ESC Wishlist + Save for Later vs. Smart Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a common challenge for merchants building on Shopify. A wishlist can reduce friction, keep products top of mind, and surface strong purchase intent—but a poorly chosen app can become maintenance overhead, slow the storefront, or fail to deliver measurable results.

Short answer: ESC Wishlist + Save for Later is a minimal, low-cost tool for stores that need a simple save-for-later widget with social sharing. Smart Wishlist offers a more polished, reliable experience with guest-saving, lightweight performance, and API options—making it a better fit for stores that expect higher traffic or need integration hooks. For merchants who want to replace multiple single-purpose tools and focus on retention and lifetime value, a unified platform that bundles wishlist with loyalty, referrals, and reviews often delivers better value for money than adding standalone apps.

This article provides a neutral, feature-by-feature comparison of ESC Wishlist + Save for Later (Eastside Co®) and Smart Wishlist (Webmarked). It is written to help merchants choose the solution that matches their store size, technical capacity, and growth goals. After the direct comparison, the piece introduces an alternative approach that reduces tool sprawl and centralizes retention: a multi-function retention suite.

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later vs. Smart Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

This section compares the two apps across practical merchant-focused criteria: core wishlist capabilities, usability, setup and customization, performance and theme impact, data and APIs, pricing and value, integrations, support, and recommended use cases. Each criterion is presented objectively to make selection easier.

Core Wishlist Capabilities

Save-for-Later vs. Dedicated Wishlist

• ESC Wishlist + Save for Later positions itself as a hybrid: it adds a "saved for later" section under the cart and also offers unlimited wishlists customers can create. That cart-level placement is helpful for converting near-checkout intent into purchases because saved items appear during checkout flow.
• Smart Wishlist is a focused wishlist product that places the wishlist action across product, collection, search, and cart pages. It emphasizes one-click saving and shareable lists, and it is designed to work well for both guest users and logged-in customers.

Practical takeaway: ESC’s cart-level save-for-later can lift conversion for cart-abandonment-prone customers; Smart Wishlist offers broader touchpoints across browsing and search where early-stage intent is captured.

Guest Users and Login Requirements

• ESC's documentation (as summarized in listings) does not emphasize guest-saving behavior. For stores that rely heavily on non-logged-in traffic, guest wishlist functionality matters.
• Smart Wishlist explicitly supports both guests and logged-in users, enabling frictionless one-click saving without forcing account creation. This can materially increase saved actions from casual browsers.

Practical takeaway: For stores with high guest traffic, Smart Wishlist has an advantage in capturing anonymous intent.

Sharing and Social Behavior

• ESC includes free social sharing to increase reach, which can be useful for referral traffic and friend-to-friend sharing.
• Smart Wishlist also supports shareable lists and integrates well with common sharing tools. It includes lightweight integration options to preserve theme behavior during uninstall.

Practical takeaway: Both apps support sharing, but Smart Wishlist emphasizes portability and theme safety.

Usability and Customer Experience

Front-End UI and Placement

• ESC keeps saved items under the cart, making access during checkout immediate but less visible during earlier browsing sessions.
• Smart Wishlist places the wishlist button in multiple contexts (product pages, collections, search results), which increases the probability of saving interest during discovery.

Practical takeaway: If the objective is to nudge checkout conversion for near-purchase users, ESC’s placement can help. For building lists and encouraging discovery behavior, Smart Wishlist provides broader placement.

Mobile Experience

• A wishlist’s mobile behavior is critical; both apps claim to be responsive. Smart Wishlist’s lightweight payload promise suggests it will behave well on mobile devices, minimizing layout shifts and slowdowns.
• ESC's documentation notes customization, but with limited public reviews, mobile UX consistency should be tested in-staging.

Practical takeaway: Validate mobile behavior on a staging theme before launch; Smart Wishlist is explicitly optimized for performance.

One-Click Saving and Friction

• Smart Wishlist markets one-click saving even without login, reducing friction and making it likely to capture more saves from casual browsers.
• ESC requires customers to interact with the cart to see favorites if the save is surfaced under the cart. That is effective later in the funnel, but not for quick saves during browsing.

Practical takeaway: For conversion of casual browsers into saved-item prospects, prioritize apps with one-click guest saving.

