Growave vs. Swish (formerly Wishlist King): In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right Shopify app for wishlist and retention features is a common pain point for merchants juggling growth, conversion, and customer experience. Both Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist and Swish (formerly Wishlist King) aim to help stores capture future purchase intent, but they take different paths: one builds an integrated retention stack, and the other focuses deeply on wishlist functionality.

Short answer: Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist is the better fit for merchants who want a single platform that combines wishlists with loyalty, referrals, and reviews to boost repeat purchases and lifetime value. Swish (formerly Wishlist King) is a strong, focused wishlist tool with excellent customization and support for stores that only need wishlist functionality and top-tier notifications. For merchants looking to reduce tool sprawl and consolidate retention features, Growave offers better value for money.

Purpose: This article provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist and Swish (formerly Wishlist King) so merchants can make an informed decision about which app aligns with their business goals.

Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist vs. Swish (formerly Wishlist King): At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Features

Wishlist Core Capabilities

Growave

• Wishlist is a built-in component of a wider retention platform, so it integrates with loyalty and review triggers.
• Offers saved items, back-in-stock wishlist emails on higher plans, and wishlist appearance within customer accounts and checkout flows.
• Wishlist notifications can be tied to referral or loyalty actions, creating cross-functional campaigns.

Swish

• Focuses exclusively on wishlists with mature feature coverage: unlimited wishlists, saved items across sessions, shareable lists, and wishlist curation.
• Advanced automated notifications centered on wishlist items (reminders, price drops, back-in-stock alerts).
• Free setup and customisation service aims to make the wishlist match store aesthetics flawlessly.

How this affects merchants

• Use Growave if wishlist behavior needs to be actionable within loyalty, referral, or review-based campaigns.
• Use Swish if the primary conversion lever is a sophisticated wishlist product experience with tailored notifications.

Loyalty & Rewards

Growave

• Full loyalty program with points, tiers, VIP experiences, and POS integrations.
• Custom reward actions, points expiration, and dedicated loyalty page on higher plans.
• Seamlessly ties points and rewards to purchase triggers, referrals, and UGC activity.

Swish

• No native loyalty functionality; integrates with external loyalty tools if needed.
• Best suited for merchants that already have a loyalty program and only need wishlist tech.

How this affects merchants

• Brands seeking to increase repeat purchases and LTV through loyalty mechanics will find Growave provides direct value not available in Swish.

Referrals & Virality

Growave

• Built-in referral campaigns with fraud protection and tracking.
• Referral rewards can be combined with loyalty points or discounts to create coherent campaigns.

Swish

• No built-in referral module; can be paired with third-party referral apps, increasing tool count.

Merchant takeaway

• Growave reduces integration overhead for merchants who want referrals and wishlists to work together automatically.

Reviews & User-Generated Content (UGC)

Growave

• Review collection and display tools, review request automation, and support for Google Shopping Reviews and Instagram UGC on advanced plans.
• Built-in review widgets and options to incentivize reviews with points or rewards.

Swish

• Focuses on wishlist analytics and doesn’t provide a review system; requires separate review solutions.

Why this matters

• Reviews improve conversion and SEO. Merchants who want wishlist-driven reviews (e.g., reward points for reviewing after a saved item converts) will find Growave’s combined approach beneficial.

Customization & Theming

Growave

• Flexible branding options, customizable loyalty pages, and headless-friendly tooling in higher tiers.
• Works with a variety of page builders and supports API/SDK for bespoke experiences on Plus plans.

Swish

• Offers white-glove setup and full theme integration to match aesthetics across all plans.
• Fine-grained UI controls for wishlist buttons, placement, and styling.

Developer perspective

• Swish may be faster to get pixel-perfect wishlist UI out of the box due to white-glove services.
• Growave enables cross-app customization and deeper checkout or POS integrations for merchants scaling beyond wishlist UI.

Notifications & Automation

Growave

• Sends review request series, wishlist back-in-stock emails on Growth and above, and loyalty nudges.
• Tightly integrated automation flows for lifecycle messaging when combined with email platforms.

Swish

• Strong wishlist notification system with personalized reminders and deep Klaviyo and GA4 integrations.
• Emphasizes driving conversion at the moment a shopper is ready to buy.

Practical impact

• Swish is strong for wishlist-triggered email flows; Growave provides broader automation touching reminders, reviews, referrals, and loyalty — useful for lifecycle orchestration.

