Ask to Buy vs. Listr: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right Shopify app for wishlist, cart-sharing, and reminder workflows can feel like a small decision that ripples through conversion rates, customer experience, and the number of installed apps that clutter a store. Two focused apps that often surface in searches are Ask to Buy create & share cart and Listr: Wishlist + Reminder. Both address aspects of the wishlist and cart-sharing spectrum, but they take different approaches and serve distinct merchant needs.

Short answer: Ask to Buy create & share cart is an effective, purpose-built tool for stores that need a straightforward way to let users create and share pre-filled carts for payment by someone else, while Listr: Wishlist + Reminder is a better fit for merchants wanting a classic wishlist with social proof and automated reminder emails. For merchants who prefer fewer integrations and broader retention features in a single product, a platform like Growave typically delivers better value for money and reduces tool sprawl.

This article’s purpose is to provide a granular, feature-by-feature comparison of Ask to Buy create & share cart and Listr: Wishlist + Reminder so merchants can choose the right tool for their store. The comparison covers core features, pricing and value, integrations, analytics, support, implementation complexity, and practical recommendations for common merchant needs. After the fair, objective comparison, the piece will explain why some merchants prefer an all-in-one retention suite and how that alternative addresses the limits of single-purpose apps.

Ask to Buy create & share cart vs. Listr: Wishlist + Reminder: At a Glance

Feature Deep Dive

Core Functionality and User Flow

Ask to Buy create & share cart

Ask to Buy’s central value is enabling a visitor to assemble a cart and share it as a pre-filled checkout link that another person can complete. Typical merchant use cases include gift registries (so friends and family can buy from a shared list), younger shoppers who need a parent to pay, and sales teams who prepare carts for customers.

Key user-flow points:

• Visitor adds items to a cart and clicks an AskToBuy button.
• The app pre-fills shipping and other checkout details so the invitee only needs to pay.
• The inviter receives a notification when the invitee completes purchase.
• Invitees are directed straight to checkout with a custom welcome message.

This flow reduces friction where the buyer and payer are different people and can lift conversion where a purchase would otherwise be abandoned for lack of a payment method or assistance.

Listr: Wishlist + Reminder

Listr focuses on the traditional wishlist experience, adding social proof and reminder automations to prompt purchase. Its main user-facing features are an easy-to-add wishlist icon, shareable wishlist links, and automated emails when items are added to a wishlist, go on sale, or when a scheduled reminder is due.

Key user-flow points:

• Customers add products to a wishlist with no signup required (guest wishlist supported).
• Listr surfaces how many other customers wishlisted the same item (social proof).
• Automated reminders (daily, weekly, monthly) and price-drop alerts are sent to encourage revisit and purchase.
• Shareable wishlist links support gifting and social sharing.

Listr’s flow targets customer intent and re-engagement rather than converting a cart prepared by one person and paid by another.

Feature Comparison: What Each App Does Well

Shared strengths

• Both are lightweight, category-specific apps focused on wishlist/cart-sharing behavior.
• They install UI elements on product pages and provide sharable links.
• Each app offers built-in analytics for its specialized function.

Ask to Buy strengths

• Pre-filling checkout details reduces friction when payer and shopper differ.
• Group share options support registries and multi-person gifting.
• Built-in conversion tracking maps shared-cart activity to revenue.
• Customizable button options allow some visual integration with the storefront.

Listr strengths

• Free tier available for merchants who want to trial wishlist features before committing.
• Social proof widget (showing how many others have wishlisted a product) nudges shoppers.
• Automated price-drop and reminder emails re-engage warm leads at scale.
• Guest wishlist removes friction for users unwilling to create accounts.

Limitations and Trade-offs

Ask to Buy limitations

• Narrow scope: primarily solves a specific checkout-sharing problem rather than long-term engagement.
• Pricing starts at $15/month for the basic plan — acceptable for targeted use but adds to tool count.
• Works closely with checkout behavior; changes in Shopify checkout policies or theme customizations may require attention.
• Small number of reviews (7) means less publicly available validation; rating is 4.4 but sample size is limited.

