Introduction
Choosing the right app from thousands on the Shopify App Store is one of the most consequential decisions a merchant can make. Apps that look similar on the surface often deliver very different results once installed—some save time and lift conversion rates, others add maintenance overhead and duplicate functionality across the stack.
Short answer: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is an excellent choice for merchants who need a lightweight, easy-to-install wishlist focused on product saves, social sharing, and simple customization. GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite suits merchants that want wishlist functionality plus built-in revenue drivers like upsells, bundles, and automated reminders. For teams wrestling with multiple single-purpose apps, an integrated retention platform like Growave can offer better value for money by combining wishlists with loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers in one package.
The purpose of this article is to provide a clear, feature-by-feature comparison of K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite (GroPulse). This guide aims to help merchants identify which app matches their needs, where each app excels or falls short, and when it makes sense to consider a consolidated alternative.
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist vs. GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite: At a Glance
| Topic | K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) | GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite (GroPulse) |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Kaktus | GroPulse |
| Shopify Reviews | 81 | 11 |
| Rating | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Core Function | Focused wishlist: saves, share, customer lists | Wishlist + revenue tools: upsells, bundles, reminders |
| Best For | Merchants who want a fast, low-friction wishlist with easy setup | Merchants who want wishlist + conversion tools (upsells, bundles, alerts) |
| Key Features | Floating button, header icon, popup/embedded wishlist, social sharing, customer wishlists | Guest wishlists, back-in-stock & price-drop alerts, upsell offers, bundles, volume discounts, reminder emails |
| Price Range | Free → $6.70 → $19.99 / month | Free plan available; paid tiers unspecified (feature-rich free plan) |
| Works With | Checkout | Checkout |
| Value Proposition | Simplicity, fast setup, brand-matched UI | Cross-functional: wishlist plus AOV and cart growth features |
Deep Dive Comparison
The comparison below examines the apps across multiple merchant-centric criteria: core features, design and UX, pricing and value, integrations, data & analytics, support and onboarding, performance and reliability, and ideal use cases.
Core Features
Wishlist Basics
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist centers on the core wishlist experience: allowing shoppers to save products, organize gift lists, and share items. Its primary strengths are straightforward wishlist entry points (floating button, header icon) and a focus on brand styling — labels, icons, and colors can be adjusted to match the store’s look quickly.
GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite also provides core wishlist functionality, but with additional behavior-driven features layered on top: guest wishlist support, automated reminders, back-in-stock and price-drop alerts. Those additions make the wishlist more than a passive save tool—it's a re-engagement channel.
Key takeaways:
- K Wish List is optimized for stores that need a simple, reliable save-and-share experience.
- GP expands the wishlist into a conversion and recovery tool with automated triggers.
Conversion & Revenue Tools
K Wish List is intentionally narrow in scope. It focuses on product saves and social sharing without built-in mechanisms to directly increase average order value (AOV) like upsells or bundles.
GP clearly positions itself as a wishlist & upsell suite. It offers:
- Upsell offers on product and cart pages to increase AOV.
- Product bundles with discounts and tracking.
- Tiered volume discounts to encourage larger carts.
- Smart product recommendations to pair with wishlist items.
Key takeaways:
- If the objective is to use wishlists as a growth lever that directly increases AOV, GP is the stronger choice.
- K Wish List will require additional apps to drive upsells or create bundles.
Re-Engagement & Automation
K Wish List provides basic tracking of wishlist usage, but it does not include automated email reminders or price-drop alerts natively. Merchants will need a separate automation tool or email platform integration for those flows.
GP includes automated reminder emails, back-in-stock alerts, and price-drop notifications. These features convert wishlist interest into purchase actions without requiring immediate external automation setup.
Key takeaways:
- GP reduces the number of moving parts by baking re-engagement into the wishlist product lifecycle.
- K Wish List is better for merchants who manage automation separately or prefer minimal automation.
