A Magento 2 private catalog can mean several things: a product whitelist for one customer, a catalog with company prices, rules for customer groups, or an import job that maintains Adobe Commerce Shared Catalogs. The right product depends on which of those jobs you actually need.
Short answer: SoftwareSilo is a strong fit for Magento Open Source stores that need customer-specific product sets, direct product exceptions, store-view assignments, and optional Sublogin rules. Adobe Commerce Shared Catalogs cover both assortment and pricing for company accounts. Aheadworks and Amasty address broader group, content, or price restrictions. Firebear automates B2B data exchange rather than storefront access by itself.
Comparison
| Solution | Access model | Pricing included | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoftwareSilo Custom Catalog | Named product sets for customers or groups, plus direct customer products | No | Magento Open Source stores focused on precise product access |
| Adobe Commerce Shared Catalogs | Public or custom catalog assigned to company accounts | Yes | Adobe Commerce B2B projects that need assortment and company pricing together |
| Aheadworks Private Catalogs | Public and private catalogs tied to customer groups and optional company accounts | Yes | Stores wanting catalogs, pricing, category and CMS restrictions in one suite |
| Amasty Customer Group Catalog | Rules for customer groups, products, categories, prices, and buttons | No catalog price-list model | Group-based visibility and purchase restrictions |
| Firebear Improved Import and Export | Import and export jobs for Adobe B2B entities | Uses Adobe data | Teams automating Shared Catalog, company, quote, or requisition-list data |
These are not like-for-like products. Check current edition support, extensions, integration packages, and licenses before choosing.
Where SoftwareSilo fits
SoftwareSilo creates named product catalogs and assigns them directly to customers or customer groups. An individual customer can also receive products outside those catalogs. Assignments can be global or specific to a store view.
Strict whitelist mode filters category results, Magento search, product pages, and linked-product collections for logged-in customers. A second mode keeps the normal catalog and lets assigned products bypass standard hidden visibility. The module does not calculate special prices or hide CMS pages.
Adobe, Aheadworks, and Amasty
Adobe Shared Catalogs are part of Adobe Commerce B2B. They combine product selection, custom prices, and company assignment. That breadth is useful, but it is not a standalone Magento Open Source feature.
Aheadworks Private Catalogs also combine assortment and pricing. Its official product information includes hidden categories, CMS pages, products, prices, and Add to Cart controls. Company assignment depends on its Company Accounts integration.
Amasty uses customer-group rules. It can restrict products or categories and change what happens to prices and purchase buttons. This is useful when the business rule starts with a group condition rather than a reusable per-customer product set.
Where Firebear belongs
Firebear's B2B add-on imports and exports Adobe Commerce entities such as companies, Shared Catalogs, quotes, and requisition lists. It can be relevant when an ERP owns Adobe Shared Catalog data. It does not replace a Magento Open Source storefront whitelist by itself.
Questions to answer first
- Must access vary by customer, customer group, company, or subaccount?
- Do you need product visibility only, or pricing as well?
- Must category nodes and CMS pages also be hidden?
- Are assignments global or different per store view?
- Does an ERP own the assortment data?
- What should happen to search results, direct URLs, related products, and active carts?
Related reading
- SoftwareSilo Custom Catalog
- SoftwareSilo vs Adobe Shared Catalogs
- Strict whitelist product visibility
Sources
- Adobe Commerce Shared Catalog overview
- Aheadworks Private Catalogs
- Amasty Customer Group Catalog help
- Firebear Magento B2B import and export guide
Last reviewed: August 9, 2026.