Over the past year, a growing number of organizations have begun reassessing their consent management strategy after significant changes to OneTrust’s pricing model. While the platform continues to deliver strong capabilities in compliance and integration, many long-time users have been caught off guard by dramatic cost increases.
The shift to usage-based pricing, driven by variables like tag volume and impressions, has introduced budgeting challenges and prompted many teams to explore more affordable Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) that meet regulatory requirements without compromising operational flexibility or data accuracy.
Marcel Digital provides support during these transitions by assisting with cookie consent tool implementation and analytics preservation. The focus is on helping teams adapt efficiently while maintaining accurate tracking and consistent marketing operations.
Why Organizations Are Leaving OneTrust
OneTrust initially emerged as a leading solution for scalable privacy compliance and consent management. Its comprehensive feature set made it an attractive option for organizations navigating complex regulations across regions and industries.
Recent changes to the platform’s pricing model have created concern among long-standing users. A shift toward variable pricing based on usage metrics such as impressions and tag volume has resulted in significant cost increases, particularly for high-traffic websites and teams with advanced tracking needs.
In addition to pricing challenges, some organizations have encountered restrictions around platform flexibility, unclear feature availability, and increased internal maintenance demands. These factors have contributed to a growing interest in CMP options that offer clearer pricing structures, smoother integration, and easier long-term management.
Key Considerations When Migrating CMPs
Switching from OneTrust to a new CMP involves more than simply swapping software. A successful migration requires strategic planning across several areas, especially for organizations that rely on analytics, digital advertising, or tag management to drive performance.
Here are some of the primary areas to evaluate before selecting a new platform:
Platform Compatibility and Flexibility
The first step is understanding the functional and technical capabilities your new CMP must support. Not all consent platforms offer the same level of customization. Some are rigid in design and behavior, while others allow greater flexibility to tailor consent experiences based on user behavior, region, or regulatory needs.
It’s important to assess which platforms align best with your existing tech stack, internal resources, and long-term digital goals. A comparative evaluation can help you determine what’s most sustainable and scalable for your business.
Analytics Tracking and Consent Logic
One of the most critical aspects of CMP migration is ensuring that analytics and tracking tools remain accurate and reliable. Consent platforms act as gatekeepers for user data, and if they’re not properly integrated with your analytics infrastructure, the result can be misfired tags, lost sessions, or incomplete attribution data.
During migration, it’s essential to audit your existing analytics configuration and rebuild consent logic in line with the new platform’s behavior. This ensures clean, compliant data collection that supports both measurement and optimization efforts.
Regional Consent Regulations
Privacy regulations vary widely by region, with distinct requirements in places like the European Union, California, Brazil, and others. Your next CMP should allow for tailored experiences by region, including banner messaging, opt-in types, and consent categories.
This requires more than just a default banner. It involves localization, proper classification of cookies and trackers, and user experience testing across devices and geographies. When done thoughtfully, it reduces compliance risk while building user trust across markets.
UI Design and User Experience
The design and placement of consent banners can significantly influence user engagement. A disruptive or poorly styled banner may frustrate users and lead to lower opt-in rates or higher bounce rates. The ideal CMP provides enough control over visual styling and behavior to create a seamless brand experience while still meeting regulatory requirements.
Designing a consent interface with the end user in mind can lead to stronger performance and higher opt-in rates without compromising on compliance.
Understanding the Analytics Impact of CMP Migration
Consent platforms directly influence how and when marketing and analytics tools are triggered. Migrating to a new CMP without realigning your analytics setup introduces risks, including:
- Loss of session tracking and user identification
- Inaccurate conversion attribution
- Broken event tagging or delayed tag firing
- Decreased data confidence across marketing channels
These issues can compromise not just reporting accuracy but also strategic decision-making. Marcel Digital works with in-house marketing and analytics teams to ensure a seamless transfer of data governance protocols from OneTrust to your new solution.
This includes updating your GTM (Google Tag Manager) configurations, revising consent modes, and testing full user flows to confirm compliant and accurate data collection. The result is a setup that aligns with privacy laws and business intelligence needs.
Alternatives to OneTrust: What Are the Options?
There is no single best alternative to OneTrust. The right platform depends on your organization’s goals, infrastructure, and compliance requirements. Some businesses benefit from licensed enterprise platforms that offer robust legal support and built-in reporting, while others lean toward lightweight or open-source solutions that offer more flexibility and control.
While Marcel Digital is not tied to any single CMP vendor, we work with a range of trusted platforms and help clients select and implement the option that best fits their environment. Our focus is on delivering a solution that integrates seamlessly with your analytics setup, supports compliance, and scales with your digital strategy.
Supporting the Migration Process End to End
Switching CMPs is not just a technology decision. It is a strategic initiative that affects legal compliance, user experience, analytics, and marketing performance. Marcel Digital provides full-service support across all stages of CMP migration:
- Current platform audit and consent logic mapping
- CMP evaluation and vendor comparison
- Analytics reconfiguration and tag alignment
- UI design and implementation of new banners
- Testing and QA to ensure complete functionality
- Ongoing support and data collection monitoring
We understand that privacy compliance should not come at the cost of performance or usability. Our team ensures that the migration process is efficient, well-documented, and aligned with your organization’s broader digital goals.
Make the Move with Confidence with Marcel Digital
As more companies move away from OneTrust, they face important decisions about where to go next. A successful CMP migration should not only solve for cost or frustration but create long-term value by aligning consent strategy with data performance.
Marcel Digital helps you make that move with confidence. With deep expertise in analytics, development, compliance, and user experience, we offer a holistic approach that turns CMP migration into an opportunity to improve your digital foundation.
Contact Marcel Digital today to start your CMP migration project with a partner who understands both the technical and strategic complexities of modern privacy management.
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About the author
Dan Kipp
Dan Kipp is the Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager guru at Marcel Digital. He loves traveling, cooking, sports, and spending spare time with friends and family.