Selling age-restricted products on Shopify requires an age verification gate between your storefront and the customer. Whether you sell alcohol, tobacco, vaping products, CBD, cannabis accessories, or certain supplements, failing to verify customer age exposes your business to legal liability, fines, and potential license revocation.
Shopify does not include native age verification functionality. You need a third-party app to display an age gate popup, collect date-of-birth information or ID verification, and restrict access to customers who do not meet the minimum age requirement. The best apps accomplish this while minimizing friction for legitimate customers and maintaining compliance with varying state and federal regulations.
This guide reviews the 7 best Shopify age verification apps, covering compliance features, customization options, and pricing.
When Do You Need an Age Verification App?
Age verification is legally required for online sales of:
- Alcohol: All US states require age verification for online alcohol sales
- Tobacco and vaping: Federal law requires age verification for tobacco and nicotine products
- Cannabis and CBD: State-specific requirements, often including ID verification
- Firearms and ammunition: Federal requirements plus state-specific regulations
- Adult content: Industry-standard practice with varying legal requirements
- Certain supplements: Some jurisdictions restrict sale of specific supplements to minors
Even if your jurisdiction does not explicitly mandate an age gate, payment processors like Stripe and PayPal often require one as a condition of processing payments for restricted categories.
Which Age Verification App Should You Use?
| App | Starting Price | Best For | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| AgeVerify | $7/mo | Simple, reliable age gate popup | 4.5/5 |
| AgePop | Free – $4.99/mo | Budget-friendly age verification | 4.6/5 |
| AgeChecker.Net | $29/mo | ID document verification for high-compliance | 4.7/5 |
| Hulk Age Verification | Free – $9.90/mo | Customizable design with page-specific rules | 4.5/5 |
| EasyAge | Free – $4.99/mo | Quick setup with minimal configuration | 4.4/5 |
| Ablestar Age Verification | $5/mo | Lightweight popup with cookie-based return visits | 4.5/5 |
| Verify | Free – $9.99/mo | Multi-method verification with analytics | 4.3/5 |
What Are the Best Shopify Age Verification Apps?
1. AgeChecker.Net (Top Pick for Compliance)
AgeChecker.Net provides the most comprehensive age verification solution for Shopify, going beyond simple popups to offer real identity document verification. The app can verify age through date-of-birth entry, government ID upload and scanning, and third-party database checks against DMV and public records. For cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco stores that need to demonstrate robust compliance, AgeChecker provides audit trails and verification records that hold up to regulatory scrutiny. The app integrates with checkout to prevent age-restricted orders from processing without verification.
Pricing: $29/month for Standard; $79/month for Enhanced with ID verification; custom for Enterprise.
Best for: Stores in highly regulated categories (cannabis, alcohol) needing document-level age verification.
2. AgeVerify
AgeVerify is the most widely installed Shopify age verification app, offering a clean, customizable popup that asks visitors to confirm their age before accessing your store. The app supports yes/no confirmation, date-of-birth entry, and dropdown age selection. The popup is fully customizable — change colors, fonts, background images, and messaging to match your brand. AgeVerify sets a cookie so verified visitors are not asked again on return visits. Page-level controls let you apply the age gate to specific collections or products rather than your entire store.
Pricing: $7/month flat rate; includes unlimited pageviews and full customization.
Best for: Stores needing a reliable, well-designed age gate popup with straightforward pricing.
3. AgePop
AgePop delivers age verification at the lowest cost in the category with a clean, mobile-responsive popup. The free plan includes a fully functional age gate with date-of-birth entry and cookie-based return visitor recognition. The paid plan adds custom styling, background images, and page-specific targeting. AgePop's popup loads asynchronously so it does not slow down your page speed, and the mobile design adapts cleanly to all screen sizes. For stores that need a basic, reliable age gate without advanced compliance features, AgePop provides maximum value.
Pricing: Free with AgePop branding; $4.99/month for premium with custom branding and styling.
Best for: Budget-conscious stores needing basic age verification with minimal monthly cost.
4. Hulk Age Verification
Hulk Age Verification combines age gating with advanced page-targeting rules. You can apply different age gates to different pages — a 21+ verification for alcohol collections and an 18+ verification for tobacco products on the same store. The customization options are extensive: custom CSS support, multiple popup templates, background video support, and full control over messaging and layout. Hulk also provides analytics on verification completion rates, bounce rates at the age gate, and visitor demographics from entered dates of birth.
Pricing: Free for basic popup; $9.90/month for full customization and page-specific rules.
Best for: Stores selling multiple age-restricted categories with different age requirements.
5. EasyAge
EasyAge focuses on getting an age gate live in under 5 minutes with zero configuration required. Install the app, enable it, and a clean age verification popup appears on your store immediately. The default design works well out of the box with most Shopify themes. Optional customization lets you adjust colors, text, and verification method. EasyAge supports both sitewide and page-specific verification, and the cookie duration is configurable from session-only to 30 days. The simplicity comes at the cost of advanced features — no ID verification, no analytics, no multi-tier age rules.
Pricing: Free for basic sitewide popup; $4.99/month for customization and page targeting.
Best for: Store owners who want an age gate running immediately with no setup time.
6. Ablestar Age Verification
Ablestar Age Verification provides a lightweight, fast-loading age popup with a focus on not impacting site performance. The app adds under 5KB to your page weight, making it one of the lightest age verification solutions available. Ablestar supports date-of-birth entry with validation, yes/no confirmation, and custom messaging. The cookie system remembers verified visitors and the popup is fully responsive across devices. Ablestar integrates cleanly with Shopify's Online Store 2.0 themes and does not conflict with other popup or modal apps.
Pricing: $5/month flat rate with all features included.
Best for: Stores running multiple apps that need an age gate with zero performance impact.
7. Verify
Verify offers multiple verification methods in a single app: yes/no confirmation, date-of-birth entry, checkbox acknowledgment, and custom question-based verification. The multi-method approach lets you choose the right balance between compliance rigor and customer friction. Verify's analytics dashboard tracks verification rates, bounce rates, and geographic distribution of verified visitors. The app supports custom redirect pages for visitors who fail verification, rather than simply blocking access. A/B testing of different verification methods helps you find the approach that maximizes compliance while minimizing abandonment.
Pricing: Free for basic verification; $4.99/month for analytics; $9.99/month for full customization and A/B testing.
Best for: Stores that want to test and optimize different verification methods.
How Do You Minimize the Conversion Impact of Age Verification?
Age gates inevitably add friction, but smart implementation reduces the impact:
Match verification to risk level: Use simple yes/no confirmation for low-risk categories and reserve ID verification for high-risk products. Over-verifying drives away legitimate customers without meaningful compliance benefit for most product types.
Remember verified visitors: Every app in this guide supports cookie-based return visitor recognition. Set cookies for at least 7 days so returning customers do not face the age gate repeatedly.
Brand the experience: A generic, ugly age gate popup signals an amateur store. Customize the popup to match your brand with your logo, brand colors, and messaging that feels intentional rather than bolted-on.
Target specific pages: If only some products in your catalog are age-restricted, apply the age gate to those specific collections or product pages rather than sitewide. Customers browsing non-restricted products should not encounter an age gate.
The right app handles compliance requirements while keeping friction as low as legally permitted.