Introduction
Choosing the right wishlist app for a Shopify store can feel like picking a single tool from a crowded toolbox. Wishlists often act as conversion catalysts, turning browsing intent into future purchases and feeding into remarketing and retention workflows. But not all wishlist apps are built the same: some are tiny, single-purpose add-ons focused only on saving items, while others try to add customization and sharing features. Merchants need clarity on what each app actually delivers and how that maps to business outcomes like higher conversion rate, improved average order value, and longer customer lifetime value.
Short answer: ESC Wishlist + Save for Later is a minimal, single-purpose app that promises basic wishlist and save-for-later functionality for a low monthly cost, while Yellos Wishlist aims to offer more visual customization and multi-language support but lacks public reviews and rating data. For merchants that want more than a single feature — particularly loyalty, referrals, and reviews alongside wishlists — an integrated platform like Growave provides better value for money and reduces the complexity of managing multiple single-purpose apps.
This post provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and Yellos Wishlist to help merchants decide which app fits their needs. The analysis is practical and merchant-focused: it covers features, customization, pricing and value, integrations, support and reliability, and real use cases. After the direct comparison, the piece explains why consolidating wishlist functionality into a broader retention stack can be a smarter growth decision and introduces a cohesive alternative.
ESC Wishlist + Save for Later vs. Yellos Wishlist: At a Glance
| Area | ESC Wishlist + Save for Later | Yellos Wishlist |
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Wishlist + Save-for-later under cart | Multi-list wishlist with customization & social sharing |
| Best For | Merchants needing an inexpensive, basic save-for-later widget | Merchants wanting visual customization and multi-language support |
| Rating (Shopify reviews) | 1 (2 reviews) | 0 (0 reviews) |
| Price | $5 / month (single monthly plan) | No public pricing listed |
| Key Features | Unlimited wishlists, cart save-for-later, social sharing, look customization | Multiple wishlists, color/icon customization, animations, social sharing, multi-language |
| Install Complexity | Low | Low–Medium (depending on customization) |
| Integrations | Not publicly listed | Not publicly listed |
| Typical Limitations | Minimal analytics, few integrations, low review volume | No public reviews, unclear pricing, unknown integration depth |
Deep Dive Comparison
The following sections break down functional areas that matter when choosing a wishlist app. Each area identifies what merchants should test on a trial and what outcomes to expect if the app is used effectively.
Product & Core Functionality
ESC Wishlist + Save for Later
ESC positions itself around two behaviors merchants commonly want to capture: items customers save in a wishlist and the "save for later" area in the cart that nudges customers at checkout. Its publicly listed strengths are:
- Unlimited wishlists so customers can categorize products.
- Save items to a cart-level "saved for later" section that appears under the cart for easy checkout conversion.
- Social sharing to let customers share lists externally.
- Customization options for how the widget looks on the store.
Practical implications:
- The cart-level save-for-later can directly reduce friction at checkout by keeping remembered items within reach.
- Unlimited wishlists (if functioning as described) allow customers to group items, but the value depends on how easy it is to add/remove and how the UI appears on product and collection pages.
- The developer provides a low monthly fee, making this a low-cost experiment for small stores.
Known gaps:
- Very low review count (2) and rating (1) make it hard to validate reliability, support responsiveness, and long-term maintenance.
- No public documentation of integrations or analytics, so connecting saved-item data to email flows or analytics may require manual work.
What merchants should test:
- How the saved items display in the cart and account pages.
- Whether saved items persist across devices and sessions.
- The UX for anonymous vs. logged-in users.
- Theme compatibility and load speed impact.
Yellos Wishlist
Yellos promotes itself as a visual and multi-list wishlist app with these highlights:
- Quick wishlist creation with a few clicks.
- Color, icon, and animation customization to match store theme.
- Multiple wishlists per user.
- Social sharing across popular networks.
- Multi-language support for several languages including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish, and English.
Practical implications:
- Stronger visual customization helps brands maintain a consistent aesthetic and can improve perceived polish.
- Multi-language support can be valuable for stores selling into non-English markets.
- Multiple wishlists and animation options help engagement, especially for lifestyle and gifting categories.
