A payment processor, an ad platform or a form tool asks for a privacy policy URL, and the first generator you find will hand you one for free. The open question is what happens to that text on day 200, after the law, your site or your business has moved and the document has not.
The moment the URL gets requested
This post compares what four generators’ own plan pages say. It is not legal advice, and it does not say which clauses a given site needs or whether any policy satisfies a particular processor or platform. What a processor asks for is written on its own page, and that page is the one to read. The single question here is narrow: what happens to the policy text after the day it is generated, and which paid features act on it.
Disclosure: followedapp is published by the team behind RecurPost, and RecurPost is a covered vendor under the same rules as every other vendor. None of the four generators below is a RecurPost product. Prices verified 2026-10-15 from each vendor’s own pricing page. This is not Watchdog data and it is not on the re-verification schedule, so check the live page before buying. Consent banner pricing is a separate meter and is not compared here.
What each vendor’s plan page says is free
Every cell comes from the vendor’s pricing page, fetched 2026-10-15. Where a page did not state something in readable text, the cell says so.
| Vendor | Free allowance | Branding on free output | Hosting or embed | Source, fetched 2026-10-15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iubenda | Page says “Start with the free plan”. Limits not stated. | Not stated for free. Paid levels are labelled “Mild” (lower two) and “Full” (top) branding capability. | Not stated for free. | iubenda.com/en/pricing |
| Termly | 1 basic legal policy, quarterly cookie scans, 10,000/mo banner views. | Logo removal is checked only under Pro+ and Agency. | “HTML embeddable policies” on Free. Hosted policies that stay current in real time are checked only under Pro+ and Agency. | termly.io/pricing |
| WebsitePolicies | “Create a free basic policy”. Table: 1 basic policy, 1 revision, 1 website. | “Removable branding” is No for Basic and Starter, Yes from Professional. | “HTML embeddable policies” is No for Basic, Yes for paid tiers. | websitepolicies.com/pricing |
| GetTerms | A free version is mentioned, with no free column. Limits not readable. | “The free version of our policies and consent banner includes GetTerms branding. You can remove this with any paid package.” | One row lists “Embed, HTML, Markdown, PDF”. Tier split not readable. | getterms.io/pricing |
One row deserves a second look. WebsitePolicies’ table marks “Suitable for commercial use” as No for Basic and Yes for every paid column. The page does not explain the row, so this post does not either.
What the paid tiers add, line by line
Prices are USD as shown on 2026-10-15. Termly’s page states no country, only a dollar sign.
- Termly. Starter, $10 per website per month billed annually or $14 billed monthly: 2 legal policies, 10 policy edits, monthly cookie scans, “Regulation monitoring”, “Regular policy updates”. Pro+, $15 annual or $20 monthly: unlimited policies and edits, weekly scans, “Auto-updated policies”, logo removal, multi-language support.
- WebsitePolicies. Starter, $59 per year: 3 policies, 10 revisions per policy, 1 website or app, “Law monitoring & updates”. Professional, $99 per year: all policies, unlimited revisions, multi-language support. Business, $249 per year (shown struck through to $139 under a “Boxing Week” label): Professional plus 5 websites or apps. The page says policies come in 25+ languages and offers a 7 day, 100% refund.
- GetTerms. A Monthly, Annual (save 33%) and Lifetime toggle. Starter: $5/mo annual, $9/mo monthly, $199 lifetime, per website. Business: $8/mo annual, $12/mo monthly, $249 lifetime. Only Business lists unlimited policy edits, “Regulation Monitoring” and multi-language support. The page says 7 languages.
- Iubenda. Essentials, $5.99 per site per month billed yearly or $6.99 monthly: policy with up to 20 services, one language, monthly site scans. Advanced, $24.99 or $27.99: up to 30 services, Terms and Conditions, all languages, monthly scans. Ultimate, $99.99 or $119.99: unlimited services, hourly scans, full branding removal. Taxes excluded.
Updates, law monitoring, edits, revisions and languages act on the policy text. Scans act on your site and only notify you. Branding removal, banner views and extra licences act on something else.
What stays static when the law or the site changes
Three triggers, covered unevenly.
A change in the law is the one every vendor addresses. Iubenda lists under “All plans include” the line “Auto-updates: Stays current when laws change.” Termly says “Our legal team monitors global privacy laws and publishes updates to keep your policies compliant”, and its table checks that row for Starter, Pro+ and Agency but not Free. WebsitePolicies’ FAQ says its legal team “continuously monitors” the law and “makes appropriate updates to the generators and related legal policies”, while its table marks “Law monitoring & free updates” and “Self-updating policies” No for Basic. GetTerms lists “Regulation Monitoring” on the Business card only, though a separate row says HTML embeds allow “changes live from our app” to “keep them up to date with global privacy laws”, without naming a tier.
