Both apps have an approval queue. What actually changes?

The connection between approval and checkout. In both apps, approval applies a customer tag and that tag opens the storefront gate. In Prime Lock the same tag is also read by a Shopify Function at checkout, so an unapproved buyer is stopped at the order rather than only at the page. The workflow you operate day to day looks much the same.

Will my customer tags carry over?

Yes. Both apps read Shopify's native customer tags, which live on the customer record and belong to your store, not to any app. Nothing is copied or migrated: the same wholesale tag that opened a gate before opens it after. Uninstalling either app leaves the tags exactly where they were.

What happens to my locked pages' SEO when I switch?

Prime Lock keeps locked products indexable with only the price withheld. If you were using URL-level locking to block pages entirely, decide per page whether you want it indexed without a price or genuinely hidden. We support both, and the first is usually better for a catalog.

Prime Lock vs Ymq B2B Lock, Login & Password

4.9
26 reviews
YMQ
Launched 2023
Last verified 30 Jul 2026
App Store listing

Ymq is the closest match to Prime Lock on scope in this whole category, and one of very few apps that ships an approval request system alongside the locks, so applicant vetting and access control live in the same place. It has a free tier, multi-language support and URL-level locking. The gap is enforcement: checkout validation is not in the published feature set.

Everything Ymq B2B Lock publishes, Prime Lock ships on the free plan

All 9 of them, at $0, plus checkout enforcement that Ymq B2B Lock does not publish. Compare that with their free plan, described below.

At a glance

The short version

Prime Lock and Ymq B2B Lock, Login & Password compared on plan, pricing and headline capabilities
	Prime Lock	Ymq B2B Lock
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Entry price	$9.99/mo	$9.99/mo
Top price	$19.99/mo	$29.99/mo
Enforced at checkout	Available	Not listed
Registration + approval	Available	Available
SEO-safe hiding	Available	Not listed
Per-language text	Available	Available
No theme code left behind	Available	Not listed
Built for Shopify	No	Yes

availableProon a paid tierPlus onlyShopify Plus or top tierNot listednot published on the App Store page

Honest assessment

Where Ymq B2B Lock is a good fit

Shipping an approval request system alongside the locks is genuinely uncommon. Most apps in this category gate access and leave the question of who earns access to another app entirely. Ymq keeps both in one place, which is the right architecture for a wholesale channel and the reason we built Prime Lock the same way.

The supporting features are solid: account activation links, secret links scoped to customer groups, URL-level locking for pages that do not fit the product or collection model, and multi-language support so the storefront text matches the rest of your store.

There is a free tier to start on, which makes trying it a low-risk decision.

The difference

Where Prime Lock is different

Because the scope is so similar, the difference narrows to one thing: Prime Lock compiles every lock into a Shopify Function that validates the cart and checkout server-side. Checkout validation is not in Ymq's published feature set. In practice that means Ymq's approval workflow governs who sees the catalog, but not who can complete an order from a cart permalink someone forwarded. The approval gate and the checkout are not connected.

For a wholesale channel that is the gap that matters, because the people most likely to share a cart link are trade buyers passing it to colleagues, and the people most likely to receive it are exactly the retail customers you are hiding prices from.

Two smaller differences: EU VAT validation against VIES and scheduled date windows are not in Ymq's published feature set. VAT validation sits on our Pro tier, and scheduling is free.

Feature by feature

All 20 capabilities

Recorded only where the app publishes them. An em dash means not listed on the App Store page as of the verification date, not that the feature does not exist.

Prime Lock and Ymq B2B Lock, Login & Password compared across 20 capabilities
Capability	Prime Lock	Ymq B2B Lock
Enforced at checkoutCart and checkout validation, not just theme-side hiding	Available	Not listed
Hide price	Available	Available
Hide add to cart	Available	Not listed
Lock pages	Available	Available
Lock products / collections	Available	Available
Lock entire store	Available	Not listed
Passcode gate	Available	Available
Secret links	Available	Available
Customer tag access	Available	Available
Scheduled locksDate window that opens and closes on its own	Available	Not listed
Registration form	Available	Available
Approval queue	Available	Available
Auto-tagging on approval	Available	Not listed
EU VAT validationChecked live against VIES	Pro	Not listed
File upload on form	Pro	Not listed
Age verification gate	Pro	Not listed
Country / IP rules	Pro	Not listed
SEO-safe hidingPage stays indexable; only the price is withheld	Available	Not listed
Per-language storefront text	Available	Available
No theme code left behindSingle app embed, nothing written into Liquid	Available	Not listed

availableProon a paid tierPlus onlyShopify Plus or top tierNot listednot published on the App Store page

Migration

Switching from Ymq B2B Lock

Step 1
Note your existing rules
Write down every rule you have configured in Ymq B2B Lock: what it protects, who it lets in, and any schedule attached to it. This is the only step that takes real time, and doing it before you install anything makes the rest mechanical.
Step 2
Recreate them as locks
Build each rule in Prime Lock as a lock: pick the lock type, set Applies to, set Who can unlock, and add a schedule if the original had one. Your customer tags carry over unchanged, because both apps read Shopify's native customer tags rather than storing their own copy.
Step 3
Uninstall Ymq B2B Lock and check your theme
Ymq runs its own approval workflow, so export any pending applications before you uninstall. Applicants sitting in their queue will not appear in Prime Lock's queue, and you will need to reach out to them directly. After uninstalling, view a locked product as a guest and as a tagged customer, and try a direct cart permalink to confirm the checkout Function rejects it.

FAQ