and short paragraphs.
Policy Integration
Integrating iubenda’s privacy or cookie policy into your website is possible in three ways:
- Adding a footer widget to your website
- Using a direct link to the privacy policy
- Direct embedding the privacy policy text
All these methods of integrating the policy have one thing in common: they all call iubenda’s API from the back-end. This means that the content of the privacy policy is hosted on iubenda’s server, and you are basically just linking to it.
It’s not exactly a disadvantage, though, as this allows iubenda to continuously update your policies. And, it allows you to add services to your policy without typing a single word of text.
We tried all three integration methods for this iubenda review. The most effective and easy way of integrating the policy proved to be the first. And that is, integrating the policy with a widget (basically just short HTML code).
Cookie Solutions
Iubenda’s Cookie Solutions help make websites compliant with the GDPR by utilizing cookie banners, cookie policies, and cookie blocking management. With the help of iubenda’s plugins, the setup process is effortless and easy.
We were very satisfied with the overall performance of the solution. And, we were very happy to see it included in the $27/year Pro license. You will need this license to buy a privacy policy in any case, and the cookie solution is a very welcome bonus.
Websites which use third-party cookies together with their own cookies must obtain the user’s expressed content. Even if cookie gathering is only done for analytical purposes. Therefore, iubenda’s Cookie Solutions proves itself necessary.
This might explain why they packaged the solution in their $27 Pro license. It’s a crucial feature, and no other policy generators on the market offer it. For just $2 per month, you can not only have cookie & privacy policies in place, but also a whole system which tracks cookie consent from users.
iubenda’s Cookie Banner
The cookie banner is the most noticeable and important feature of iubenda’s Cookie Solution. Its main function is to gather informed consent from all users who enter the website.
Here is an example of iubenda’s cookie banner being placed in the top section of a website:
The cookie banner gives users a very brief overview of the cookie consent process and guides them to the actual cookie policy for further information. In the example, the final clause states that if the user as much as scrolls the page, they are agreeing to the use of cookies.
If you want all of your user consents to be informed, then you might want to consider customizing the cookie banner and removing this feature. Many users will scroll on accident before even reading the banner. Therefore, it could be argued in court that the users were never truly informed of your cookie policies. Thankfully, the cookie banners are easily customisable. Therefore, you can add and remove any features you want.
Here is what the customization panel looks like for the Cookie Solution:
Under the “Advanced View” tab, you will be able to change all the small details of the banner. Once you are satisfied with the design of the banner, you can save it and move on to integration.
Cookie Banner Integration
Integrating iubenda’s Cookie Solutions with your website is possible in two ways.
- Through a plugin – currently available for WordPress, Joomla!, and Prestashop
- Copying iubenda’s code to your website’s HEAD section
While copying the code directly to the head section of your HTML code takes more hassle, it’s likely the more effective method. You will avoid slowing down your page with extra plugins, and you will be able to control exactly which pages contain the Cookie Solution by doing this.
However, we also tested iubenda’s WordPress plugin for this review, and it worked without issues. In order to activate it, you need to copy-paste the Cookie Solution script from iubenda into your plugin. Afterward, you can set your preferred settings, and voila! – the plugin automatically inserts the cookie banner to all of your website’s pages. You can find iubenda’s WordPress plugin here.
Consent Solution
The burden of proving obtained and informed consent from your users lies on you. Therefore, it’s necessary to have a mechanism in place which both collects and keeps track of user consent. Iubenda’s Consent Solution is an excellent software solution for this, but it does cost a premium compared to the Pro plan. The Consent Solution comes packaged together with the Internal Privacy Management Tool, and it’s priced at $39 per month.
Iubenda’s Consent Solution takes user consent one step further from the Cookie Solution, by creating a platform where you can:
- Add, revoke, manage user consent
- Store individual privacy preferences for each user
- Keep track of consent notifications for each user
- Access the history of consents of each user
- Track the specific legal notice which the user accepted
- Track offline consents, such as those on paper
All of these features work together to streamline the consent gathering and managing process to the maximum. If you truly want your website or app to be compliant with the GDPR, then having a consent managing system in place is crucial. If you fail to do so, you will be in trouble if a user wishes to exercise their right to be forgotten.