Social Sharing & Guest Experience
Both apps allow social sharing of wishlists and support guest users to some degree. K's emphasis is on social sharing as a discovery and gift-giving facilitator. GP's guest wishlist functionality is paired with reminder triggers, which strengthens the guest-to-customer pathway.
Key takeaways:
- For social discovery and gift shopping, both apps are capable.
- For converting anonymous wishlist interest into a sale, GP’s reminders give it an edge.
Design, UX, and Customization
Installation & Setup
K Wish List promises a setup that can be completed in minutes with no coding required. Merchants can add icons, change labels, and select display types (popup, embedded, floating). The simplicity improves time-to-launch for stores that prioritize speed.
GP’s setup is more feature-rich, which typically requires more configuration. Designing upsell flows, bundles, and automated emails takes time, but provides greater potential upside.
Key takeaways:
- K offers faster time-to-value with minimal setup friction.
- GP requires more configuration, which can be worthwhile for merchants who prioritize integrated revenue features.
Front-End Controls & Theming
K’s advantage is front-end flexibility for match-and-go theming. Custom icons, labels, and color schemes allow the wishlist to feel native without deep theme edits.
GP offers customization as well but focuses more on functional placement for upsells and cart offers. The additional components (bundles, discount logic) may require more design consideration to maintain a cohesive storefront UX.
Key takeaways:
- Brands concerned about pixel-perfect visual integration may prefer K for speed and simplicity.
- GP is compelling for stores that want functional control over merchandising and cart-level messaging.
Pricing & Value
Pricing decisions hinge on trade-offs between single-purpose cost and the cumulative cost of multiple tools.
K Wish List pricing is transparent:
- Free plan with essential wishlist features.
- Growth plan at $6.70/month (adds support, same feature list).
- Growth 2 at $19.99/month (same feature list repeated in the data, likely tiered support or higher usage limits).
GP’s listing highlights a solid free plan that includes many advanced features:
- Free plan includes guest wishlist, back-in-stock alerts, automated reminder emails, upsells, tiered discounts, bundles, and smart recommendations.
- Paid tiers are not explicitly stated in the provided data; merchants should verify billing based on usage or enterprise needs.
Value considerations:
- K is low-cost, and for stores that only need wishlist saves and social sharing, it’s likely the best value for money.
- GP delivers a higher functional density in its free tier, which may outperform K plus additional paid upsell/bundle apps in terms of total cost and convenience.
Important nuance:
- “Free” can be deceptive. Merchants should weigh limits (number of sends, limits on bundles, API access) and factor in the cost of complementary apps if choosing K for wishlist and other apps for upsells/alerts.
Integrations & Ecosystem
Both apps list Checkout compatibility. Beyond that, integration depth matters: does the app connect to email platforms, CRM, or other storefront tools?
K Wish List focuses on being lightweight and compatible with common theme setups. It does not position itself as an integrative platform for loyalty or review flows.
GP includes exportable wishlist data for marketing campaigns and supports automation features that can reduce the need for external integrations. However, merchants using advanced MarTech stacks will want to confirm direct integrations (e.g., Klaviyo) or use webhooks/API capabilities.
Key takeaways:
- For merchants using multiple marketing and automation tools, GP reduces integration needs by including re-engagement features directly.
- K remains appropriate for shops that prefer to manage automation and loyalty via separate tools.
Data, Analytics & Reporting
K offers tracking of wishlist usage—helpful for identifying product interest—but reporting appears basic. It’s suited for merchants who want a quick signal of popular items without deep analytics.
GP promotes "advanced analytics on clicks, orders, and revenue" and data export functionality. These capabilities matter for merchants who want to measure wishlist-driven revenue and report on upsell performance.
Key takeaways:
- Merchants focused on measuring wishlist-driven revenue should favor GP for its richer analytics.
- K provides adequate insight for product interest tracking but will require additional analytics tools to attribute revenue.
Support & Onboarding
K’s offering emphasizes "knowledgeable support" across plans, including the free tier. Given K’s simplicity, support tends to be straightforward: setup help, styling, and troubleshooting.
