Google Tag Manager loads every tool from the vendors’ servers into your visitors’ browsers. Zaraz runs Google Analytics and the Meta pixel on Cloudflare, through your domain and only after consent in the cookie banner.
All I need for the call is your website address.
Your visitors’ browser first loads Google’s container and then every tool in it, straight from each vendor. Every tool brings its own JavaScript and receives the full IP address.
The browser loads a small script from your domain. Cloudflare runs Google Analytics and the Meta pixel on its servers and only passes on what you allow.
For a website with Google Analytics, Google Ads, the Meta pixel and LinkedIn, Zaraz fits. Google Tag Manager is the better fit if your team builds custom tags every day or uses tools Zaraz has no integration for.
A check mark shows who leads in each row. For Google Tag Manager I assume the free version.
Question
Google Tag Manager
Cloudflare Zaraz
Where do the tools run?
In your visitors’ browsers
Advantage:On Cloudflare, custom HTML still in the browser
Where does the browser load code from?
From Google and from every vendor
Advantage:From your own domain
Cookie banner
Not included, you need an extra banner such as Cookiebot
Advantage:Built in, with categories and multiple languages
What starts before consent?
The container, and in advanced Consent Mode the Google tags too
Advantage:Only the Zaraz script and banner, no tool with a category
Google Consent Mode v2
Through your banner provider
Built in, for Google Analytics and Google Ads
What Google and Meta see
Full IP address and complete URL
Advantage:IP address trimmed, URL parameters removed, if you turn that on
Server-side tracking
Your own tagging server in Google Cloud
Advantage:Built in, Cloudflare is the server
Running costs
Free, tagging server from about $90 a month
Advantage:One million events a month free, then $5 per million
Ready-made templates
Advantage:Large community template gallery
32 integrations, plus custom HTML
Preview and versions
Advantage:Preview with Tag Assistant, workspaces, permissions per person
Debug mode, preview, version history
Events in Google Analytics
Advantage:Enhanced measurement automatically: scrolls, downloads, outbound links
Page view, session and first visit, everything else as a custom event
Pick an answer in the cookie banner. The two logs show which requests the browser makes with Google Tag Manager and with Zaraz.
With Google Tag Manager
File
Server
gtm.js
googletagmanager.com
Google knows your IP address before you consent.
With Cloudflare Zaraz
File
Server
init
[your domain]
main
[your domain]
No request to Google or Meta yet.
Simplified. GTM column with Consent Mode in basic mode. In advanced mode, the Google tags load before consent and send measurements without cookies.
01
Google Analytics and the Meta pixel load 293 KB of JavaScript in the browser. With Zaraz, the browser loads a single 9 KB script instead, and the tools themselves run on Cloudflare. Your visitors’ phones have less code to download and run.
02
If you want, Zaraz trims the IP address and strips URL parameters before data goes to Google or Meta. That way, no email address from a link ends up at Google.
03
Zaraz comes with its own cookie banner with categories, so you don’t need a second one from Cookiebot or Usercentrics. I style it with my Zaraz Consent Banner Designer in your colors and fonts.
04
With Google Tag Manager, you need a tagging server in Google Cloud for this. Google recommends at least two instances at about $45 a month each. With Zaraz, Cloudflare is the server, so you don’t pay for or maintain one of your own.
A Zaraz event is a page view or a custom event such as a click. Pick your numbers, and the calculator uses Cloudflare’s and Google’s list prices.
Zaraz events a month
200,000
Cloudflare Zaraz
0USD
a month, 1 million events a month free
Tagging server with Google Tag Manager
from 90USD
a month, 2 servers at about $45 each, without a preview server
Prices excluding tax. Cloudflare as of April 16, 2026, Google as of May 12, 2026. Above one million events you need Zaraz Paid, otherwise Cloudflare switches Zaraz off until the next billing period.
01
Zaraz knows 32 tools. Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity or a testing tool run there as custom HTML, back in the browser. The more of those you have, the smaller the advantage.
02
Google Tag Manager has the more mature workspace: preview with Tag Assistant, separate workspaces and permissions per person. If you set up new campaign tags every week, you’ll work more comfortably there.
03
Zaraz needs a domain or subdomain that runs through Cloudflare. If your IT doesn’t allow that, Google Tag Manager stays the simpler option.
We’ll work out which case applies to you in the free 30-minute check.
01
I export your GTM container and list every tag with its trigger, variables and category in the cookie banner.
02
Your domain then runs through Cloudflare. I carry over the mail records and coordinate the switch with your IT.
03
Every tag becomes a Zaraz tool with a fixed category in the cookie banner. I set up custom events such as forms or downloads from scratch.
04
Only once every event arrives in Zaraz do I remove the container from your website. Then we put the before and after numbers side by side.
Yes, Zaraz only works on domains or subdomains that run through Cloudflare. In my projects, I move the DNS zone to Cloudflare and carry over the mail records. For Webflow websites, this works with every Cloudflare plan, including the free one.
Yes. Zaraz comes with ready-made integrations for Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, the Meta pixel and LinkedIn Insight. For Meta, I add an access token for the Conversions API so events go straight from Cloudflare to Meta. Browser extensions such as Meta Pixel Helper no longer see these events. The Zaraz debugger shows them instead.
Several German law firms report on a ruling by the Hannover Administrative Court of March 19, 2025 (case 10 A 5385/22): Tag Manager is neither technically necessary nor explicitly requested by the visitor, so under Section 25 of the German TDDDG it needs consent. With Zaraz, the tools wait for consent, and before that only the Zaraz script loads from your domain. Whether your setup holds up legally is something to clarify with your data protection officer or a law firm.
The gateway routes Google tags through your own domain, and Cloudflare offers it for free. But the tags still run in the browser, the data still goes to Google, and it only covers Google tags. For consent, you still need Consent Mode and a cookie banner such as Cookiebot or Usercentrics. Zaraz handles both in one place.
That depends on your container: how many tags move, how many custom events you need and whether your domain already runs through Cloudflare. If you like, I’ll send you a written quote after the free 30-minute check. You can work out the running costs at Cloudflare yourself above.
Zaraz doesn’t bring more consents: anyone who declines isn’t counted. For visitors who agreed, though, the data takes a different route. The widely used EasyPrivacy filter list blocks googletagmanager.com, while Zaraz requests go through your domain and custom paths.
gtag.js 179 KB, fbevents.js 114 KB, Zaraz script on christianschmitt.dev 9 KB, each as transferred size. The GTM container itself isn’t counted. Since August 2026, Google can skip the gtag.js file in optimized containers (opt-in).
We’ll look at it together in the free 30-minute check. Afterwards you know whether switching to Zaraz pays off for you.