Listr limitations

• Wishlist-focused: no native cart pre-fill or checkout-assisted flows for a separate payer.
• Free tier is limited to 100 items and 100 emails; upgraded premium is inexpensive ($4.99/month) but still a separate tool.
• Rated 4.3 across 27 reviews — more signal than Ask to Buy but still a modest review set.
• Email deliverability and template customization are important; merchants should ensure emails align with their ESPs and branding.

UX, Theme Compatibility, and Mobile Behavior

Both apps are designed for storefront integration and should work with most modern Shopify themes, but merchants should test before rolling out.

Ask to Buy considerations:

• Because it modifies checkout entry behavior, testing is essential across theme variations and any checkout customizations.
• Mobile experience needs to keep the pre-fill flow obvious and fast; otherwise conversion gains vanish.

Listr considerations:

• Wishlist icons and the wishlist landing page should be checked for responsive behavior and visual alignment.
• Shareable links must preserve correct product variants and pricing across devices.

Merchants should run A/B tests where possible and preview both apps on mobile and desktop to assess UX consistency.

Pricing and Value

Ask to Buy create & share cart

• Plan: Basic — $15 / month.
• The price reflects a single-purpose utility that targets conversion events where the payer and shopper differ. For merchants who frequently need this behavior (gift registries, assisted sales), the monthly cost can be justified through recovered sales. For merchants with occasional need, the app may feel like an extra recurring cost.

Listr: Wishlist + Reminder

• Free plan available with limits:
  • Up to 100 items added to wishlist
  • Up to 100 wishlist emails
  • Customizable icons and share links
• Premium plan: $4.99 / month
  • Unlimited items and emails
  • Email reminders (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Price-drop emails and customizable templates

Listr’s entry-level free plan makes it easy to pilot wishlist functionality. Upgrading to Premium at $4.99/month provides core wishlist automations that can materially boost re-engagement for a low recurring cost.

Pricing Comparison & Value for Money

• Listr offers better value for money if the primary goal is wishlist-driven re-engagement and price-drop conversions. Its premium tier is low-cost and covers essential re-engagement features.
• Ask to Buy commands a higher monthly price ($15) but addresses a different revenue opportunity: converting purchases that otherwise would be lost due to payment-channel friction.
• For merchants with a tight app budget and a focus on lifecycle emails and wishlists, Listr is likely the higher-value choice.
• For merchants who frequently need cart pre-fill and payer mediation, Ask to Buy is the targeted tool that can increase revenue where traditional wishlists will not.

Integrations and Technical Considerations

Integrations

Ask to Buy:

• Works with Shopify checkout and customer flows. Integration depth is focused on cart and checkout behavior rather than broader marketing stacks.
• Merchants using headless storefronts or heavy checkout customizations should verify compatibility.

Listr:

• Compatible with product filter apps and standard storefront setups.
• Wishlist emails operate within the app; merchants relying on an ESP may want to route wishlist signals into their email platform or ensure deliverability.

Neither app advertises deep integrations with marketing platforms out of the box (like Klaviyo, Omnisend, or CRMs) in the provided descriptions, which means merchants may need to build workarounds or use additional connectors to centralize user data.

Data Portability & Ownership

• Both apps capture customer wishlist or cart-share activity. Merchants should confirm how that data is exported and whether it maps to customer records or order metadata.
• For stores that rely on advanced segmentation or remarketing, having wishlist and share data available in the merchant’s CRM/ESP is important.

Performance & Code Footprint

• Single-purpose apps usually have a small code footprint but adding multiple single-purpose apps increases total site resources and potential for conflicts.
• Testing for theme conflicts and page-speed impact is recommended before deploying either app sitewide.

Analytics, Reporting, and KPIs

Tracking ROI from either app requires tying events to revenue and customer metrics.