GP's range of features implies a more involved onboarding, and merchants should expect deeper support needs around automation templates, bundle rules, and upsell logic. The provided data does not specify support tiers, so merchants should evaluate response times and available documentation.
Community signals:
- K: 81 reviews and a 4.7 rating suggest a mature plugin with many users and generally positive feedback.
- GP: 11 reviews and a 4.8 rating indicate high satisfaction among a smaller user base—merchants should interpret that as a product that delights some clients but with a more limited public footprint.
Performance & Reliability
App performance and theme compatibility often determine if an app feels like an integrated feature or a bolt-on.
K’s lean feature set typically results in lower performance overhead. Minimal scripts, few backend calls, and small UI components help keep page speed impact down.
GP’s feature set introduces more complexity: upsell logic, bundle calculation, and automated emails. These features can be optimized, but they increase the surface area for potential performance impacts or theme conflicts.
Key takeaways:
- For stores where page speed is paramount and wishlist features should be minimal, K is the safer bet.
- For stores that can tolerate some complexity for higher conversion potential, GP is appropriate but requires testing and optimization.
Security, Privacy, and Compliance
Both apps interact with customer data and must comply with Checkout and Shopify rules. Merchants should confirm:
- How customer email addresses and wishlist data are stored.
- Whether the app supports data export and deletion to comply with GDPR.
- The availability of data retention policies and security certifications.
Because GP stores and triggers customer-facing emails, merchants should explicitly verify email-sending policies and data retention. K’s simpler footprint may reduce compliance overhead but still requires the same due diligence.
Scalability & Enterprise Readiness
K is geared toward small-to-midsize merchants who need simple wishlist features. Its tiered pricing suggests suitability for stores scaling at a measured pace.
GP is positioned to serve merchants seeking to leverage wishlists for revenue growth; however, the small number of public reviews suggests merchants should validate enterprise-level SLAs and performance at scale.
If enterprise features like API access, headless compatibility, or Shopify Plus optimizations are necessary, merchants may want to explore platforms that list explicit support for those scenarios.
Use Cases and Buyer Personas
The following summaries guide merchants on which app to choose based on specific operational needs.
- Merchants on a tight budget who need only wishlist saves and social sharing
- K Wish List is a solid choice for stores that require a fast, low-friction wishlist at minimal cost.
- Benefits: fast setup, low maintenance, brand-friendly visuals.
- Merchants who want to recover lost sales and increase AOV through integrated offers
- GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite is more appropriate. It combines wishlist functions with upsells, bundles, and automated reminders that convert interest into orders.
- Benefits: fewer additional apps needed, built-in re-engagement, data export for marketing.
- Merchants who prefer minimal tool sprawl and want an integrated retention strategy
- Consider consolidating functionality into a retention platform that includes wishlist, loyalty, reviews, and referrals to improve lifetime value and reduce operational complexity.
- Benefits: unified customer data, fewer integrations, single billing and support contact.
Practical Implementation Considerations
When choosing between K Wish List and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite, teams should run checks before installation.
Suggested pre-install checklist:
- Confirm support for the specific Shopify theme in use and test on a staging or unpublished theme.
- Verify free-tier limits: number of reminders, wishlist entries, bundle rules, and email sends.
- Assess the need for cross-app integrations (e.g., Klaviyo). Ask whether the app provides webhooks or direct integrations.
- Test the performance impact by auditing scripts and measuring page load in Google Lighthouse or similar tools.
- Ask support for setup assistance if custom placements or styling are required.
Operational considerations:
- If using multiple single-purpose apps (e.g., separate wishlist, loyalty, reviews), track cumulative monthly costs and duplicated user data between systems.
- Map customer journeys: where does a wishlist save feed into email automation or loyalty point awarding? If this path requires manual exports, consider an integrated solution.
The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform
App fatigue is a growing operational problem for merchants. Every new single-purpose app adds another dashboard, billing line, support channel, and potential integration point. Over time, this leads to duplicated functionality, inconsistent customer experiences, and a higher total cost of ownership.