Analytics & Customer Insights

Growave

• Provides analytics across loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlist behavior, enabling holistic retention measurement.
• Useful for understanding how wishlists feed into repeat purchase rates and cohort LTV.

Swish

• Advanced wishlist analytics and curation tools focused on wishlisted SKU performance and wishlist-to-order conversion.
• Built to give deep visibility into wishlist interactions rather than cross-functional retention metrics.

Merchant takeaway

• Choose Growave for unified lifetime-value reporting; choose Swish for wishlist-specific performance insights.

Integrations

Growave

• Integrates with common merchant tech: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Gorgias, Recharge, Postscript, and many page builders and POS systems.
• Built for Shopify Plus with checkout and account extensions; supports headless via API and SDK.
• Install options available through the Shopify App Store and consolidated pricing for multiple tools.

Swish

• Out-of-the-box integrations include Klaviyo, GA4, Meta, and headless/Hydrogen support on the Plus plan.
• Focused set of integrations optimized around wishlist notifications and analytics.

Integration consequences

• Both apps integrate with core marketing tools, but Growave expands integration benefits across loyalty, reviews, and referrals. Swish provides deep, wishlist-first integrations that optimize reminder flows.

Pricing & Value

Growave

• Free plan available with basic wishlist, loyalty points, and product reviews; suitable for small stores testing retention.
• Entry plan at $49/month introduces advanced rewards, referrals, review automation, and integrations.
• Growth at $199/month and Plus at $499/month unlock more orders, headless features, checkout extensions, and dedicated success resources.

Swish

• Plans start at $19/month and scale to $99/month for Shopify Plus.
• Every plan includes white-glove setup, unlimited wishlists/sessions, and the same feature set; pricing tiers mostly match Shopify plan requirements.

Comparing value for money

• For merchants who only need a wishlist, Swish delivers strong value because wishlist capability is core and available at lower price points.
• For merchants seeking multiple retention functions in one platform, Growave offers better value for money given the combined capabilities of loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlist within a single subscription.

How to think about total cost of ownership

• Using Swish plus separate loyalty, referral, and review apps increases monthly cost and integration complexity.
• Growave bundles those features, which can reduce tool sprawl and simplify data flows — often producing a lower total cost for merchants who need multiple retention features.

Support, Onboarding & Customer Success

Growave

• 48-hour email support on Free plan, 24/7 email/chat on Entry, full onboarding and account services on higher tiers.
• Plus plan includes customer success manager and dedicated launch planning.

Swish

• Emphasizes free setup and customisation across all plans with white-glove onboarding for Plus customers.
• Prioritizes quick, hands-on theme integrations and notification tuning.

Support trade-offs

• Swish’s hands-on approach for wishlist setup is excellent for stores that want immediate, tailored UI and notifications.
• Growave’s tiered support and dedicated success on Plus is geared toward merchants integrating the app into a broader retention strategy.

Performance, Reliability & Scalability

Growave

• Built to support higher-volume stores with checkout, POS, and headless capabilities. Plus plan targets enterprise needs with API & SDK support.
• Designed to centralize data across touchpoints, reducing sync lag between loyalty and other channels.

Swish

• Engineered for reliable wishlist persistence across sessions and devices, and claims enterprise-friendly hydrogen/headless support on Plus.
• Strong focus on notification deliverability and analytics for wishlist events.

Considerations

• Both apps aim for solid performance; Growave’s architecture is built for scaling retention across channels, while Swish concentrates on wishlist reliability and fast delivery of wishlist notifications.

Data & Privacy

Growave

• Collects and stores customer activity for loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists; built to integrate with common ESPs and CDPs.
• Offers controls for GDPR and data portability, and enterprise features for Shopify Plus merchants.

Swish

• Stores wishlist data with an emphasis on privacy and cross-session persistence. Integrates with Klaviyo and GA4 for analytics pipelines.

Merchant action items

• Confirm data export capabilities and retention policies before deploying either app.
• For high-compliance merchants, ensure the chosen plan and integrations meet regional privacy requirements.

Headless, POS & Checkout Compatibility

Growave

• Explicitly built for Shopify Plus with checkout extensions, POS loyalty QR, and headless SDKs on Plus plans.
• Offers account extensions and dedicated loyalty page options that play well in headless and mobile contexts.

Swish

• Supports Hydrogen/headless in Plus plan and ensures wishlist persistence in custom storefronts. Focuses on front-end wishlist experiences.

