Introduction
Choosing the right wishlist app is a deceptively important decision for Shopify merchants. A wishlist can increase product saves, encourage return visits, and feed personalization and marketing workflows—but single-purpose wishlist apps vary widely in capabilities, cost, and the business outcomes they enable.
Short answer: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is an excellent choice for merchants who want a fast-to-launch, brandable wishlist with both floating and embedded placement at a modest cost and solid user ratings. FAVS Wishlist Bar is better for stores that prioritize a stylish, persistent wishlist UI with guest wishlist support and built-in email reminders. For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and get wishlist functionality as part of a broader retention stack, an integrated platform like Growave often delivers better value for money and more strategic upside.
This article provides an in-depth, objective, feature-by-feature comparison of K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) and FAVS Wishlist Bar (Product Hero Ltd.). It focuses on the merchant outcomes that matter—customer retention, repeat purchase potential, lifetime value, and the operational costs of adding another app. After the direct comparison, the piece will examine why some merchants choose an integrated alternative and introduce Growave as a consolidated solution for loyalty, wishlist, reviews, referrals, and VIP tiers.
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist vs. FAVS Wishlist Bar: At a Glance
| Aspect | K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) | FAVS Wishlist Bar (Product Hero Ltd.) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Simple, fast wishlist with floating button, nav icon and shareable lists | Stylish wishlist bar that pins/collapses and supports guest wishlists and reminders |
| Best For | Merchants who need a lightweight, branded wishlist that’s quick to install | Merchants who want a distinctive UI + guest wishlist + automated reminders |
| Rating (Shopify) | 4.7 (81 reviews) | 5.0 (5 reviews) |
| Key Features | Floating button, header icon, add-to-wishlist button, social sharing, popup/embedded wishlists, customer wishlists | Collapsible/pinnable bar, guest wishlists, automatic email reminders, visual customization, insights |
| Pricing Range | Free plan; paid tiers: $6.70/mo and $19.99/mo | $9.95/mo or $99.50/year (saves 2 months) |
| Integrations / Works With | Checkout | (Not listed) |
| Strengths | Low barrier to entry; custom labels/icons; social sharing; tracks wishlist usage | Guest wishlist support; persistent UI; automated reminders; claims zero speed impact |
| Weaknesses | Limited to wishlist-focused features; modest analytics detail | Small number of public reviews; single-function scope; pricing inflexibility |
Deep Dive Comparison
How to Evaluate Wishlist Apps (Merchant Lens)
A wishlist is more than a button; it is an acquisition and retention signal. When choosing a wishlist tool, merchants should evaluate:
- The customer experience: How easy is it to save and revisit items? Are guest users supported? Is social sharing available?
- The activation and conversion levers: Does the app trigger email reminders, back-in-stock alerts, or targeted campaigns?
- Customization and brand fit: Can icons, labels, colors, and placement match brand design?
- Data and analytics: Can the app surface product interest metrics that feed merchandising and paid media?
- Operational cost and performance: Monthly cost, impact on page speed, and support quality.
- Extensibility and integrations: Will the wishlist integrate with CRM, email, or loyalty systems, or is it a silo?
The following sections apply those evaluation criteria to K Wish List and FAVS, and compare how each app serves merchant goals such as retention, LTV, and upsell opportunities.
Features: What Each App Does Best
Core Wishlist UX
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Provides multiple placement options: float button, header/nav icon, popup, and a dedicated wishlist page.
- Save interactions are straightforward; customers can create lists for gift registries or later purchases.
- Social sharing of lists is included, which can help discoverability for gift-driven shopping.
- Offers customers’ own wishlists (registered accounts supported), but specific guest wishlist details are less prominent.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Centers its UX on a pinned, collapsible wishlist bar that remains accessible across pages.
- Guest wishlists are explicitly supported—customers can add items without signing in.
- The bar's persistent visibility is aimed at maximizing product saves and reducing friction for mobile visitors.
- Built-in automatic email reminders nudging users about price drops or inventory changes are central.
Merchant takeaways:
- Choose K Wish List for flexible placement options and social sharing that supports gift shopping. The floating/popup options make it easy to tailor placement by page type (collection vs. product).
- Choose FAVS if persistent visibility and guest wishlist capability are critical—especially for stores with many casual or mobile-first visitors who resist account creation.