Ask to Buy analytics:

• Tracks cart shares, conversions, and generated revenue, which allows straightforward attribution of revenue recovered via shared carts.
• KPIs to monitor: number of cart shares, share-to-checkout completion rate, revenue per shared cart, and repeat purchase rate of customers who completed shared-cart purchases.

Listr analytics:

• Offers wishlist analytics and reports and measures engagement from reminder emails and price-drop notifications.
• KPIs to monitor: wishlist additions, reminder email open and click-through rates, conversion rate from reminder emails, average order value for purchases from wishlist flows, and uplift in visit-to-purchase for wishlisted items.

Both apps provide useful data for their domain but do not replace a unified analytics approach where wishlist, referral, review, and loyalty behaviors are analyzed together.

Support, Documentation, and Reliability

• Ask to Buy: Limited public review count (7 reviews) means fewer community signals about support responsiveness. Merchants should evaluate trial periods and verify documentation, update cadence, and response times.
• Listr: With 27 reviews and an active free tier, Listr has more user feedback to sample. The app’s lower price point implies support expectations should be matched to usage—the premium tier may include more responsive support.

When selecting either app, merchants should:

• Test support responsiveness during trial periods.
• Confirm service level for bug fixes related to checkout behavior (Ask to Buy) or email deliverability (Listr).
• Ensure the app vendor’s roadmap aligns with desired features.

Security, Privacy, and Compliance

• Both apps interact with customer data and checkout flows. Merchants must confirm data handling practices, including:
  • How personal data is stored and exported.
  • Whether the apps are GDPR-compliant and support customer data deletion requests.
  • How email lists are managed and whether unsubscribes are honored in automated reminder flows.

Because Ask to Buy pre-fills checkout details, confirm that data flow does not create unintended data exposure and that the app adheres to Shopify’s security practices.

Implementation and Testing Checklist

Before rolling either app to 100% traffic, run a phased launch with these checks:

• Visual checks:
  • Confirm wishlist/AskToBuy buttons match branding and are responsive.
  • Ensure share links maintain correct product variants and pricing.
• Functionality checks:
  • Confirm AskToBuy pre-fill behavior for multiple shipping/payer scenarios.
  • Validate Listr reminder and price-drop emails for correct product links and variant mapping.
• Analytics checks:
  • Make sure shared-cart revenue is attributed properly in Shopify and any external analytics.
  • Confirm wishlist event data is captured in the merchant’s analytics or CRM if needed.
• Edge cases:
  • Test guest workflows and logged-in customer scenarios.
  • Test across browsers, devices, and with uncommon product types (variants, subscriptions).

Merchants’ Use Cases: Which App Is Best For Which Situation

Ask to Buy is best for merchants who:

• Regularly handle purchases where the payer differs from the shopper (gift registries, teen-to-parent flows).
• Employ sales reps who curate carts and send them to customers.
• Need group-sharing for coordinated gifting.
• Want direct revenue attribution for shared-cart flows.

Listr is best for merchants who:

• Want to capture intent and re-engage shoppers with reminders and price-drop alerts.
• Prefer a frictionless wishlist experience with guest support and social sharing.
• Want affordable re-engagement automation with a low monthly cost or free tier for testing.
• Rely on wishlists as part of a broader retention strategy (converting warm leads, recovering interest).

Pros and Cons Summary

Ask to Buy create & share cart

• Pros:
  • Solves a specific friction point for payer/shoppers and group gifting.
  • Pre-fills checkout, simplifies final payment step.
  • Tracks conversion attributed to shared carts.
• Cons:
  • Narrow feature set; does not provide loyalty, reviews, or broad retention tools.
  • Higher entry cost relative to wishlist-only tools.
  • Small review base for public validation.

Listr: Wishlist + Reminder

• Pros:
  • Low-cost premium tier and free trial limits.
  • Social proof and automated re-engagement via email.
  • Guest wishlist reduces friction for casual visitors.
• Cons:
  • No cart pre-fill or assisted checkout for separate payers.
  • Email deliverability and ESP integration may require additional work.
  • Still a single-purpose tool; merchants may need other apps for loyalty, referrals, or reviews.