When to care

• Headless or omnichannel merchants who want consistent loyalty rewards across POS, checkout, and mobile will benefit more from Growave.
• Headless stores that only need wishlist persistence and notification orchestration can find Swish adequate.

Implementation & Time to Value

Growave

• Quick start available via Free and Entry plans; advanced implementations for headless and checkout extensions require planning.
• Time to value accelerates when merchants leverage bundled features (e.g., points for reviews immediately boosting UGC).

Swish

• Fast, white-glove implementation for wishlist UI and notification flows. High-touch onboarding aims to minimize time to first wishlist-driven conversion.

Recommendation

• If a merchant’s immediate priority is a polished wishlist experience with fast implementation, Swish may deliver faster wins.
• If the goal is to launch a cohesive retention stack, Growave’s combined feature set can deliver broader benefits faster once initial setup is complete.

Strengths & Weaknesses: Side-by-Side Summary

Growave: Strengths

• Integrated suite: loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlist, and VIP tiers.
• Built for scaling merchants with Plus-level checkout and headless features.
• Better value for merchants who need multiple retention tools in one platform.
• 1198 reviews with a 4.8 rating supporting credibility.

Growave: Weaknesses

• Wishlist UX and customization may require more configuration compared to a white-glove wishlist specialist.
• Higher tiers cost more; full benefit is realized when multiple features are adopted.

Swish: Strengths

• Deep wishlist customization and strong notification capabilities.
• White-glove setup included, helping stores get a pixel-perfect integration.
• Simple, predictable pricing geared toward wishlist use cases.
• 272 reviews with a 5.0 rating show strong customer satisfaction for wishlist functionality.

Swish: Weaknesses

• Single-purpose product; merchants needing loyalty, reviews, or referrals must add more apps.
• Increased tool sprawl and higher total cost if combined with other retention apps.

Use Cases: Which App Fits Which Merchant

• Merchants who only need a highly polished wishlist and fast implementation: Swish is a focused, cost-effective option.
• Merchants seeking omnichannel loyalty (POS, checkout) and integrated campaigns across reviews and referrals: Growave is the natural fit.
• Rapid-scaling DTC brands wanting to consolidate retention tech to measure LTV and reduce integration complexity: Growave provides long-term value.
• Small stores testing wishlist impact before committing to broader retention features: Swish offers a lower entry price point to validate wishlist ROI.
• Enterprise/Plus merchants needing checkout extensions and headless SDKs: Growave’s Plus tier is built for these requirements.

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

The problem of app fatigue

Many merchants add single-purpose apps for incremental gains: one for wishlists, one for loyalty, another for referrals, and another for reviews. Over time, that stack becomes hard to manage.

Common consequences of app sprawl:

• Fragmented customer data across multiple vendors.
• Increased monthly fees that add up faster than expected.
• More integration maintenance and potential for conflicts between apps.
• Slower reporting and inability to attribute LTV to specific retention investments.

Why consolidating retention features matters

Consolidation improves measurement and execution:

• A single platform reduces friction in cross-functional campaigns (e.g., reward points for leaving a review on a purchased item that was first saved in a wishlist).
• Centralized analytics better ties wishlist activity to repeat purchases and cohort LTV.
• Support and onboarding are simplified when one provider owns the retention experience.

To evaluate consolidation, merchants should compare:

• Total monthly cost across required features vs. bundled pricing.
• Integration points and whether the platform covers checkout, POS, and headless.
• The ability to customize customer-facing components and back-end automation.

Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" proposition

Growave positions itself as more than a wishlist app: it is an integrated retention suite that reduces the number of vendors required to drive repeat business. The philosophy centers on simplifying the merchant stack while increasing lifetime value through coordinated loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists.

Strategic benefits include:

• Fewer billing relationships and a single integration surface.
• Cohesive campaigns that reward customer actions across the full commerce journey.
• Better long-term measurement of the impact on LTV and retention rates.

Explore how merchants can consolidate retention features and simplify billing by reviewing Growave’s pricing and plan structure: consolidate retention features.

How Growave’s feature set addresses app fatigue

Loyalty and rewards

• Merchants can launch points programs and tiered VIP experiences without a separate loyalty app. Learn how to build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.

Reviews & UGC

• Built-in review request automation and UGC options reduce reliance on third-party review platforms. For merchants focused on authentic social proof, growave helps collect and showcase authentic reviews.