Known gaps:
- No public reviews or ratings, leaving reliability, support quality, and real merchant feedback unknown.
- No public pricing disclosed, which makes ROI calculations harder.
- Integration list is not published, so automated reward flows, cart recovery, or CRM sync are unclear.
What merchants should test:
- The performance impact of animations and custom icons.
- Multi-language behavior on localized storefronts.
- How shareable links render on social platforms.
- Admin-side management of multiple wishlists.
Customization, UX, and Store Fit
Visual and Theming Options
ESC:
- Mentions a broad range of aesthetic options, but documentation or screenshots are not widely available.
- Merchants should inspect live demos and test theme editors to ensure the widget can be styled to match the brand.
Yellos:
- Puts customization front and center with color, icon, and animation options.
- Better suited for stores that treat design consistency and motion design as part of conversion optimization.
UX considerations:
- Visual polish matters more for lifestyle, fashion, and gift-oriented stores where wishlists are part of discovery and curation.
- For utility-focused stores (items with longer research cycles), simple, unobtrusive wishlist UI that triggers follow-ups can be more valuable than animations.
Multi-Wishlist and Organization
ESC:
- Claims unlimited wishlists, which suggests good categorization capacity, but merchants should verify how lists are created and managed in the account area.
Yellos:
- Explicit multi-wishlist support and UI customization, enabling users to separate wishlists (e.g., "Birthday", "Home", "For Wishlist Party").
Operational impact:
- Multi-wishlist functionality increases the likelihood that users return to organize and share lists, boosting engagement, but complexity must be balanced by easy-to-use interfaces.
Mobile Experience
Both apps highlight share and customization features, which must be evaluated on mobile. Mobile-native interactions and responsive modals are essential because most traffic on Shopify stores is mobile-first.
What to validate:
- Tap targets and modal flows for adding/removing items.
- Persistence of logged-out vs. logged-in lists across mobile browsers and devices.
- How saved items are surfaced at checkout on mobile.
Integrations & Data Flow
Reliable integrations determine whether wishlist data can be operationalized for email, SMS, or segmentation.
ESC:
- No public list of platform-level integrations. Merchants should ask the developer about:
- API availability for exporting wishlist data.
- Webhooks or tag-based exports to automation platforms (e.g., Klaviyo).
- Whether wishlist events (add/remove) can be forwarded to analytics.
Yellos:
- No public integration details. Merchants who rely on automation should confirm:
- How wishlist actions can trigger email flows or customer segments.
- Whether wishlists can be associated with customer profiles for lifetime value tracking.
Why this matters:
- Without integrations, wishlists remain cosmetic: saved items don’t become triggers for recovery emails, restock alerts, or loyalty incentives.
- Integration depth is a major differentiator between simple widgets and features that drive measurable retention uplift.
Pricing & Value
Pricing transparency is a practical consideration when choosing apps.
ESC:
- Publicly listed: Monthly plan at $5/month.
- Pros:
- Low upfront cost makes it accessible for small shops testing wishlists.
- Predictable monthly billing.
- Cons:
- Low price can reflect limited features, integrations, or developmental resources.
- With minimal reviews, value for money cannot be fully validated.
Yellos:
- No public pricing listed on the provided data.
- Pros:
- Potential for flexible pricing tiers aligned with customizations, but merchants must contact the developer to know the cost.
- Cons:
- Lack of published pricing increases friction for evaluation and comparison.
- Hidden pricing can be a blocker for stores that need to forecast margins.
How to evaluate value:
- Compare total cost of ownership across the stack, not just the monthly app fee. Consider expenses for integrations, developer time, and the cost of parallel apps to cover analytics, loyalty, or referral programs.
- A low-cost wishlist is only cost-effective if it drives measurable conversion lift or integrates into retention workflows.
Analytics, Reporting, and Measurement
ESC:
- No public documentation about built-in analytics or reporting.
- Merchants should confirm whether the app provides:
- Counts of saved items and share stats.
- Conversion tracking for items saved → purchased.
- Export or webhook options for deeper analytics.
Yellos:
- No public analytics information.
- Merchants should request details on:
- Built-in reports, if any.
