Selling Alcohol, Vape, or CBD on Shopify? Here's the Age Gate That Won't Tank Your Conversion

Why an age gate isn't optional for some stores

Selling alcohol, vape products, tobacco, or CBD on Shopify without age verification isn't just risky — in most jurisdictions it's a compliance requirement, and payment processors and ad platforms will flag or shut down stores that skip it. But a badly built age gate is its own problem: a clunky popup that blocks the whole page for three seconds kills conversion just as fast as no gate at all. The five apps below all solve the core problem — block underage access — but differ in how they verify, where they enforce it, and what proof they leave behind.

1. Blockify Age Verification 18+

Pros: Free to install with a free trial, the highest review count in the category (290, 4.9★), supports English, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, and Hindi out of the box, and covers both storefront entry and checkout. Setup is template-based with no coding, and it doubles as a Terms & Conditions checkbox app.

Cons: Being the most reviewed also means it's the most generic — verification is birth-date or yes/no based, with no built-in per-country age-limit logic like AgeX offers.

Verdict: The safest default pick if you just need a solid, multi-language age gate without extra configuration.

2. AgeX – Age Verification Popup

Pros: Purpose-built for alcohol, vape, CBD, tobacco, and cannabis stores. Lets you set different minimum ages by country (useful if you ship internationally, since the legal drinking or vaping age varies by market), and restricts specific products, collections, or pages instead of gating the entire store.

Cons: English-only interface, and it's storefront-only — it doesn't extend into Shopify's checkout the way NA Age Verification or Smart Age Verification Popup do.

Verdict: The strongest choice if you sell internationally and need the age limit to actually match local law per country, not a single fixed number.

3. AVP – Age Verification Popup

Pros: Free plan available, works on both storefront and checkout, and keeps the same no-code, template-based setup as Blockify — good if you want something simple and don't need country-specific rules.

Cons: Feature set is close to identical to Blockify's (same developer style, same core mechanics), so there's little reason to pick it over Blockify unless Blockify's UI doesn't fit your theme.

Verdict: A fine backup option, but Blockify covers the same ground with a larger review base.

4. NA Age Verification

Pros: The only one of the five that verifies right before checkout by disabling the checkout button until age is confirmed, and it writes the verification status directly onto the order — useful if you ever need to prove compliance after the fact. It also integrates with Klaviyo for follow-up flows.

Cons: Smaller review base (86) than Blockify or AgeX, and the extra checkout logic means slightly more setup than a pure popup app.

Verdict: Pick this one if you need an audit trail — a record on the order that age was verified, not just a popup the customer clicked through.

5. Smart Age Verification Popup

Pros: Built around geography — it adjusts age rules by US state, EU country, or UK requirements automatically, shows a verified badge on the order page, and supports Shopify Plus checkout extensibility for stores that need deeper checkout customization.

Cons: Smallest review base of the five (37), and full checkout-level integration likely requires Shopify Plus.

Verdict: Worth it specifically for multi-region compliance (US/EU/UK) if you're already on Shopify Plus.

How to choose

• Want the safest, most-reviewed default? Blockify Age Verification 18+.
• Selling alcohol/vape/CBD across multiple countries with different legal ages? AgeX.
• Need proof the age check happened, tied to the order? NA Age Verification.
• Already on Shopify Plus and selling across US/EU/UK? Smart Age Verification Popup.
• Just want a free, simple popup and don't mind it looking similar to Blockify? AVP.

Compliance protects the sale — try-on protects the fit

An age gate exists to keep a store out of legal trouble, not to sell anything. But once a visitor clears it, the next friction point is usually not knowing if a product will actually fit or suit them — a different kind of hesitation that no popup solves. Most virtual try-on apps stop at a nice visual. 1Match treats try-on as a growth engine: it captures leads natively, shows a full conversion funnel, and keeps zero stored photos — on top of best-in-class image quality and multi-category support. It's the try-on app that also does your marketing, working the funnel right after the age gate has done its job. See also our guide to the best Shopify app for a clothing store.