Merchant Guard: GMC Risk vs Warden: Store Compliance
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026 for Merchant Guard, Oct 14, 2026 for Warden.
The short answer
- Only Merchant Guard lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $29/month for Merchant Guard and $39/month for Warden.
- Merchant Guard lists 1 features Warden’s listing doesn’t mention, including Terms and conditions.
Head to head
Free
- · 0–100 score, grade and 4 pillars
- · 3 full risk scans every 30 days
- · Monthly auto re-check, email on change
- · Prioritized fix list
- · Read-only — no customer data
- · Reconsideration outline if suspended
Pro
- · AI flags misleading product claims
- · AI rewrites thin product descriptions
- · Email alert on new risks or score drops
- · Everything in the Free plan
- · Monitoring auto-on when you subscribe
- · Never touches customer data
Warden
- · Chargeback warning & email alerts
- · Daily scan of products, pages & blog
- · Every finding with fix + policy link
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureGoogle can suspend your Merchant Center account — killing your Shopping ads and free listings — over a vague "Misrepresentation" flag. Merchant Guard scans your store the way Google's reviewers do and scores your risk across four pillars: prohibited products, product data, store policies and trust signals. You get a 0–100 score, what Google flags and the exact fix, plus a reconsideration outline if suspended.
A store can be suspended — or its payouts held — over a product, page or blog post that breaks a Shopify rule the merchant never knew existed. Warden checks your catalogue and content against Shopify's Acceptable Use Policy and Payments terms, checks your store setup (policies, contact, SSL), and watches your chargeback ratio against the suspension threshold.
- Get a 0–100 Merchant Center compliance score across four risk pillars
- Catch prohibited products before they get your Google account suspended
- Find product-data, price and availability gaps that get items disapproved
- Check contact info and policies — top "Misrepresentation" triggers
- Flags products, pages and blog posts that risk a ban under Shopify's policies
- Warns before Shopify Payments freezes a payout on a restricted product
- Chargeback-ratio early warning before the suspension threshold
- Every finding links to the exact policy and the exact fix, one click away
All the numbers
Every figure, side by side
A green dot marks the app ahead on a measured figure. Estimates, gaps and apps that leave no storefront trace never take the lead.
Adoption
| Measure |  Merchant Guard |  Warden |
|---|---|---|
| Detected stores | Not published | Not published |
| Net store change, 28 days | 0 | 0 |
| Stores added, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Big-brand share | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Top store categories | Not published | Not published |
| Top store countries | Not published | Not published |
Reviews
| Measure | Merchant Guard | Warden |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | Not published | Not published |
| App Store reviews | Not published | Not published |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
Pricing
| Measure | Merchant Guard | Warden |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Not listed |
| Lowest paid monthly plan | $29/month(ahead) | $39/month |
| Longest free trial | 7 days | 2 days |
| Plans listed | 2 | 1 |
Listing
| Measure | Merchant Guard | Warden |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify category rank | #170(ahead) | #585 |
| Shopify App Charts | Not on this week’s charts | Not on this week’s charts |
| Built for Shopify | No | No |
| Launched | Jun 8, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 |
| Languages | 1 | 1 |
| Developer | Wigley Studios LLC | Northgate Apps |
FAQ
Merchant Guard and Warden: common questions
- Is Merchant Guard or Warden cheaper?
- Only Merchant Guard lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $29/month for Merchant Guard and $39/month for Warden. Shoplist compares base prices only between monthly plans in the same currency; usage charges and annual plans vary, so check each plan’s limits.
- What features does each app list that the other doesn’t?
- Merchant Guard lists 1 the others don’t mention, such as Terms and conditions. Warden lists 1 the others don’t mention, such as Product warnings. A feature missing from a listing may still be supported; this compares what each App Store listing says.
- Where does this comparison’s data come from?
- Shoplist crawls Shopify storefronts to detect which apps each store runs, and reads each app’s Shopify App Store listing for reviews, pricing, features and integrations. Store counts are as of Oct 13, 2026 for Merchant Guard, Oct 14, 2026 for Warden; estimated figures are labeled.
How Shoplist compares apps
Store counts come from Shoplist’s crawl of Shopify storefronts, which detects the apps each store runs; they are as of Oct 13, 2026 for Merchant Guard, Oct 14, 2026 for Warden. Reviews, ratings, plans, features and integrations come from each app’s Shopify App Store listing. 28-day figures are labeled when estimated, and a figure that is missing or estimated never decides who leads. Read the methodology.