- Hooks into Google Analytics / GA4 or app-level events.
Why analytics matter:
- Without measurement, it's impossible to know whether a wishlist is improving conversion or merely taking up screen real estate.
- Merchants should measure saved-to-purchased conversion rate, AOV uplift from wishlists, and share-driven referral traffic.
Support, Maintenance, and Developer Activity
ESC:
- Very low public review volume limits visibility into support quality, update cadence, and responsiveness.
- Merchants should test support responsiveness during the trial (ask theme compatibility or bug questions).
Yellos:
- No public reviews or rating which makes it hard to evaluate support standards.
- Merchants should run a similar support test and inquire about SLAs and update plans.
Best practice:
- Evaluate support during off-hours to understand response times and depth.
- Confirm how the developer handles theme updates and Shopify API changes.
Security, Compliance, and Data Portability
Neither app has public documentation from the provided dataset about compliance with GDPR, data export, or data deletion processes. Merchants that collect customer data via wishlists should confirm:
- Whether saved lists are linked to customer accounts and how customers can request data deletion.
- How long anonymous lists are stored and whether cookies are used for persistence.
- If there is an easy export of wishlist data for backup or migration.
Performance & Theme Compatibility
Potential issues to validate:
- Page load impact of widgets, especially if the app loads external scripts or animated assets.
- Theme compatibility across major Shopify themes and page builders (e.g., PageFly, GemPages).
- Accessibility considerations — whether the widget is keyboard navigable and screen-reader friendly.
Both apps should be tested in a staging environment with Google Lighthouse or other performance tools to measure real impact on Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and First Input Delay (FID).
Social Sharing & Virality
Both apps advertise social sharing functionality.
ESC:
- Social sharing is called out as a way to increase brand reach.
Yellos:
- Also highlights the ability to share wishlists across popular social platforms.
Considerations:
- How share links are previewed on social platforms (Open Graph, Twitter cards).
- Whether shared lists are viewable without an account — public share pages often convert better.
- Whether sharing can be incentivized with referral credits or discounts.
Localization & Multi-Language Support
Yellos explicitly lists multi-language support across several languages. This is a solid advantage for merchants selling internationally or targeting non-English speaking segments.
ESC does not publicly list multi-language support in the provided data. Merchants with a localized storefront should verify translation availability and whether the widget follows Shopify’s multi-language storefront features.
Reliability & Longevity
App longevity and developer activity provide confidence. For both ESC and Yellos, the lack of reviews and public presence adds uncertainty. Merchants should ask:
- How long the app has been maintained.
- How frequently updates are released.
- Whether the developer has a roadmap for staying compatible with Shopify’s evolving APIs.
Use Cases: Which App Fits Which Merchant
ESC Wishlist + Save for Later could be a fit for:
- Small stores that want a low-cost way to add simple wishlist and save-for-later functionality.
- Merchants on a tight appraisal cycle who want to test wishlist impact with minimal investment.
- Stores that rely on cart-level nudges and want saved items to be visible at checkout.
Yellos Wishlist could be a fit for:
- Mid-market or design-focused stores that need visual customization and multi-language support.
- Merchants that prioritize shareable personalized lists for gift registries or curated collections.
- Brands that value animated UI and styling consistency across their theme.
Where both apps struggle:
- Neither app offers a visible, robust integration and analytics story from the data provided.
- Neither app makes public evidence of merchant reviews and support quality.
- For merchants seeking wishlists as part of a broader retention strategy (loyalty, referrals, reviews), both apps are single-point solutions that will require additional apps to deliver an integrated experience.
Practical Implementation Checklist (Pre-Install & Trial)
Before installing any wishlist app, merchants should perform quick checks that will save time later:
- Verify theme compatibility in a staging environment.
- Confirm whether wishlist data persists for logged-out users and across devices.
- Test adding/removing items and look for edge cases (variant-level saves, out-of-stock items).
- Ask the developer about integrations (webhooks, API access, email triggers).
- Confirm data portability and export format if the merchant decides to migrate.
- Check how the share links render on social platforms and whether those pages are indexable.
- Run a performance test (Lighthouse) before and after installation.
- Ask support a technical question and measure response time and quality.