Customization & Brand Fit
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Focused customization on icons, labels, and colors to match store branding.
- Multiple display types make it easier to preserve site aesthetics.
- Ideal for merchants who want a wishlist that visually blends with the storefront.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Strong emphasis on visual customization for the wishlist bar itself so it can be styled to match the brand.
- The bar can be collapsed or pinned, with design choices focused on maintaining an on-site visual presence without clashing with product photography.
Merchant takeaways:
- Both apps offer practical customization. K Wish List provides broader display flexibility; FAVS invests in a single, distinctive UI element that merchants can tune extensively.
Guest Wishlist and Email Automation
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Enables customers’ wishlists and list-sharing but the feature set for guest users or automated reminder flows is not highlighted as a core differentiator.
- Notifications on adding to wishlist are supported.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Explicitly supports guest wishlists (no sign-in required), lowering friction for first-time browsers.
- Automatic email reminders for price changes or inventory updates are built in—this converts saved interest into repeat visits and potential sales.
Merchant takeaways:
- If converting anonymous browsers is a priority, FAVS’s guest wishlist + automated reminders provide clear conversion levers out of the box. K Wish List may require additional tools to reach the same reminder/retargeting functionality.
Analytics & Insights
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Tracks wishlist usage and provides insight into product interest. This can inform campaign targeting and merchandising priorities.
- Level of analytics detail is suitable for identifying top-saved products and sharing behavior.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Offers usage insights and claims to show how the wishlist contributes to sales.
- The integrated reminder feature creates measurable touchpoints (emails sent, opens, clicks) that can be used to tie saves to conversions.
Merchant takeaways:
- Both apps provide basic product interest analytics. Merchants seeking robust analytics beyond saved counts—such as lifecycle funnels from save to purchase—may need to combine these apps with a reporting or CRM tool.
Performance & Store Speed
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Lightweight feature set and simple widget-based implementation generally keeps page impact small; documentation indicates easy setup without coding.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Promotes "zero impact on store speed" as a feature, which is attractive for merchants wary of third-party script load times.
Merchant takeaways:
- Both apps are positioned as low-friction from a performance perspective. Merchants with strict Core Web Vitals goals should still test the apps in staging: performance claims are useful, but real-world results vary by theme and other installed apps.
Pricing & Value
Pricing Structures
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Free plan: core wishlist features including float button, header icon, add-to-wishlist button, notifications, social sharing, popup and embedded types, customer wishlists, and support.
- Growth: $6.70/month (same feature list listed).
- Growth 2: $19.99/month (same features listed).
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Monthly: $9.95/month with unlimited wishlist items, guest wishlists, visual customization, automatic email reminders, insights, and the claim of zero speed impact.
- Yearly: $99.50/year (equivalent to $8.29/month) with the same features, advertised as saving two months.
Value-for-Money Assessment
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Strong value for stores that need an inexpensive or free tool to add a customizable wishlist quickly. The free tier enables testing wishlist impact without budget risk.
- Paid tiers are modest and can scale with feature stability and support expectations.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Mid-range single-purpose app with a focus on built-in reminders and guest wishlist functionality. For merchants who would otherwise need to add an email automation or an extra guest-wishlist customization, FAVS bundles that functionality into one monthly fee.
- Yearly plan provides savings for committed merchants.
Merchant takeaways:
- For pure cost-conscious merchants who only need basic wishlist features, K Wish List’s free offering is compelling.
- For brands that measure wishlist-driven revenue and rely on reminder automations, FAVS’s $9.95/mo or annual discount is reasonable and may offer better value for money compared with buying a separate email automation or custom development.
Integrations & Extensibility
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Lists "Works With: Checkout" on the app listing, which suggests compatibility with Shopify checkout flows. Specific integrations with email or loyalty platforms are not prominently listed.
- As a dedicated wishlist app, many merchants will integrate K Wish List with their broader marketing stack through manual exports, webhooks, or theme-level hooks.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- No explicit "Works With" integrations listed publicly. Core proposition centers on built-in reminders and guest wishlist support, reducing the immediate need for external email triggers.
- For advanced marketing workflows, merchants may need to extract wishlist data or use their platform’s APIs.
Merchant takeaways:
- Both apps are primarily single-purpose tools and may require merchant-owned integrations to get wishlist data into loyalty or email workflows. Merchants that rely heavily on sophisticated integrations should expect additional integration work or to prefer a unified platform.