Setup, Customization, and Theme Compatibility

Ease of Setup

• ESC advertises a broad range of customization and places the widget under the cart. Setup should be straightforward for merchants who want minimal features.
• Smart Wishlist claims "no coding required" setup and explicit support for making the button appear on product, collection, and search pages. It also claims safe uninstall behavior that does not break the theme.

Practical takeaway: Smart Wishlist’s emphasis on no-code setup and safe uninstall lowers technical risk.

Customization Options

• ESC provides theme customization options for appearance; however, without many public reviews (2 reviews, rating 1), merchants should directly test the visual options in a staging environment.
• Smart Wishlist provides configuration across page types and includes JS and REST APIs for advanced customization, giving developers hooks to extend or integrate behavior.

Practical takeaway: If the store requires bespoke styling or advanced integration, Smart Wishlist offers better developer flexibility.

Uninstall Behavior

• Smart Wishlist explicitly states it has a lightweight payload and does not break themes upon uninstall. This is an important operational detail: apps that leave code behind can be costly to clean up.
• ESC does not provide a specific uninstall guarantee in the public description; merchants should confirm this during setup.

Practical takeaway: Theme safety is a material operational consideration—choose solutions with a clean uninstall policy.

Performance, Payload, and SEO Considerations

Payload and Page Speed

• Smart Wishlist advertises a lightweight payload, which suggests a minimal impact on page load times and Core Web Vitals.
• ESC does not advertise performance metrics prominently; with limited review data, merchants should test Lighthouse scores after installation.

Practical takeaway: For stores sensitive to page speed, Smart Wishlist’s claim of lightweight operation is a practical plus. Always test in a staging environment.

SEO and Indexing

• A wishlist itself has limited direct SEO impact but can influence internal linking and product visibility if shared to social or pushed back into email campaigns.
• Neither app claims to provide SEO-specific features for wishlists; the quality of sharing metadata and the structure of shared links should be tested.

Practical takeaway: Wishlist apps are not an SEO play in isolation; their value is in retention and conversion.

Data, APIs, and Portability

APIs and Developer Access

• Smart Wishlist provides JavaScript and REST APIs for advanced requirements, enabling syncing of wishlist events with third-party analytics, CRM, or marketing automation.
• ESC’s public listing does not emphasize APIs. If the business relies on capturing wishlist events and syncing them to systems like Klaviyo, having APIs matters.

Practical takeaway: Smart Wishlist is more suitable for data-driven shops that want to capture wishlist signals across the marketing stack.

Data Ownership and Export

• Merchants should confirm whether saved lists and wishlist events are exportable. Smart Wishlist’s API support typically enables export and integration.
• ESC’s export capabilities are unclear from the listing; merchants should request clarity before committing.

Practical takeaway: If exporting wishlist data into CRM or email segmentation is a requirement, validate export/API capabilities during the trial.

Integrations and Ecosystem Compatibility

Direct Integrations

• Smart Wishlist lists Sendgrid and ShareThis as supported tools and offers APIs for custom integrations.
• ESC does not list explicit third-party integrations in the provided excerpt.

Practical takeaway: Smart Wishlist has more visible integration proof-points and developer paths.

Working With Marketing Automation

• Smart Wishlist’s API surface enables triggering automated emails, cart recovery sequences, or segmentation based on wishlist events.
• For ESC, confirm whether the app can push events to tools like Klaviyo or Omnisend either natively or via webhooks.

Practical takeaway: For marketing automations tied to wishlist behavior, Smart Wishlist provides clearer integration pathways.

Pricing and Value for Money

Monthly Cost Comparison

• ESC Wishlist + Save for Later: $5 / month.
• Smart Wishlist: $4.99 / month.

Both apps are positioned in the low-cost, single-feature tier. Monthly price alone is similar, so value evaluation should be based on feature depth, reliability, and support.

Value Considerations Beyond Price

• ESC’s value proposition is simplicity with cart-level save-for-later visibility and social sharing. For a micro-store that only needs a cart-level saver, this may be sufficient.
• Smart Wishlist’s value comes from guest saving, multi-placement, APIs, and safe uninstall behavior. For stores trading on UX and integration, Smart Wishlist offers better value for money despite similar pricing.