A change on your site, such as a new tracker or form field, is mostly a scan question. Iubenda’s monthly scans exist “to identify new services added and to notify you of any compliance issues”. Termly describes scheduled scans as a way to “ensure your banner and policies remain up-to-date”. WebsitePolicies’ table has no site scan row for policies, and GetTerms’ scanner tiers were not readable.
A change in the business, such as a new product, is silent on every page. The only mechanism offered is the edit. Termly’s page says edits keep policies “up-to-date when your business or international legislation changes”, 10 on Starter and none listed on Free.
So a free policy generated today is a snapshot unless a page says otherwise. Termly frames Free as for businesses “still in the start-up or development phase”, and Iubenda’s page is silent on its free plan’s updates. On which laws the text addresses, only vendor wording is used here: Termly says 28 laws including GDPR, UK GDPR, PIPEDA, CCPA and CalOPPA; WebsitePolicies names GDPR, CCPA, CPRA and PIPEDA; GetTerms names GDPR, CCPA, PIPEDA and APP. Whether that fits your jurisdiction is a question for a lawyer.
A worked example: a storefront with one lead form
This is illustrative, not a real business: a one-person storefront with one email form and one analytics tag. Costs are for the cheapest paid tier whose page lists updates or law monitoring, one site, twelve months, tax excluded. Where a page does not say how an annual rate is invoiced, the assumption is twelve times the monthly rate.
- Termly Starter: $10 x 12 = $120 billed annually, or $14 x 12 = $168 monthly.
- WebsitePolicies Starter: $59 for the year.
- GetTerms Business: $8 x 12 = $96 annual rate, $12 x 12 = $144 monthly, or $249 once. Starter does not list regulation monitoring.
- Iubenda Essentials: $5.99 x 12 = $71.88 billed yearly, or $6.99 x 12 = $83.88 monthly.
At launch, the update line and embed method matter, because the URL is pasted into a processor form once. After a second tracker, the relevant features are scans (Termly Starter and Iubenda Essentials both monthly), Iubenda’s 20 service cap, and edits (10 on Termly Starter, 10 per policy on WebsitePolicies Starter, unlimited on GetTerms Business). After a second language, Termly needs Pro+ at $15 x 12 = $180, WebsitePolicies needs Professional at $99, GetTerms Business already includes it at $96, and Iubenda needs Advanced at $24.99 x 12 = $299.88. The form creates the need for the URL; for how such tools are metered, see response-metered form tools.
How the paid features are metered
Termly charges per website per month. Its page says each plan includes one website, extra websites are “Pay per license”, and it shows a bulk discount at 5 or more licences, with Agency custom. WebsitePolicies sells a plan per year covering 1 website or app, or 5 on Business. GetTerms charges per website, with “Domains Supported” at 1, 1 and 5+. Iubenda charges per site per month, and its banner is separately capped by pageviews. A second site means another licence or site fee at Termly, GetTerms and Iubenda, and a move to the Business tier at WebsitePolicies.
A decision checklist for the free-versus-paid call
- Does the free output carry branding, and which tier removes it? Termly Pro+, WebsitePolicies Professional, any GetTerms paid package, Iubenda’s top level for full removal.
- Does the free plan include updates? Termly and WebsitePolicies say no. Iubenda’s and GetTerms’ pages do not say.
- How many languages, on which tier? One at Iubenda Essentials, 7 at GetTerms, 25+ at WebsitePolicies from Professional, Pro+ at Termly.
- Is there a scan that notifies you when the site changes, and how often?
- How many edits before the next tier, against how often your products change?
- What happens on cancellation? WebsitePolicies’ FAQ says you may cancel at any time and “still be able to access and use your policies for as long as you like”. The Termly, Iubenda and GetTerms pages did not say. Iubenda offers a 14 day refund and Termly a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Where to go next
If the lead form is the next decision, read about response-metered form tools. For another document where a template covers only so much, see the legal template service for a brand deal contract. Then open each vendor’s live pricing page before paying.
FAQ
Does the policy update itself on a paid plan?
These are vendor claims from plan pages, not statements that any policy is legally sufficient. Iubenda says “Auto-updates: Stays current when laws change.” Termly lists “Regular policy updates” on Starter and “Auto-updated policies” on Pro+. WebsitePolicies lists “Law monitoring & updates” from Starter. GetTerms lists “Regulation Monitoring” on Business. Scans notify you and do not rewrite your text.
What happens to the policy if I stop paying?
Only WebsitePolicies’ page says: cancel at any time and “still be able to access and use your policies for as long as you like”. The Termly, Iubenda and GetTerms pricing pages did not state it on 2026-10-15, so ask the vendor before relying on a hosted or embedded policy.
Sources
- Termly pricing, fetched 2026-10-15, HTTP 200.
- Iubenda pricing, fetched 2026-10-15, HTTP 200.
- WebsitePolicies pricing, fetched 2026-10-15, HTTP 200.
- GetTerms pricing, fetched 2026-10-15, HTTP 200.