SecureSpells vs Termly: Complete Comparison (2026)

Termly creates policies and consent solutions — privacy policies, cookie banners, and consent management. SecureSpells audits real behaviour: what actually runs on your website before consent, hidden trackers, and runtime compliance. They solve different problems: Termly for documentation and consent UI; SecureSpells for verifying that your site does not violate GDPR in practice. This comparison explains the key difference and when to use each (or both).

Termly: A tool that helps generate and host privacy policies, terms, and cookie consent banners, and manage consent preferences. Its primary focus is consent, policy, and compliance workflow management. Teams that need deeper runtime behavior testing often use an additional runtime auditing tool.
SecureSpells: A runtime compliance auditor that runs your site in a real browser and reports what actually loads and when — e.g. trackers firing before consent, hidden third-party requests. It does not create policies; it detects whether your website behaviour is compliant.
Policies vs behaviour: Termly helps you document what you do (policies) and collect consent (banner). SecureSpells verifies what your site actually does at runtime. Policies and banners can be in place while tracking still runs before consent — only an audit shows the truth.

Termly focuses on policy creation and consent management; SecureSpells focuses on technical verification. Having a policy and a banner does not guarantee that no tracking runs before consent — tags can be misconfigured or load outside the consent flow. Only a runtime audit shows what really happens. This article compares the two and explains when to use each. For product and pricing, see SecureSpells and pricing. Learn more: Best GDPR compliance scanners in 2026.

Key difference: policy tool vs behaviour audit

Termly = policy and consent tool. It helps you create privacy policies, terms, and cookie consent banners, and manage user preferences. It is designed to help you document and collect consent.

SecureSpells = behaviour audit. It runs your website in a real browser and reports whether trackers run before consent, what third-party requests are made, and other technical compliance risks. It does not create policies; it verifies that your site respects consent in practice.

They are complementary: use Termly (or similar) for policies and consent UI; use SecureSpells to verify that your site actually waits for consent.

Why behaviour audit matters even with Termly

Policy and consent tools help you document and present choices; they do not by themselves ensure that no tracking runs before consent on your website. Scripts can load before the banner is shown, fire before the consent state is set, or run outside Termly’s control. Runtime audit is one of the most reliable ways to verify actual behaviour. SecureSpells answers: “Given our Termly (or other) setup, does our site really wait for consent?” Learn more: Why runtime GDPR scanning detects real violations.

Audit your site: See if any trackers run before consent — whether you use Termly or another tool.

Audit now: SecureSpells.

When to use Termly

Use Termly when you need to:

Generate and host privacy policies, terms of service, or cookie notices.
Add a cookie consent banner and manage user preferences.
Keep policies up to date as your data practices change.

Termly does not replace the need to audit that your website actually blocks tracking until consent.

When to use SecureSpells

Use SecureSpells when you need to:

Verify that no trackers run before consent on your site.
Find misconfigured tags or hidden scripts that bypass your consent setup.
Get a clear technical report of compliance risks (pre-consent tracking, third-party requests).

Use it alongside Termly: Termly for policies and consent; SecureSpells for runtime verification.

Can you use both?

Yes. Recommended: use Termly (or another policy/consent tool) for privacy policies and consent banners — and use SecureSpells to audit your website and confirm that nothing non-essential runs before consent. Run the audit after changes to tracking or consent logic.

Comparison notes and sources

Last verified: 2026-02-10
Based on publicly available product documentation and positioning pages; capabilities can change over time.
Termly source: https://termly.io/products/cookie-consent-manager/

Final takeaway

Termly creates policies and consent; SecureSpells audits real behaviour. Both matter: policies for transparency, audit for technical truth. Audit now: SecureSpells.

Run a free compliance audit: SecureSpells — see what runs before consent.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between SecureSpells and Termly?

Termly is a policy and consent tool: it helps you create privacy policies, terms, and cookie consent banners. SecureSpells is a runtime compliance auditor: it runs your site in a real browser and reports whether trackers run before consent. One helps with documentation and consent UI; the other verifies website behaviour.

Do I need SecureSpells if I use Termly?

Termly primarily focuses on policies/consent workflows. To verify runtime behavior on the live site, many teams add a dedicated runtime testing tool (e.g. SecureSpells). Using both is common: Termly for policies/consent, SecureSpells for runtime verification.

Why does runtime audit matter with Termly?

Having a policy and a banner does not guarantee that scripts wait for consent. Tags can fire before the consent state is set or load outside the consent flow. A runtime audit is the most reliable way to show what actually runs and when at scale. SecureSpells answers: “Does our site really wait for consent given our Termly setup?”

How do I test if my Termly setup is working on the website?

Run a runtime compliance scan: visit your site without accepting cookies and check whether any non-essential tracking runs. SecureSpells does this automatically: Run free audit. If trackers run before consent, your tag or consent configuration needs fixing.

SecureSpells vs Termly: Complete Comparison (2026)