Practical takeaway: Compare expected outcomes (saved items, recovered purchases, list shares) to decide which app gives more value for your store. For long-term growth, the ability to export wishlist events and integrate them into remarketing often outweighs a $0.01 price difference.

Support, Reviews, and Credibility

Review Counts and Ratings

• ESC Wishlist + Save for Later: 2 reviews, rating 1. This low sample and rating raise legitimate questions about support experiences and reliability.
• Smart Wishlist: 81 reviews, rating 3.6. A larger sample size and mid-range rating indicate broader adoption and a more mature product, though there may still be issues noted by users.

Practical takeaway: Count of reviews and average rating should factor into confidence. A higher volume of reviews usually indicates wider use and more resolved edge cases.

Support Channels and Responsiveness

• Smart Wishlist promotes no-code setup and lightweight payload; with a larger review base, it's likely the developer offers regular support.
• ESC’s support responsiveness is unclear in the data set; merchants should test support response time during trial.

Practical takeaway: Test the app developer’s support before launch—ask setup, customization, and uninstall questions to gauge responsiveness.

Security, Privacy, and Compliance

• Wishlist apps capture customer-interest data. Verify that both apps comply with data privacy regulations relevant to the merchant (GDPR, CCPA).
• Smart Wishlist’s API surface means more control over where data flows; confirm safeguards and data retention policies.
• ESC’s privacy and compliance details should be reviewed with the developer.

Practical takeaway: Ensure the app’s data handling aligns with the store’s privacy policy and any contractual requirements.

Uninstalling and Long-Term Maintenance

• Smart Wishlist emphasizes not breaking a theme upon uninstall; this reduces long-term maintenance costs.
• ESC’s uninstall behavior is not documented in the snippets provided; merchants should request a clear uninstall checklist.

Practical takeaway: Preference should be given to apps that guarantee clean uninstalls and provide clear removal instructions.

Practical Use Cases and Recommendations

This section translates the technical comparison into actionable recommendations for common merchant profiles.

When ESC Wishlist + Save for Later Is a Reasonable Choice

• Small shops on a tight budget that need a simple save-for-later option displayed under the cart.
• Stores that want minimal ongoing maintenance and only basic social sharing.
• Merchants who primarily want to nudge customers during checkout rather than capture early browsing intent.

Advantages:

• Very low monthly cost.
• Cart-level visibility can convert saved items into buys at checkout.
• Basic customization to match store look-and-feel.

Limitations:

• Very small public review base and low rating suggest potential reliability or support concerns.
• Less emphasis on guest saving, APIs, and clean uninstall guarantees.

When Smart Wishlist Is the Better Fit

• Stores that prioritize capturing browsing intent across product, category, and search pages.
• Merchants who want guest saving, one-click wishlist actions, and developer APIs to integrate wishlist signals with email and CRM.
• Teams that want safe uninstall behavior and minimal theme risk.

Advantages:

• Explicit guest support and multi-location wishlist buttons.
• JS and REST APIs for event tracking and integrations.
• Lightweight payload and uninstall safety.

Limitations:

• Mid-range rating suggests there are positive aspects but room for improvement; read recent reviews to understand recurring issues.
• As a single-purpose app, it requires additional tools for loyalty, referrals, and reviews if those programs are desired.

Pros and Cons Summary

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later

Pros:

• Low cost ($5/month).
• Cart-level save-for-later placement targets near-checkout conversion.
• Unlimited wishlists and social sharing.

Cons:

• Very small review count with a low rating (2 reviews, rating 1).
• Limited visible integration and API support.
• Unclear uninstall and data export policies.

Smart Wishlist

Pros:

• Guest and logged-in user support with one-click saving.
• Multi-page placement (product, collection, search, cart).
• JS and REST APIs for integrations; lightweight payload and safe uninstall.
• Larger review sample (81 reviews, rating 3.6).

Cons:

• Still a single-purpose app; merchants will likely add other tools for retention.
• Mid-range rating suggests occasional support or feature gaps.

Pricing & Value Revisited

Both apps sit in the same low-cost tier. Price should not be the sole decision metric:

• Evaluate expected returns: How many saved items convert to purchases? Can wishlist events be used in email flows? If not, the wishlist may be a vanity metric.
• Consider operational cost: Time spent customizing, integrating, or cleaning up theme conflicts increases total cost of ownership.
• Account for growth: A wishlist that integrates with loyalty or email segmentation will scale better than a siloed tool.