Support, Reviews & Trust Signals
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- 81 reviews with a 4.7 average rating on the Shopify App Store—this is a meaningful sample size, indicating consistent user satisfaction.
- Support is described as "knowledgeable" and is included even on the free plan.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- 5 reviews with a 5.0 rating. The perfect rating is appealing, but the small review count makes it harder to generalize consistency across merchants.
- Product positioning emphasizes fast setup and style; the review set suggests early adopters are satisfied.
Merchant takeaways:
- A larger review base with a strong rating (K Wish List) provides more reliable social proof. FAVS’s smaller review pool is not a red flag on its own but warrants additional vetting—request demo, check response times, or test the app in a staging store.
Implementation & Onboarding
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Marketed as no-coding setup; multiple placement options simplify on-page decisions.
- Free plan makes testing risk-free. Knowledgeable support can help with branding tweaks.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Also presented as easy to install; the persistent wishlist bar requires less page-by-page placement decisions.
- Guest wishlist reduces friction during onboarding since account integration is optional.
Merchant takeaways:
- Both apps are easy to install. K Wish List offers more display flexibility out of the box; FAVS’s single-element approach cuts down on design decisions.
Security & Privacy
- Both apps operate within Shopify’s app ecosystem and must comply with Shopify’s requirements for data access.
- Merchants should confirm data handling policies for guest wishlist items—does the app store personally identifiable information or only product identifiers linked to email reminders? For stores subject to GDPR or CCPA, verify data deletion policies and exportability.
- Because wishlist data can feed marketing, confirm whether export or API access is available for GDPR-compliant access requests.
User Experience: Desktop vs Mobile
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist:
- Floating buttons and header icons work well on both desktop and mobile when implemented carefully. Popup types can be tuned for mobile to avoid obstructing content.
- Social sharing is helpful for gift purchases, particularly on mobile where shoppers often share via native apps.
FAVS Wishlist Bar:
- Mobile-first persistence is a design advantage: a pinned bar provides a consistent save UX for mobile users.
- Guest wishlist reduces friction on mobile where account creation is a significant hurdle.
Merchant takeaways:
- Mobile-first merchants or mobile-heavy traffic stores will likely see stronger save rates with FAVS’s persistent bar and guest wishlist focus. K Wish List remains effective with proper mobile configuration.
Support for Business Outcomes
- Retention & Repeat Purchase: Both apps increase the probability of repeat visits by enabling customers to save items. FAVS’s built-in reminders give a stronger hand at converting saves to purchases.
- Average Order Value (AOV): Wishlists enable bundling and gifting behaviors that can increase AOV; social sharing from K Wish List can help capture gift traffic.
- Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): On their own, wishlists impact LTV slowly. The biggest gains occur when wishlist signals are tied into loyalty, email, and referral programs.
- Merchandising & Paid Media: Saved lists provide product interest signals that can be used to prioritize ads or restock decisions. Both apps offer basic insights, but deeper orchestration requires integrations.
Merchant takeaways:
- The wishlist app that best impacts LTV is the one that feeds data into the merchant’s retention stack. Single-purpose wishlist tools add value but often need to be part of a broader program to materially raise LTV.
Use-Case Scenarios: Which App to Choose
- Brands on a tight budget wanting a quick wishlist test: K Wish List’s free plan offers low-risk experimentation.
- Brands focused on gift shopping and social sharing: K Wish List’s list-sharing features and customizable icons are well suited.
- Mobile-first stores with many anonymous visitors: FAVS Wishlist Bar’s guest wishlist and persistent bar deliver better mobile UX.
- Merchants who need built-in conversion nudges: FAVS’s automatic email reminders may turn more saved items into purchases without adding another tool.
- Merchants who already run a loyalty or review program and want to consolidate: Consider an integrated platform instead of adding another single-purpose app.
The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform
Understanding App Fatigue
App fatigue occurs when merchants rely on multiple single-purpose apps to achieve a combined set of retention and conversion outcomes. Consequences of app fatigue include:
- Increased monthly SaaS spend with overlapping capabilities.
- Greater technical debt: more scripts, potential theme collisions, and cumulative page weight.
- Fragmented customer data, making it harder to create unified retention flows.