The case against tool sprawl:
- Multiple single-purpose apps often duplicate user records, creating fragmentation and data hygiene issues.
- Each app introduces potential theme conflicts and site performance impacts.
- Fragmented customer experiences hurt retention: inconsistent branding, reward rules, or messaging fragments trust and recognition.
More Growth, Less Stack: Growave’s approach is to consolidate core retention tools into a single platform so merchants can manage loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlists, and VIP tiers from one place. Combining these features reduces the need for multiple vendors and centralizes data, simplifying audience segmentation, automation, and ROI measurement.
- Consolidate retention features to reduce vendor overhead and align loyalty actions with wishlist behavior, improving the chances of repeat purchases. Consolidate retention features
- Offer loyalty and referrals where wishlist saves can trigger points or rewards, connecting intent to purchase with incentives. Merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases while tying wishlists to reward triggers.
- Collect social proof and UGC in the same stack so wishlist interest, reviews, and referral activity inform retention strategy. Growave helps merchants collect and showcase authentic reviews to convert wishlist interest into trust.
Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention. Book a personalized demo
How Growave Addresses the Limitations of Single-Purpose Apps
Growave integrates capabilities that merchants often bolt together from multiple vendors:
- Loyalty and Rewards: Customizable programs, point rules, reward catalogs, expiration logic, and VIP tiers. These programs can be tied to wishlist behavior, allowing merchants to incentivize saves, shares, or purchases.
- Wishlists: A native wishlist solution that works alongside loyalty and referrals, so wishlist activities feed into customer profiles rather than living in an isolated app.
- Referrals: A unified referral program reduces friction and ensures reward consistency across wishlist-driven sharing.
- Reviews & UGC: Automating the collection of reviews strengthens post-purchase flows and leverages social proof for products that show high wishlist interest.
- Customer Segmentation: One source of truth for customer behavior increases the accuracy of targeted campaigns and in-app messaging.
Merchants can compare plans and understand pricing options to decide whether consolidating features into a single platform delivers better value for money than several single-purpose apps. Compare plans and pricing
Integrations and Enterprise Support
For merchants needing enterprise features or Shopify Plus support, Growave offers capabilities and resources tailored to high-growth stores:
- Solutions for storefronts on Shopify Plus with extended customization and support for headless architectures.
- Integrations with common marketing stacks and customer service platforms so merchants can maintain their tech ecosystem while removing redundant apps.
Merchants evaluating enterprise readiness can choose to install Growave directly from the Shopify marketplace or compare plan tiers on the official pricing page. Install Growave from the Shopify App Store
Measuring ROI: Why Fewer Apps Often Means Better Returns
Consolidation reduces friction in two ways:
- Operational efficiency: fewer logins, unified customer records, and a single rules engine for rewards and notifications.
- Marketing effectiveness: unified data improves segmentation and reduces error in campaign targeting.
A frequently overlooked consequence of consolidation is faster iteration. Because the same vendor handles loyalty, wishlists, and reviews, launching a new promotion that ties reward points to wishlist saves becomes a single workflow instead of a cross-vendor project.
Merchants can explore examples and customer stories to see how consolidation played out for others. Customer stories from brands scaling retention
Feature Mapping: What Merchants Gain Over Using K or GP Separately
Below are illustrative benefits of switching from a multi-app stack to a consolidated platform:
- One billing and support channel instead of multiple vendor relationships.
- Less duplication of customer data and fewer data exports/imports.
- Ability to create rewards that are awarded automatically for wishlist saves, referrals, and reviews.
- Simplified analytics: measure lifetime value uplift driven by loyalty, wishlist, and referral combos from a single dashboard.
For merchants who want to test this approach without long-term commitment, Growave lists a range of plans and a trial option to validate fit. Compare plans and pricing
When the All-In-One Approach Might Not Fit
All-in-one platforms are not the perfect fit for every merchant. Consider the following scenarios:
- Stores with highly specialized needs where a niche vendor offers a unique capability not available in all-in-one platforms.