Decision Framework: How to Choose

Consider the following factors to decide between the two apps:

• Primary business objective:
  • If the goal is to convert assisted payments and gift purchases, pick Ask to Buy.
  • If the goal is to increase revisit and conversion through wishlists and reminders, pick Listr.
• Budget and app count tolerance:
  • Listr is better value for money for wishlist workflows; Ask to Buy is justified when its unique functionality addresses a recurring revenue leakage.
• Desire to minimize integration complexity:
  • Both are single-purpose apps; merchants wary of tool sprawl should weigh whether a unified retention platform could replace multiple point solutions.
• Data and analytics needs:
  • Ask to Buy is strong if revenue attribution for shared carts is the main KPI.
  • Listr is strong if wishlist-driven email re-engagement and price alerts are central.

Migration and Complementary Strategies

If a merchant starts with one app and later expands use cases, consider the following:

• Combine, don’t duplicate: Some stores may run both apps where gift sharing and wishlists are both core behaviors (e.g., wedding registry stores). Ensure the UX signals don’t confuse customers—clear labels help.
• Centralize data: Push wishlist and share events into the merchant’s CRM or ESP to drive targeted campaigns and avoid siloed data.
• Plan for scaling: If wishlist and cart-share behaviors scale and the merchant also needs loyalty, referrals, or reviews, evaluate a consolidated platform to reduce maintenance overhead.

The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform

Merchants that rely on several single-purpose apps can face "app fatigue": too many integrations, growing monthly costs, conflicting scripts, fragmented customer data, and diluted analytics. Single-function apps like Ask to Buy and Listr each solve a specific problem well, but combining multiple such apps creates complexity in the tech stack and work for the operations team.

An integrated retention platform aims to reduce that complexity by consolidating features—loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlists, and VIP tiers—under one roof. The value proposition is not only cost consolidation but improved data coherence, easier automation, and a unified rewards/engagement strategy.

Growave’s value proposition centers on "More Growth, Less Stack"—bringing loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlist, and VIP program capabilities into a single product. That consolidation helps stores track customer behavior across engagement touchpoints and run coordinated campaigns that increase customer lifetime value.

• For merchants focused on loyalty mechanics, Growave provides configurable loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
• For brands that want social proof and user-generated content baked into retention efforts, Growave enables merchants to collect and showcase authentic reviews.

Installing a single platform can also reduce the number of Shopify app scripts on the storefront. Merchants interested in a unified installation can install a single retention platform instead of maintaining multiple single-purpose solutions. The approach improves data flow between modules—rewards for reviewing a wishlisted item, referrals that tie into VIP tiers, and review prompts tied to purchases generated by wishlist reminders.

For merchants evaluating cost and functionality, Growave’s public pricing and plan structure make it simple to compare the cost of multiple single-purpose apps to a unified plan. Stores can consolidate retention features under one plan and often realize better value for money when factoring in the need for loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlist features together.

Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention.
Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention.

How Growave Addresses Common Pain Points

• Fragmented customer data: With a unified retention suite, data from wishlists, referrals, and loyalty programs feed into a single customer profile.
• Multiple vendor relationships: One contract with a single vendor reduces negotiation and support complexity.
• Cross-feature campaigns: Reward customers for wishlisting items, earn points for referring friends who buy wishlisted items, and surface reviews at the moment of conversion.
• Enterprise needs: Growave supports solutions for high-growth Plus brands with additional customization, integrations, and launch support.

Feature Highlights (contextual links)

• Loyalty & Rewards: Build flexible programs and custom reward actions that align with long-term retention goals: loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
• Reviews & UGC: Automate review requests, display social proof, and collect user-generated content: collect and showcase authentic reviews.
• Wishlist and Wishlists connected to rewards: Centralize wishlists in the same retention platform to tie wishlist behavior into loyalty and re-engagement programs.
• Case studies and inspiration: For practical examples, merchants can review customer stories from brands scaling retention.