- Operational complexity: more dashboards, divergent support channels, and separate billing.
Wishlist apps like K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar solve a specific need well. However, they also exemplify the broader trade-off: a focused tool does one thing, which often requires extra apps to get a complete retention program.
Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" Value Proposition
Growave positions itself as a retention platform that consolidates critical features merchants need to increase LTV—loyalty, referrals, reviews & UGC, wishlist, and VIP tiers—into one product. The logic is straightforward:
- Consolidate retention features to reduce theme footprint and script overhead.
- Centralize customer behavior (saves, referrals, review submissions, reward answers) in one interface.
- Use combined signals to trigger more relevant offers and reward strategies.
Merchants who migrate from multiple single-purpose apps can often achieve similar or better outcomes while simplifying operations and improving data continuity.
What Growave Covers (Feature Highlights)
- Loyalty programs and custom rewards that tie directly to customer actions. Merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases without piecing together multiple tools.
- Wishlist functionality that integrates with loyalty and referral mechanics, making product saves an actionable signal.
- Reviews and UGC collection tools that automate review requests and showcase social proof; merchants can collect and showcase authentic reviews to increase conversion rate.
- Referral campaigns and VIP tiers to reward advocacy and high-value customers.
Growave’s platform supports enterprise needs as well—solutions for high-growth Plus brands and APIs for headless setups—while still offering straightforward plans for smaller merchants.
How an Integrated Stack Solves the Wishlist Shortfalls
- Single source of truth: Wishlist saves feed loyalty and referral logic. For example, a saved product can trigger targeted point offers or be used to qualify VIP tiers.
- Cross-feature automation: Instead of separate reminder emails from a wishlist app and a loyalty app, a unified platform can coordinate messaging to avoid over-emailing and maximize long-term retention.
- Reduced developer maintenance: One suite means one app script and fewer theme edits, lowering the risk of script conflicts and site slowdowns.
- Better analytics: Aggregated reporting ties saved-product interest to referral activity and reward redemptions, offering clearer insight into how wishlist behavior affects LTV.
Merchants interested in seeing how an integrated retention stack works in practice can view real-world examples in Growave’s customer stories from brands scaling retention and see how features map to outcomes.
Practical Cost Comparison (Hypothetical Merchant)
While cost needs depend on order volume and program complexity, a typical pattern emerges:
- Multiple single-purpose apps: monthly fees for wishlist + loyalty + review app + email automations often add up to a sizable monthly expense and duplicate functionality (e.g., automated emails are built into several single-purpose apps).
- One integrated platform: a single subscription to a platform like Growave bundles loyalty, wishlist, reviews, referrals, and VIP tiers, often resulting in better value for money as the merchant scales.
Merchants who want to compare plan options and their fit to order volume and feature needs can explore pricing or try the app directly on Shopify’s store to evaluate install and features.
Integration & Support Advantages
- Growave integrates with popular tools merchants already use: Klaviyo, Omnisend, Gorgias, Recharge, and more—reducing the need for manual data transfers.
- Built-in support across features streamlines troubleshooting when a wishlist-triggered reward or a review workflow needs attention.
- For merchants on Shopify Plus, Growave provides tailored solutions and dedicated account support; more information is available about solutions for high-growth Plus brands.
How to Migrate or Coexist
- Migrating wishlist data: Consolidating saved-item data requires export/import planning. Growave supports wishlist imports and can map existing saves into its system.
- Coexistence strategy: Some merchants opt to pilot Growave on a subset of traffic while keeping a lightweight wishlist app for comparison. The goal is to validate the integrated approach before fully decommissioning other apps.
- Book a walkthrough: Merchants wanting a hands-on review of how Growave fits a specific store can book a demo to ask technical questions and see feature parity.
Evidence & Scale: Reviews and Trust
- Growave’s Shopify listing shows strong traction and broad validation with over 1,197 reviews and a 4.8 rating—providing a larger data set than single-purpose wishlist apps and suggesting consistent performance across features and merchant sizes.
- The combination of multi-feature breadth and enterprise support makes the platform a strong candidate for merchants who anticipate growth and want to avoid app sprawl.
Making the Decision: When to Choose an All-In-One Instead of a Single App
- If wishlist use is experimental and budget is tight: start with a free wishlist app like K Wish List to test impact without committing to a platform.