The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform
Single-purpose wishlist apps solve a narrow problem. But when wishlist functionality is one item in a larger retention playbook — including loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers — adding multiple dedicated apps quickly creates what is commonly called app fatigue: increased monthly cost, overlapping features, more integrations to manage, slower storefronts due to many scripts, and fragmented customer data.
App fatigue creates specific business frictions:
- Higher cumulative cost from several monthly subscriptions.
- Fragmented customer profiles across multiple systems, making segmentation for repeat purchase programs harder.
- Increased time spent on maintenance, troubleshooting, and theme compatibility.
- Missed opportunities to tie wishlist behavior into loyalty incentives, referral rewards, and review requests.
Growave’s philosophy, "More Growth, Less Stack," addresses those frictions by bundling wishlist capability into a broader retention platform. Rather than stitching together disparate tools, merchants can centralize retention features in one integrated suite that is built to share data and workflows across loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists.
Key advantages of a consolidated approach:
- Single source of truth for customer behavior (wishlists, purchases, referrals).
- Unified rewards and actions (e.g., reward customers when a wishlist item is purchased).
- Easier measurement and attribution for retention efforts.
Growave’s platform provides consolidated features that map directly to the retention outcomes merchants care about:
- Loyalty and reward programs for repeat purchase incentive.
- Referral campaigns to turn wishlists and shares into new customer acquisition.
- Reviews and UGC to build trust and improve conversion for wishlist items.
- Wishlist widgets and VIP tiers that help segment high-intent shoppers.
For merchants evaluating Growave, a few concrete resources clarify how an integrated approach works in practice:
- Merchants can review how Growave helps merchants build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
- Stores can explore how to collect and showcase authentic reviews.
It’s also useful to see how consolidated retention stacks affect migration and operations:
- Growave’s pricing tiers and plan structure are published to help merchants model ROI and choose the right plan for growth stage, which allows merchants to compare total cost of ownership against the sum cost of multiple single-purpose apps. Merchants can review pricing to consolidate retention features.
- For merchants who want to install from the Shopify ecosystem, Growave is listed on the Shopify App Store and presents the app alongside other retention tools, making evaluation and install straightforward; merchants can review Growave on the Shopify marketplace to judge fit. Explore the app listing to see compatibility notes and installation flow on the Growave Shopify App Store listing.
Practical ways an integrated suite reduces the stack:
- Wishlist signals automatically trigger loyalty points or segment membership without additional middleware.
- Review flows can target buyers whose wishlist items convert at higher rates.
- Referrals can be combined with wishlist sharing so customers earn credit for sharing wishlists that lead to conversions.
Merchants evaluating consolidation should investigate these dimensions:
- How does wishlist behavior feed into loyalty automation? Review the approach to loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to see examples of combined actions.
- How are product review requests automated post-purchase, and can wishlist conversions trigger review flows? See how Growave helps merchants to collect and showcase authentic reviews.
- What is the reported performance impact when consolidating multiple scripts into one integrated solution? Consolidation often reduces script bloat compared to several single-purpose apps.
For merchants interested in a live walkthrough, direct interaction with a product specialist can clarify migration concerns and integration specifics. Book a personalized walkthrough to evaluate whether a unified retention stack meets technical and business needs: Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention. (This sentence is an explicit call to action.)
Additional practical notes:
- Growave supports Shopify Plus and headless setups, which matters for merchants planning scale or advanced checkout customizations. Merchants can learn more about enterprise-level features and case studies that explain how Growave helps high-growth stores to centralize retention. Explore solutions for high-growth Plus brands.
- Customer stories and examples help translate features into measurable outcomes. Merchants can read customer case studies and examples to see how integrated retention stacks work in practice. See customer stories from brands scaling retention.
Why this matters strategically:
- Reducing the number of single-purpose apps simplifies analytics, supports richer customer journeys, and lowers operational overhead.
- A single integrated platform reduces the risk that wishlist activity remains an isolated metric with no automated follow-through.
Migration & Operational Considerations
Switching from single-purpose wishlist apps to an integrated solution requires planning:
- Data mapping: Ensure wishlist data maps to customer profiles. Export lists and map fields to the new platform.