Advantages of iubenda’s Consent Solution
The primary advantage of all the before mentioned features is that they will allow you to prove informed consent to authorities. With iubenda’s Consent solution, you can demonstrate exactly where, when, and how you obtained consent from the user.
In addition, the Consent Solution platform is useful when a user requests to have his or her personal data revoked. Having a system in place to deal with users who wish to exercise their right to be forgotten is a requirement of the GDPR.
And, iubenda’s Consent Solution takes care of this aspect perfectly. Managing user consents is easier than ever before, and you will save yourself valuable time and money by utilizing the platform.
Without iubenda’s Consent Solution, consent management becomes messy. Identifying exactly which of your thousands of users is the one who asked to be forgotten becomes an impossible mission. Larger websites receive thousands or more consents daily.
Without a consent solution, there is no way to tell them apart from each other. Iubenda’s Consent Solution solves this issue, as the platform stores additional information about each consent. This allows you to identify the person further down the line if necessary. With the help of iubenda’s consent solution, you can also delete a user’s personal data quickly and effortlessly.
All in all, our review of iubenda’s Consent solution proved that the platform does exactly what it needs to do. It’s highly effective at managing user consents, and a crucial component of a GDPR-compliant online business.
Internal Privacy Management
Iubenda’s internal privacy management tool comes together with the Consent Solution. Their purpose is to create an all-inclusive GDPR software solution. The role of the internal privacy management tool is to manage and document all data collection services, plus the parties (members) involved with each type of data. The two working in unison create an all-round excellent GDPR solution for an organization.
The internal privacy management tool has numerous features which work in unison with the other three software solutions offered by iubenda. The internal privacy management tool integrates seamlessly with iubenda’s Privacy & Cookie Policy, Cookie Solution, and Consent Solution. Using a combination of these four together will make your organization truly GDPR compliant.
The internal privacy management tool allows you to:
- Describe, report, and define all data processing activities individually
- Define security measures for your data collection activities
- Assign members to each data collection activity and define their roles
- Manage multiple projects within the same iubenda account
- Define retention policies for your data collection activities
Iubenda’s guide to the internal privacy management tool goes into greater detail about the possibilities of the platform. They also offer an in-depth tutorial for setting up internal privacy management for your organization.
The process of setting up iubenda’s internal privacy management tool seems confusing and daunting at first. However, if you go through the tutorials and follow along with the documentation, it should not take more than an hour or two to have your organization set up.
And, once you do manage to set up the system, you can rest assured that your organization is finally fully GDPR compliant. As such, you can relax, knowing that your data collection methods are lawful, documented, and readily accessible whenever needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is iubenda good?
Iubenda is good – in fact, it’s the most comprehensive document generator available. You can use it for terms and conditions, disclaimers, privacy policies and more for full legal protection.
How much does iubenda cost?
iubenda is a subscription service and you can pay anywhere from about $70 per year to $200 per year.
Is iubenda a good for privacy policy generator?
iubenda is a good privacy policy generator that has a lot of customization.
Is iubenda a one time payment or recurring payment?
iubenda runs on a subscription model and you can pay monthly or annually.
Conclusion
Our iubenda review was a highly positive experience overall. Iubenda’s solutions were compliant with international legislation, while being easy to use and understand for the end-user.
The $27 per year Pro license covers all basic necessities for a website or app, and its easily updateable whenever needed. Our own privacy & cookie policies are created by iubenda, and we are very satisfied with them.
The premium package costing $39 per month is not a necessity for smaller websites or apps. However, for larger organizations, its an incredibly valuable tool. It will ensure absolute compliance with the GDPR under all situations, and it will automate all services related to consent management.
All in all, iubenda is a highly sophisticated, easy to use software solution. If you want your website or app to comply with international regulations as much as possible, then iubenda is the best platform for achieving this.