DigiBorderCOMPARISON · UPDATED 11 NOVEMBER 2026
Locksmith vs. DigiBorder for country-restricted digital products
Locksmith has been in the App Store since 2014, won a 2025 Build Award and sits at 4.7 stars across 300+ reviews. It locks anything on your storefront behind keys, and location is one of them, which is why it comes up in threads about digital rights. Here's when it fits and when it's overkill.
A note before the comparison: I build DigiBorder. Everything below about the other app comes from its own Shopify App Store listing, checked on 11 November 2026, and I say where it's the better pick.
The quick verdict
| Criterion | DigiBorder | Locksmith |
|---|---|---|
| Checks the billing country at checkout | YesEvery plan | Not stated |
| Country check doesn't depend on the visitor's IP | YesUses no IP data at all | Not statedLocation method not stated |
| Store stays browsable for every visitor | Yes | PartlyLocks only what you choose |
| Can leave physical products selling everywhere | YesMixed carts optional (Basic+) | YesPer product |
| Can limit the rule to chosen products or collections | YesStrict: collections and product tags | Yes |
| Free plan on a live store | YesOne country, no time limit | No15-day trial |
| Blocks checkout if the check itself can't run | YesStrict | Not stated |
| Price | Free · $4.99/mo | $12/mo |
The apps at a glance
Locksmith
Storefront access control
- How it decides
- Locks products, collections, pages or the whole store behind keys: customer tags, passcodes, secret links, purchase history, geographic location and more.
- At checkout
- Offers checkout validation for bot protection. The listing doesn't describe a billing-country rule.
- Plans
- $12/month on Shopify Basic, $29 on Grow, $99 on Advanced, $199 on Plus, 15-day free trial
- Best for
- Wholesale areas, members-only content and gated collections.
DigiBorder: Country Blocker
Billing-country checkout rule for digital products
- How it decides
- Reads the billing country the buyer pays with, on Shopify's servers, when checkout completes. No IP lookups.
- At checkout
- Stops checkouts that contain restricted digital products, including Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.
- Plans
- Free: block one billing country for all-digital carts, standard message, no billing approval
- Basic: $4.99/month or $29.99/year. Allow or block any list of countries, mixed carts, your own message, block when no billing country is entered
- Strict: $14.99/month or $89.99/year. Everything in Basic, plus blocking if the rule can't run, shipping-country and market checks, required login, rules by collection or product tag, US/CA/AU states, customer-tag exemptions
- Best for
- Digital sellers who must not sell to certain countries: VAT, licensing, sanctions.
What Locksmith does well
Locksmith can lock products, collections, pages or your whole store and open them with keys: customer tags, emails, passcodes, secret links, purchase history, dates and geographic location, combined however you like, with Liquid for custom logic. It runs wholesale portals, members-only collections and pre-launch pages for thousands of stores. Its pricing follows your Shopify plan, from $12 on Basic to $199 on Plus, with a 15-day trial.
Where it falls short for this job
- It's a storefront lock. It decides what visitors see. The listing's checkout feature is bot protection, not a billing-country rule.
- Location method isn't stated. The listing names "geographic location" as a key without saying how it's determined.
- Price. $12 to $199 a month, scaling with your Shopify plan, is a lot for a single country rule.
- Setup. Keys and locks are flexible, which also means more to configure and test.
What DigiBorder does differently
DigiBorder takes minutes to set up: choose countries, save, test a checkout. The rule runs at checkout on the billing country, so it holds whether the buyer came through your storefront, a direct cart link or an express wallet button. Strict adds the per-product angle Locksmith is known for, scoped by collection or product tag.
Where DigiBorder wins
- Enforced at checkout on the billing country
- Free plan; $4.99 or $14.99 flat
- Minutes to set up
Where Locksmith wins
- Locks any content behind many kinds of keys
- Members-only and wholesale areas
- Twelve years in the App Store
Three real situations
| Scenario | Locksmith | DigiBorder |
|---|---|---|
| Members-only course library | Lock the collection to customers tagged as members: a strength | Not covered (Strict can require a login to buy affected products, but doesn't gate content) |
| A course you can't sell in the EU | Lock it for visitors located in the EU (method not stated) | Stop checkout for EU billing addresses |
| Wholesale pricing for approved retailers | Covered | Not covered |
Cost on a growing store
Locksmith's price follows your Shopify plan: $12 on Basic, $29 on Grow, $99 on Advanced, $199 on Plus. DigiBorder's price doesn't change when you upgrade Shopify. If the only reason you're looking at Locksmith is a country restriction on digital products, that's a big difference over a year: $144 to $2,388 against $0 to $89.99 on yearly Strict.
Who should use which
Use Locksmith if you're building gated areas: members-only courses, wholesale pricing, passcode launches. Use DigiBorder if you need to make sure a digital product isn't sold to buyers in certain countries. They also combine well: Locksmith for who sees the content, DigiBorder for where it can be sold.
Questions
Can Locksmith block a country at checkout?
Its listing describes storefront locks with location as one key, and checkout validation for bot protection. It doesn't describe a billing-country checkout rule.
How much does Locksmith cost?
From $12/month on Shopify Basic up to $199/month on Plus, with a 15-day trial.
Is DigiBorder a replacement for Locksmith?
Only for the country-sales job. It doesn't lock content or create members-only areas.
Can DigiBorder require a login?
Strict can require customers to log in to buy affected products. It doesn't hide or gate content.
Does Locksmith have a free plan?
No; it has a 15-day trial, then pricing by Shopify plan.