- Creative and UX continuity: Replicate key UX patterns that customers expect (e.g., where the saved-for-later area is shown).
- Testing: Validate flows that tie wishlist actions to loyalty or email automation in a staging environment.
- Phased rollout: Consider running the new platform in parallel for a brief period to spot differences and to minimize disruption.
- Cost modeling: Compare aggregated monthly costs of existing apps to the integrated plan pricing to assess payback period.
To get started, merchants can evaluate pricing tiers and feature sets to model expected ROI before committing. See pricing to consolidate retention features and evaluate the Shopify App Store listing for compatibility and install notes on the Growave Shopify App Store listing.
Practical Recommendations: Which Path to Choose
For merchants who want a short decision checklist:
- Choose ESC Wishlist + Save for Later if:
- The priority is a very low-cost test to add save-for-later behavior under the cart.
- The store needs a minimal widget and accepts that analytics and integrations may be limited.
- Budget constraints make a $5/month experiment appealing.
- Choose Yellos Wishlist if:
- The store requires strong visual customization, multi-language support, and shareable wishlist pages.
- Design consistency and motion UI are important for brand experience.
- The merchant can engage the developer to clarify pricing and integration capabilities.
- Choose an integrated platform like Growave if:
- Wishlist behavior must be tied into loyalty, referral, and review programs.
- Reducing the number of apps and consolidating customer data are business priorities.
- The merchant wants enterprise features, headless support, and a clear path to scale retention programs.
If a merchant is unsure, an effective middle path is to test a single-purpose wishlist app for a short period while running a concurrent evaluation of an integrated platform to measure consolidated ROI. Comparing conversion lift from wishlist usage and the long-term savings in maintenance and integration can reveal the better strategic option.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and Yellos Wishlist, the decision comes down to scope and priorities. ESC is a low-cost, single-function pick that may be attractive for simple save-for-later needs. Yellos promises richer visual customization and multi-language support, which can be valuable for design-forward or international stores, but lacks public reviews and pricing transparency, which increases evaluation effort.
Both apps have value in focused scenarios, but both are single-purpose solutions. For merchants who want wishlists to be part of a coordinated retention strategy — where wishlist actions trigger rewards, referral incentives, and targeted reviews — a consolidated platform reduces operational complexity and increases measurable ROI. Growave’s integrated suite brings wishlists together with loyalty, referrals, and reviews so merchants can trade many single-purpose apps for one cohesive retention stack. Compare plan tiers and expected total cost of ownership to understand how consolidation impacts margins and lifecycle value. Start a 14-day free trial to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth. (This sentence is an explicit call to action.)
FAQ
What are the main functional differences between ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and Yellos Wishlist?
- ESC emphasizes a cart-level "saved for later" area and basic wishlist features for a low monthly fee. Yellos emphasizes visual customization, multiple wishlists, and multi-language support. ESC is simpler and lower cost, while Yellos targets a richer UI and localization — though Yellos lacks public pricing and reviews based on available data.
How should merchants measure whether a wishlist app drives value?
- Focus on actionable metrics: saved-to-purchased conversion rate, average order value for wishlist-driven purchases, uplift in returning customers, and referral traffic from shared lists. Also track the time it takes to implement and maintain the app and any impact on page performance. If wishlist events are not integrated into loyalty or email flows, the merchant will miss opportunities to convert intent into revenue.
Is it worth using a single-purpose wishlist app when the store already uses loyalty and reviews apps?
- It depends on integration depth. A single-purpose wishlist app can work if it provides webhooks or API access that feeds wishlist events into loyalty or automation tools. If integration is absent or requires custom development, the combined operational overhead may outweigh the benefits. Consolidation into a single vendor that supports wishlists, loyalty, referrals, and reviews can reduce complexity and improve measurement.
How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps for wishlists?
- An all-in-one platform typically offers better data continuity, easier automation (for example, rewarding customers when wishlist items are purchased), and simpler maintenance because there is one integration surface instead of several. Specialized apps can be appealing for highly specific needs or budget constraints, but they often force merchants to stitch together workflows manually and run multiple monthly subscriptions.