For many merchants, the best investment is a wishlist that connects to the broader marketing stack or an integrated platform that bundles wishlists with loyalty, referrals, and reviews.

Installation Checklist (What to Test During Trial)

When testing either app, confirm the following before going live:

• Mobile and desktop layout behavior across major pages.
• Guest wishlist behavior and persistence across sessions (cookies vs. account tie-ins).
• Export or API access to wishlist events for integration with email or CRM.
• Uninstall procedure and any leftover code removal steps.
• Support responsiveness to a technical question or a customization request.
• Impact on page speed (use a staging theme and Lighthouse checks).

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

Many merchants face "app fatigue": the slow creep of single-purpose apps added to tackle each small need. After a while, maintenance, monthly fees, and integration complexity rise. A wishlist app is a useful tactical tool, but when combined with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, the cumulative benefit to customer lifetime value becomes greater than the sum of parts.

App fatigue typically shows up as:

• Multiple monthly bills for single features.
• Cross-app integration gaps (e.g., wishlist events not reaching email).
• Inconsistent UX across features from different vendors.
• Higher technical maintenance for theme compatibility and uninstalls.

A single platform that bundles wishlist with other retention tools reduces the number of vendors and provides unified data flows that marketing teams can action without building bespoke integrations.

Growave: More Growth, Less Stack

Growave is a platform designed to replace multiple single-purpose retention apps by combining loyalty, referrals, reviews, VIP tiers, and wishlist into one suite. The pitch is to help merchants increase repeat purchases and LTV while reducing app sprawl.

Key elements that address app fatigue:

• Centralized customer data for loyalty, reviews, and wishlist events.
• Shared reward mechanics that link wishlist behavior with loyalty incentives.
• Integrated referral flows so shareable wishlists can trigger rewards.
• Enterprise features like multi-language support and Shopify Plus compatibility.

Merchants evaluating a move away from single-feature apps should consider how an integrated approach changes cost and outcomes. To see how consolidation can reduce tool proliferation and centralize retention workflows, merchants can compare options to consolidate retention features.

How Growave Replaces Multiple Tools

• Wishlist: Built-in wishlist captures saved items and ties them to rewards and lifecycle campaigns.
• Loyalty & Rewards: Programs to reward repeat purchases, referrals, and wishlist actions through points and VIP benefits. Merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
• Reviews & UGC: Tools to request, collect, and display reviews and user-generated content. Merchants can collect and showcase authentic reviews without adding another app.
• Referrals & VIP Tiers: Native referral mechanics and VIP segmentation that can be driven by customer behavior, including wishlist activity.

Integration and Operational Benefits

• Less maintenance: One vendor, one support channel, one billing relationship.
• Data portability: Built-in integrations with common stacks and a focus on webhooks/API access reduce custom engineering.
• Faster time to value: Bundled features mean loyalty and review programs can go live faster than stitching together multiple apps.

For merchants interested in seeing how an integrated retention stack can work in practice, Growave provides live customer stories and examples to inspire setup ideas—visit customer stories and inspiration to learn how other brands use the platform. For stores that want a hands-on walkthrough, book a demo with Growave to explore tailored setups: Book a personalized demo.

Hard CTA: Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention. (This is the first hard CTA in the article and links to the demo page.)

Pricing and Plans (Value Comparison)

Growave’s pricing is positioned to reflect a multi-feature platform rather than a single add-on:

• Entry Plan – $49/month: Includes Loyalty & Rewards, Reviews & UGC, Referrals, Wishlist, and basic integrations.
• Growth Plan – $199/month: Adds advanced customization, enhanced integrations, and priority support.
• Plus Plan – $499/month: Designed for larger merchants with checkout extensions, headless support, and a customer success manager.
• Free plan available and free trial options also exist.

For merchants currently using one or two single-purpose apps, it makes sense to calculate combined monthly spend. For example, multiple $5–$50 apps quickly approach the Entry Plan price when accounting for several tools. See how consolidation could improve value and reduce complexity by comparing plans to consolidate retention features.