- If wishlist is one part of a deliberate retention strategy (loyalty, reviews, referrals, VIP tiers), the integrated approach typically delivers better long-term ROI.
- If operational simplicity and consolidated data are priorities, an integrated platform removes the need to stitch workflows across multiple apps and reduces monthly overhead.
Merchants can compare plan tiers and the potential cost trade-offs directly by exploring Growave’s pricing and Shopify App Store listing: compare plans and pricing and install an integrated retention platform.
Decision Checklist: Which Option Fits Your Store?
Use this checklist to match store priorities to an app choice—answer each as yes or no.
- Is the wishlist an experiment? If yes, a free or low-cost wishlist app is appropriate (K Wish List free plan).
- Do mobile users dominate traffic, and do many users browse without accounts? If yes, FAVS’s guest wishlist and persistent bar can help capture anonymous interest.
- Does the store already use a loyalty or reviews program that needs wishlist data? If yes, prefer an integrated platform that connects these signals automatically.
- Is reducing monthly app overhead and theme maintenance a priority? If yes, an all-in-one platform with bundled features is likely better value for money.
- Are automated reminders and conversion nudges a key lever? If yes, either FAVS or a platform that combines wishlist signals with email automations can deliver results.
Implementation Tips (Regardless of Choice)
- Test in a staging environment: Evaluate theme compatibility and mobile behavior before going live.
- Track the right metrics: Monitor wishlist saves, list-to-purchase conversion rate, email reminder performance, and incremental revenue tied to saved items.
- Use wishlist data for merchandising: Prioritize high-save products for restock, bundles, or promotional slots.
- Combine wishlist signals with loyalty: Reward customers for saves or referrals related to wishlist activity to deepen engagement.
- Communicate expectations: Clarify how long saved items persist and what information is captured for guest wishlists.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar, the decision comes down to the specific wishlist experience needed and how wishlist functionality fits into a broader retention strategy. K Wish List is a practical, low-cost choice for merchants who want flexible placement, list sharing, and a quick install—backed by a substantial review count (81 reviews, 4.7 rating). FAVS Wishlist Bar is well suited to stores that prioritize a persistent, mobile-friendly UI, guest wishlist support, and built-in automatic reminders (5 reviews, 5.0 rating). Both apps can increase saves and drive repeat visits, but they remain single-purpose tools.
For merchants who want to avoid tool sprawl and connect wishlist behavior to loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers, an integrated retention platform can deliver stronger, more sustainable results. Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" approach consolidates wishlist functionality with loyalty programs, review collection, and referral campaigns—helping merchants turn saves into repeat purchases and long-term value. For merchants evaluating options, it’s possible to consolidate retention features in a single plan, see real-store use cases in customer stories from brands scaling retention, and learn how wishlist behavior ties into broader programs for driving repeat purchases, such as loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and tools to collect and showcase authentic reviews.
Start a 14-day free trial to test a unified retention stack that includes wishlist, loyalty, reviews, referrals, and VIP tiers and see how a single platform can reduce maintenance while increasing customer lifetime value: Start a free trial.
FAQ
Q: How do K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar differ in converting saves to purchases?
- A: K Wish List focuses on easy saves and social sharing; conversions often require follow-up email flows or targeted campaigns. FAVS includes automatic email reminders and guest wishlist support, which can convert anonymous saves into return visits more directly. Neither replaces a full loyalty or referral program for long-term LTV growth.
Q: Which app is better for mobile-first stores?
- A: FAVS Wishlist Bar’s pinned, collapsible wishlist bar and guest wishlist support make it particularly well-suited to mobile-first traffic. K Wish List can work well on mobile with floating buttons and popups, but FAVS prioritizes a persistent mobile UX.
Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized wishlist apps?
- A: An all-in-one platform like Growave combines wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, and reviews. That reduces app sprawl, centralizes customer data, and enables coordinated retention campaigns, which often results in better value for money and more actionable analytics over time.
Q: If a merchant already uses a loyalty app, does it make sense to add a wishlist app?
- A: It depends. If the existing loyalty app can ingest wishlist signals and coordinate campaigns, adding a separate wishlist app may be redundant. If not, a specialized wishlist with reminders could be useful short-term. For longer-term scale, consolidating into a platform that includes both loyalty and wishlist features often simplifies operations and improves ROI.