Pricing and Deployment

Growave offers multiple plans to suit growing merchants. For merchants sizing the comparison against single-purpose apps, check the pricing page to compare total costs and included features: consolidate retention features under one plan. For quick evaluation and discovery, Growave also has a presence on the Shopify App Store where merchants can install a single retention platform and test onboarding flows.

Migration Considerations When Moving to an All-in-One

• Feature parity: Map existing app features (wishlist attributes, price-drop emails, shared-cart behaviors) to the platform’s modules before migrating.
• Customer communication: Notify customers of any changes affecting emails or account behavior (e.g., different email templates or new loyalty points).
• Data migration: Export wishlist and shared-cart data from the legacy apps and import or integrate them into the new platform when possible.
• Phased rollout: Deploy modules incrementally—start with wishlist & reviews, then add loyalty and referrals—to minimize disruption.

Final Comparison Summary: What Each App Is Best For

• Ask to Buy create & share cart is optimal for merchants who need a reliable solution to convert purchases where payer and shopper differ and where pre-filled checkout flows unlock otherwise-lost revenue.
• Listr: Wishlist + Reminder is optimal for merchants who prioritize wishlist-driven re-engagement, price-drop alerts, and lightweight social proof with a low-cost entry option.
• For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and connect wishlist behavior to loyalty, referrals, and reviews, an integrated platform that supports multiple retention levers can offer better long-term value and cleaner analytics.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Ask to Buy create & share cart and Listr: Wishlist + Reminder, the decision comes down to the specific gap that needs solving: converting assisted payments and group gifting (Ask to Buy) versus re-engaging intent with wishlists and reminders (Listr). Both apps do their jobs well within narrow scopes, but neither provides the full suite of retention tools most merchants need as they scale.

To overcome the limits of single-purpose apps and reduce operational complexity, consider a unified retention platform that brings wishlist functionality together with loyalty, referrals, and reviews. Merchants can compare multi-module plans and run trials to see whether consolidating features delivers better value and simpler data workflows. Start a 14-day free trial to compare consolidated retention features against multiple single-purpose apps and see how a unified approach impacts LTV and retention.
Start a 14-day free trial to compare consolidated retention features against multiple single-purpose apps and see how a unified approach impacts LTV and retention.

For more information on modular capabilities and how they map to real merchant needs, explore how Growave helps merchants collect and showcase authentic reviews and build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases. Install the platform directly from the Shopify App Store to evaluate onboarding and installation flows: install a single retention platform.

FAQ

How do Ask to Buy and Listr differ in the behavior they encourage from customers?

Ask to Buy encourages a shopper to create an order-ready cart that another person completes—this is a conversion tool for assisted payments and group purchasing. Listr encourages intent capture and revisit behavior via wishlists and automated reminders, aiming to convert warm leads over time.

Which app provides better short-term ROI?

Short-term ROI depends on the merchant’s friction points. If revenue is being lost because buyers lack a payment method or require another payer, Ask to Buy can show fast returns. If the primary leak is unconverted intent and low revisit rates, Listr’s reminders and price-drop emails can be the faster-win at a lower monthly cost.

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps like Ask to Buy and Listr?

An all-in-one platform consolidates wishlist, loyalty, referrals, and reviews in a single product, which reduces tool sprawl, centralizes customer data, and enables cross-feature campaigns (e.g., rewarding wishlist actions). Specialized apps may excel at one function and can be the right short-term solution, but scaling merchants often find an integrated approach better for long-term retention and operational simplicity.

What should merchants check before installing either app?

Merchants should validate theme compatibility, mobile responsiveness, data export options, email deliverability behaviors, and vendor support responsiveness. For Ask to Buy specifically, test checkout pre-fill behavior across variants and shipping scenarios. For Listr, test the email templates and ensure wishlist links resolve correctly across devices.