Example Integrations and Ecosystem Compatibility

Growave integrates with a wide ecosystem to make consolidated data useful across the stack:

• Email & SMS: Connections to Klaviyo and Omnisend to use wishlist and loyalty events for campaigns.
• Helpdesk: Integrations with Gorgias for customer service context.
• Commerce: Works with Recharge for subscription flows and Checkout extensions for Plus merchants.
• Page Builders & Headless platforms: Compatibility with Pagefly, GemPages, Shopney, and headless setups.

If a merchant is on Shopify Plus or expects enterprise growth, reviewing solutions for high-growth Plus brands is a practical step. The combined workflow of wishlist-to-reward-to-review creates compounding retention effects that single apps cannot easily replicate.

Reviews and Social Proof

Growave’s public reviews (1,197 reviews, rating 4.8) reflect broad adoption and satisfaction, which can be an important signal for merchants evaluating consolidation. Consider how vendor reliability and support impact long-term operations compared to small single-feature apps.

Secondary Features That Matter

• Cross-program automation: Trigger loyalty points for adding wishlist items or referring friends who buy.
• VIP tiers and segmentation: Reward high-value customers with exclusive offers and track lifecycle movement.
• Review generation: Automate review requests and showcase UGC to boost conversion.
• Checkout and headless support: For stores using advanced storefronts, Growave support for Checkout extensions and APIs helps maintain feature parity across channels.

For more detail on the reviews and UGC features, merchants can review tools to collect and showcase authentic reviews. To compare loyalty program capabilities, look at loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.

Operational Notes

• Migration: Moving from one or two single apps to a single platform will require planning for data migration. Confirm export formats and APIs before switching.
• Support: Larger platforms typically provide onboarding and success resources to reduce launch friction.
• Cost modeling: Build a 12-month TCO model comparing monthly app fees plus development and maintenance costs to a consolidated plan.

To evaluate pricing and feature fit against current monthly spend, examine how consolidation could reduce tool sprawl and centralize retention by visiting the Growave pricing page: compare consolidation options.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and Smart Wishlist, the decision comes down to two main factors: whether the priority is a simple cart-level save-for-later widget at minimal cost, or a more comprehensive wishlist experience that supports guest saving, multi-page placement, and developer APIs.

• ESC Wishlist + Save for Later is best for very small stores that want a low-cost, cart-focused save-for-later capability and minimal setup.
• Smart Wishlist is a better match for stores that want a reliable, performant wishlist with guest-saving, multiple placements, and integration hooks.

For merchants who care about long-term retention and want to reduce the number of single-purpose apps in their stack, an integrated retention platform provides clearer long-term value. Consolidating wishlists, loyalty, reviews, and referrals into a single system reduces maintenance, unifies customer data, and unlocks cross-program behavior that single apps cannot deliver. To understand pricing and how consolidation can reduce operational complexity, compare consolidation options for retention features: consolidate retention features.

Start a 14-day free trial to explore how a unified retention platform replaces multiple single-purpose apps and improves customer lifetime value. (This is the second and final hard CTA in the article.)

FAQ

Q: Which wishlist app captures more guest saves—ESC Wishlist + Save for Later or Smart Wishlist? A: Smart Wishlist explicitly supports guest saving and one-click saves without login. ESC focuses on cart-level save-for-later placement and does not emphasize guest behavior in its public listing. For guest-heavy traffic, Smart Wishlist is typically the safer choice.

Q: If my store wants loyalty programs in addition to a wishlist, which approach is better? A: Combining a wishlist with a loyalty program in a single platform simplifies data flows and campaign logic. An integrated system lets wishlist actions translate directly into rewards and VIP segmentation, whereas standalone wishlist apps usually require custom integration to feed loyalty systems.

Q: How do review volume and app credibility compare? A: ESC has 2 reviews with a rating of 1, while Smart Wishlist has 81 reviews with a rating of 3.6. The higher review count for Smart Wishlist indicates broader usage and more resolved edge cases; however, merchants should read recent reviews for context on specific issues.

Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps? A: An all-in-one platform reduces vendor count, centralizes data, and enables cross-functional campaigns (for example, rewarding wishlist saves or prompting reviews after referral purchases). While specialized apps may offer focused features or lower entry price, an integrated solution often yields better value for shops that need multiple retention features and want to scale without managing multiple integrations.