- Teams that prefer a best-of-breed approach with dedicated tools and in-house engineers to integrate and optimize them.
- Cases where legacy systems require custom integrations that an all-in-one vendor doesn’t support out of the box.
For merchants that still want to evaluate only the wishlist experience before committing to consolidation, the Shopify App Store listing provides a quick way to install and test features. Install Growave from the Shopify App Store
Final Recommendation: Which App to Choose?
For merchants choosing between K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite, the decision comes down to scope and goals:
- Choose K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist if:
- The priority is a simple, easy-to-launch wishlist with a polished front-end and minimal maintenance.
- The team already has a marketing automation stack and loyalty solution and only needs wishlist saves and social sharing.
- Keeping page weight minimal is essential.
- Choose GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite if:
- There is a strategic need to convert wishlist interest into revenue using upsells, bundles, and automated reminders.
- The merchant prefers fewer apps and wants wishlist-triggered email automation and price-drop alerts built into the same product.
- Measuring wishlist-driven revenue is a priority.
- Consider Growave as the better-value alternative if:
- Reducing tool sprawl and consolidating retention features (loyalty, wishlist, referrals, reviews, VIP tiers) is a priority.
- There is a desire to centralize customer data, automate reward rules, and link wishlist behavior directly to loyalty incentives.
- The business wants enterprise features, multi-channel integrations, and a single support channel to manage retention strategy at scale.
Start a 14-day free trial to see how consolidating loyalty, wishlist, reviews, and referrals streamlines operations and improves retention. Compare plans and pricing
FAQ
What are the primary functional differences between K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite?
- K Wish List focuses on core wishlist capabilities: saving, sharing, and simple front-end customization. GP expands the wishlist into a conversion toolset by adding upsells, bundles, volume discounts, automated reminders, and back-in-stock alerts. The choice depends on whether a merchant needs a lightweight save feature or a multifunctional revenue tool.
How should a merchant evaluate pricing and value for these apps?
- Evaluate direct subscription costs and the additional costs of complementary apps required to reach the same functionality. K offers low monthly fees for wishlist basics; GP includes many features in its free tier that can reduce the need for other paid apps. Consider total cost of ownership, including maintenance, integrations, and duplicated functions.
How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?
- An all-in-one platform consolidates multiple retention tools into a single product, reducing vendor overhead, centralizing customer data, and simplifying cross-channel campaigns. Specialized apps may offer deeper single-feature controls and are useful for stores needing bespoke capabilities. An all-in-one solution typically delivers better value for merchants prioritizing operational simplicity and cohesive retention strategy.
Which app is better for measuring wishlist-driven revenue?
- GP ‑ Wishlist & Upsell Suite provides richer analytics and exportable wishlist data, making it easier to attribute clicks and revenue to wishlist activity. K provides basic wishlist usage tracking that is sufficient for product interest signals but less robust for full revenue attribution.
Which support or installation resources should merchants ask about before installing?
- Confirm theme compatibility, support response times, limits on free plans (emails, exports, or sends), and how customer data is handled for privacy compliance. If considering an all-in-one platform, validate integration points with the merchant’s email and customer service tools.
For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and adopt a consolidated retention strategy, Growave’s multi-feature platform offers a single source for loyalty, wishlists, referrals, and reviews. Explore how consolidation can simplify operations and increase lifetime value by comparing plans and starting a trial. Compare plans and pricing
Install Growave directly from the Shopify marketplace to test it in a live environment. Install Growave from the Shopify App Store
For deeper feature questions or to evaluate a tailored setup, merchants can book a walkthrough with product experts. Book a personalized demo
Explore how loyalty can be tied to wishlist activity and reward customers for engagement. Loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases
Leverage built-in reviews and UGC tools to turn wishlist interest into verified social proof. Collect and showcase authentic reviews








