Complianz
👤 Rogier Lankhorst (Built Really Simple SSL first (6M+ installs, top-10 WP plugin), so Complianz launched into a captive audience the day GDPR bit.)🌐 sitereally-simple-ssl.com𝕏LinkedIn
GDPR made a cookie banner mandatory overnight. Complianz shipped one into an audience of millions it already had.
Will it work? · our read
Distribution first. A commodity GDPR banner won because it shipped into 6M+ existing installs the moment the law bit. Ordinary product, rare funnel — audience was the moat, not a feature.
01How the money moves
GDPR (May 2018) makes cookie consent + a policy mandatory for every EU-facing site
→
Owner installs the free Complianz plugin; it auto-scans cookies and builds a region-aware banner
→
Owner upgrades to Premium ($59-399/yr) for multi-region, consent records + integrations
02The numbers
1M+
active installs
WP.org
6M+
sibling SSL plugin base
team.blue
$5-27M
'23 team.blue sale, est.
dealmaker
No first-party revenue disclosed; freemium at $59-399/yr on 1M+ installs. WordPress.org
Private freemium plugin; only public money figure is the '23 team.blue sale (third-party est.).
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WordPress.org — 1M+ active installs, 4.7 stars (1,645 reviews), updated Jun 2026team.blue newsroom — Dec 2023 acquisition; Really Simple SSL 6M+ installs, top-10 WP plugincomplianz.io/pricing — free + Personal $59 / Professional $179 / Agency $399 per yearRogier Lankhorst bio — built Really Simple SSL (2015), co-founded Complianz (2018) after GDPRdealmaker.nl — third-party estimate of the team.blue deal at EUR 5-25M (both plugins)
No first-party revenue is disclosed. Complianz is a private freemium plugin; the only public money figure is dealmaker.nl's third-party estimate (EUR 5-25M / about $5-27M) for the Dec 2023 team.blue deal — which covered BOTH Really Simple SSL and Complianz, so it is NOT Complianz revenue. Marked EST / unverified. Hard facts: 1M+ active installs and 4.7 stars (WordPress.org), free + $59-399/yr pricing (complianz.io), founded June 2018 by Rogier Lankhorst with Aert Hulsebos and Leon Wimmenhoeve, in direct response to GDPR. The distribution-moat framing is [our read], but the sequence (Really Simple SSL first, Complianz weeks after GDPR enforcement) is factual and confirmed. We never score you.