Why we're building AlpineConsent

Most cookie-consent plugins are heavier than they need to be. On a modern site that's an annoyance; on an old WordPress install running on modest hosting, a bloated consent script can noticeably drag down load time — for a piece of UI whose whole job is to appear before anything else does.

The signal that started AlpineConsent was concrete: a developer running an older WordPress site, paying a recurring fee for a consent plugin that was slower and heavier than it had any reason to be, for a job that's fundamentally simple — show a banner, remember a choice, block a few scripts until consent is given.

What we're building instead:

• A core loader with a hard, CI-enforced size budget (5 KB gzipped) — not a target we hope to hit, a limit that fails the build if crossed.
• A native WordPress plugin from day one, not a "coming later" integration — WordPress is where the original pain point actually was, and still is a large share of the web.
• EU hosting by default, in Austria and Germany, because "made in the EU" is a real purchasing criterion for the audience we're building for, not a slogan.
• Honest defaults: equal visual prominence for Accept and Reject — not a dark pattern with one button styled to disappear.

We're early — Phase 0, core engine and WordPress plugin still being built. This blog will track what actually ships, in the same spirit as the changelog: real progress, not a marketing timeline.