Free WordPress plugin: age verification for your alcohol website (GDPR-compliant)

Do you sell wine, beer, whisky or other alcoholic drinks through your website? Then in Belgium (and most EU countries) you are legally required to deny access to minors. Age verification is the most widely used solution for this — and with the right WordPress plugin you can have it up and running in a few minutes.

In this article, we explain why age verification is essential, what the legal obligations are, and how to install and configure the free Kyzoe Age Gate plugin on your WordPress website or WooCommerce shop.

Why is age verification mandatory for alcohol websites?

In Belgium, alcohol may not be sold to anyone under 16 (beer and wine) or 18 (spirits). The Act of 24 January 1977 on the protection of public health requires sellers to check the age of buyers. This also applies to online sales.

The European Directive on electronic commerce and the Belgian Market Practices Act also impose a duty of care on online shops. If you have no age check in place and a minor buys alcohol through your website, you risk fines and reputational damage.

In short: a pop-up asking visitors whether they are old enough is not just good practice — it is a legal obligation.

What is an age verification pop-up?

An age verification pop-up (also called an “age gate” or “age verification overlay”) is a screen that appears before the visitor gains access to the website. The visitor must confirm that they have reached the minimum age.

The most common variants are:

Yes/no button — simple and quick, the visitor clicks to confirm or decline
Entering a date of birth — slightly stricter, but also slightly more friction
Account verification — the most reliable, but requires the visitor to be logged in

For most Belgian and Dutch online shops, the yes/no pop-up is the usual choice. It is low-threshold, combines well with a GDPR cookie notice and meets the common interpretation of the duty of care.

Kyzoe Age Gate: a free WordPress plugin for age verification

We developed the Kyzoe Age Gate plugin specifically for WordPress and WooCommerce websites that sell alcoholic products. The plugin is free, lightweight and fully configurable from the WordPress admin panel.

What does the plugin do?

✅ Blocking overlay on the first visit — the content only becomes visible after confirmation
🍪 Cookie storage — once accepted, the verification is remembered (30 days by default)
🔄 Automatic redirect to a configurable page if the visitor indicates they are underage
🌍 Multilingual — fully translated into Dutch, French and English, with automatic language detection
🔒 GDPR notice combined in the pop-up, including a link to your privacy policy
⚙️ Fully configurable: texts, colours, logo, cookie duration, excluded pages
♿ Accessible: ARIA roles and proper focus management for screen readers

Technical specifications

Property	Details
WordPress version	6.0 or higher
PHP version	7.4 or higher
WooCommerce	Compatible
WPML / Polylang	Supported
Cookie type	Functional / strictly necessary
Personal data	Not stored

Installation in 3 steps

Step 1 — Download and install the plugin

[wpdm_package id=’4833′]

WordPress Admin → Plugins → Upload Plugin → Select the .zip file → Install Now → Activate

On activation, the plugin automatically creates a page /leeftijdsgrens. Visitors who indicate they are underage are redirected there.

Step 2 — Configure the basic settings

Go to Settings → Age Gate. The most important options:

Minimum age: 18 by default (Belgian legislation for spirits)
Cookie duration: how long the verification is remembered (30 days by default)
Redirect URL: the page minors are redirected to
Excluded pages: pages such as /contact or /privacy where the pop-up does not need to appear

Step 3 — Adjust the texts and branding

Use the Texts tab to adjust the pop-up texts for each language. Under Display you can set the logo, the background colour and the transparency of the overlay. That way, the pop-up fits in perfectly with your branding.

GDPR and age verification cookies: what do you need to know?

A frequently asked question: do I need to ask for consent for the verification cookie?

The answer is no — at least not for the cookie itself. The verification cookie falls under the category of functional or strictly necessary cookies. These are exempt from the consent requirement under the ePrivacy Directive, because they are strictly necessary for the service to work.

The Kyzoe Age Gate stores no personal data. The cookie only contains an anonymous value (kag_verified=yes) and an expiry date. Do list the cookie in your cookie policy as a functional cookie.

Would you still like to show a combined GDPR notice? You can do so via Settings → GDPR. The plugin will then show a checkbox in the pop-up with a link to your privacy policy.

Multilingual: ideal for Belgian online shops

Belgium officially has three languages, and many Belgian online shops serve both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking customers. The Kyzoe Age Gate automatically detects the active language via:

WPML — if you use the most popular multilingual plugin for WordPress
Polylang — if you work with Polylang
WordPress language setting — as a fallback, based on the site language you have set

The default texts have been professionally translated into Dutch, French and English. In the admin panel you can easily adapt all texts to your own tone of voice.

Tips for effective age verification

Don’t make the pop-up too intrusive. A clear, calm layout with a straightforward question and two large buttons works best. Avoid small print and confusing texts.

Set the cookie duration to at least 30 days. Returning visitors then won’t have to see the pop-up again on every visit. This considerably improves the user experience.

Provide a good redirect page. The page minors are redirected to is an opportunity to give your brand a human face. Use a friendly message and avoid a cold 404 page.

Exclude the right pages. Pages such as /contact, /over-ons and /privacybeleid don’t need to sit behind the age gate. Configure this via the exclusion list in the admin panel.

Test on mobile. The pop-up is fully responsive, but always check for yourself how it looks on a smartphone.

Frequently asked questions

Is the plugin free?
Yes, the Kyzoe Age Gate is available completely free of charge.

Does the plugin work with my WooCommerce shop?
Yes. The plugin has been tested and is compatible with WooCommerce and the most popular WordPress themes.

Can I show the pop-up on product pages only?
In the current version, the pop-up appears on all pages (except the pages you exclude). An option to show the pop-up on WooCommerce pages only is on the roadmap.

What if a visitor uses the browser’s back button after declining?
The plugin redirects the visitor again as soon as they try to visit the shop. In that case the kag_verified cookie has not been set, so the pop-up appears again.

Conclusion

For alcohol websites, age verification is not optional but an obligation. With the Kyzoe Age Gate plugin you can install a professional, GDPR-compliant and multilingual age gate on your WordPress website in just a few minutes — no technical knowledge required.

[wpdm_package id=’4833′]

Do you have questions about the installation, or would you like us to integrate the plugin into your existing website? Contact Kyzoe — we are happy to help.

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