Wishlist behavior as a growth lever

• Wishlists are not isolated; they feed into back-in-stock triggers, loyalty incentives, and referral offers. Bundling these behaviors under one system increases the chance that a saved item converts into a repeat purchase.

Integrations and Plus-level needs

• For merchants on Shopify Plus or headless stacks, Growave supports checkout extensions and APIs to preserve consistent retention experiences across touchpoints. Explore solutions for higher-growth merchants and checkout needs by reviewing options for solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Real-world operational advantages

• Less vendor management: A single contract and one support contact simplifies escalations and roadmap conversations.
• Faster experimentation: With multiple retention levers in one interface, merchants can test combined tactics (e.g., points for wishlist-to-order conversion) without building complex cross-app automation.
• Consistent branding: Loyalty, reviews, and wishlist UIs can be styled together to reduce friction and increase trust.

Where Swish still fits

Even with the benefits of consolidation, Swish retains a role:

• Merchants that only need wishlist functionality and want white-glove setup likely benefit from Swish’s concentrated expertise and lower entry price.
• Stores aiming for a highly tailored wishlist UI with immediate impact on wishlist-to-order conversions will find Swish’s onboarding attractive.

How to evaluate the switch

When deciding whether to consolidate onto a platform like Growave, consider:

• Current monthly spend across wishlist, loyalty, and review vendors.
• The time and resources required to integrate multiple apps reliably.
• Whether cross-functional campaigns (e.g., reward for leaving reviews after wishlist conversions) are important to long-term growth.

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

Practical migration checklist (no fiction, just actions)

• Audit current vendors, their monthly costs, and overlapping features.
• Map key customer journeys that involve wishlisting, reviews, and loyalty actions.
• Identify essential integrations (ESP, POS, analytics) and verify compatibility.
• Pilot with a free or entry plan to replicate core flows, then expand to Growth or Plus for checkout and headless needs.
• Export data from legacy apps for historical comparison and to seed loyalty/points programs.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Growave: Loyalty & Wishlist and Swish (formerly Wishlist King), the decision comes down to scope and strategy. Swish is an excellent specialized choice for stores that need a feature-rich wishlist with white-glove setup and sophisticated notification flows. Growave is the better option for brands that value a consolidated retention approach — pairing wishlists with loyalty, referrals, and reviews to increase repeat purchases and lifetime value.

Growave offers a strong alternative to single-purpose tools by reducing tool sprawl and enabling coordinated retention campaigns. Merchants who want to streamline integrations, centralize customer data, and measure the combined impact of wishlist, loyalty, and reviews should evaluate Growave’s plans and implementation options to determine long-term fit. For a clear look at how pricing aligns with bundling retention functions, merchants can compare plan tiers and features to their current stack to calculate total cost of ownership: consolidate retention features.

Start a 14-day free trial to explore Growave's unified retention stack.
Start a 14-day free trial to explore Growave's unified retention stack.

FAQ

• How do Growave and Swish compare on wishlist features?
  Growave includes wishlist capability as part of a broader retention toolset, linking wishlist behavior to loyalty and review triggers. Swish concentrates on wishlist functionality with deep customization and notification options. Choose Growave if wishlist behavior should tie into loyalty or referral programs; choose Swish for a best-in-class wishlist UI and deliverability.
• Which app is better for increasing customer lifetime value (LTV)?
  Growave is designed to increase LTV by combining loyalty, VIP tiers, referrals, reviews, and wishlists in one platform. Swish can indirectly improve LTV by converting wishlists into purchases, but achieving similar LTV gains usually requires additional apps for loyalty and referrals.
• Can a merchant use Swish and still run loyalty programs?
  Yes, but it requires integrating a separate loyalty solution. That raises the total cost and increases the number of integrations to manage. Merchants should weigh the simplicity and measurement benefits of bundling these features in a single platform like Growave.
• How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?
  An all-in-one platform reduces vendor management, centralizes data, and makes multi-step campaigns easier to run. Specialized apps can offer deeper functionality in one area and faster time to a polished feature. The right choice depends on whether the merchant values depth in a single area or breadth across multiple retention levers.

Appendix: Additional resources for merchants considering Growave’s capabilities and compatibility include materials on how to implement loyalty and rewards, how to collect authentic reviews, and examples from brands that have consolidated retention tools and scaled with integrated strategies: loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases, collect and showcase authentic reviews, customer stories from brands scaling retention, and merchants can find the app on the Shopify App Store to review install options and reviews: available on the Shopify App Store.