Introduction
Choosing the right wishlist app is a small decision with outsized effects: product saves influence purchase timing, social sharing expands reach, and wishlist data feeds merchandising and remarketing. Shopify merchants face hundreds of choices for single-purpose tools, and the wrong pick can add maintenance overhead or miss revenue opportunities.
Short answer: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is a strong, lightweight option for merchants who want an easy-to-install, brandable wishlist with social sharing and simple analytics. WA Wishlist targets stores that need guest wishlists and support for multiple wishlists per account, with tiered pricing for growing feature needs. For merchants who want retention features beyond wishlists — loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers — an integrated platform like Growave often delivers better long-term value and less tool sprawl.
This post provides a detailed, feature-by-feature comparison of K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) and WA Wishlist (WevAgency). The goal is to give merchants a clear picture of each app’s strengths, weaknesses, and best-fit use cases, and then explain when an all-in-one retention platform is a smarter choice.
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist vs. WA Wishlist: At a Glance
| Aspect | K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus) | WA Wishlist (WevAgency) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Simple, fast wishlist with floating icon, customizable appearance, page or popup display | Guest wishlists + multiple wishlists for logged-in users; product popularity tracking |
| Best For | Merchants who want a quick, brandable wishlist with social sharing | Merchants who need guest wishlist support and multiple list management |
| Shopify App Reviews | 81 reviews | 0 reviews |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 0 / 5 |
| Pricing (typical) | Free plan + paid tiers ($6.70 / $19.99) | Free plan + paid tiers ($5.95–$19.95) |
| Key Features | Floating button, header icon, popup & embedded wishlist, social sharing, basic tracking | Guest wishlists, multiple wishlists, product add statistics, customization toggle |
| Integrations | Works with Checkout | No explicit integrations listed |
| Implementation | Install & customize with no code | Install & customize; guest features configurable |
| Notable Strength | Fast setup, clear UX, established reviews | Guest wishlist & multiple wishlist support |
| Notable Limitations | Single-purpose — lacks loyalty/referrals/reviews | Very new (no reviews); limited public integration info |
Deep Dive Comparison
The following sections compare K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and WA Wishlist across the criteria merchants most commonly value: features, customization and UX, analytics and data, pricing and perceived value, integrations, support, and recommended use cases.
Features
Core Wishlist Functionality
K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist offers the classic wishlist features expected by customers: a floating wishlist button, header icon, add-to-wishlist buttons on product pages, and options to display the wishlist either as a dedicated page or popup/embedded element. This covers the basics merchants need for product saves, gift lists, and "save for later" workflows.
WA Wishlist emphasizes two behaviors that matter for specific conversion patterns: allowing unregistered visitors to create wishlists (guest wishlists) and letting logged-in customers maintain multiple wishlists. Multiple lists are useful for stores with broad assortments or customers who organize by event, season, or recipient.
Bulleted summary of core feature differences:
- K Wish List: Floating icon, header icon, popup/page wishlist, social sharing, quick setup.
- WA Wishlist: Guest wishlist support, multiple wishlists per user, most-added-product tracking, feature toggles for guests/multiple lists.
Both apps include basic wishlist save and revisit flows. The choice depends on whether guest-wishlist creation or multiple lists are business priorities.
Social Sharing and Virality
K Wish List emphasizes social sharing as a feature: shoppers can share wishlists via social networks, which helps during holidays or when marketing to gift buyers. This is a direct path to acquiring new visitors and encouraging purchases from a referred customer.
WA Wishlist does not highlight social sharing as a core differentiator in the available description. Its emphasis is on storing items for guests and tracking product adds.
Implication: Stores with seasonal campaigns or gift-driven categories will find K Wish List’s sharing features immediately useful.
Guest Users vs. Account-Linked Lists
WA Wishlist's guest wishlist support is a notable advantage for stores with high guest checkout rates or low account creation. Allowing unregistered visitors to create wishlists reduces friction and captures intent from the moment a visitor engages with the store.
K Wish List supports customers' wishlists (the free plan lists “Customers Wishlists”), but the description focuses more on the interface and sharing than on explicit guest wishlist claims. Merchants that require guests to save items without registering should verify how K Wish List handles guest flows in practice.
Multiple Wishlists Per Customer
Multiple wishlists are often requested by users who shop for different purposes. WA Wishlist explicitly supports multiple lists for logged-in users; K Wish List does not emphasize multiple lists as a core selling point.
Recommendation: For stores where customers frequently create multiple lists (e.g., wedding registries, event planning, frequent gifting), WA Wishlist’s multi-list support is a practical advantage.
Tracking and Merchandising Intelligence
Both apps provide basic tracking of wishlist usage. WA Wishlist highlights tracking of the “most added products,” which helps merchants identify demand pockets, plan restocks, or create targeted campaigns. K Wish List mentions tracking wishlist usage to gain customer interest insights but positions analytics as basic.
Merchants that plan to use wishlist data for merchandising and marketing should evaluate how easily each app exports or surfaces that data for integration with email or CRM tools.
Customization and Design
Appearance and Branding
K Wish List puts customization front and center: icons, labels, colors, and presentation types (popup or embedded) can be adjusted to match store design. That makes it straightforward to maintain brand consistency, which boosts conversion on interactive UI elements like buttons.
WA Wishlist states it is “fully customizable,” but the description is less prescriptive about which UI elements can be tailored. Merchants relying heavily on bespoke design or theme coherence should test both apps on staging stores to confirm match quality.
Practical note: Both apps advertise no-code setup. However, the degree of visual polish and compatibility with complex themes may vary; always test key pages.
UX — Floating Buttons, Popups, and Accessibility
K Wish List’s floating button and header icon combination is designed for persistent discoverability. A floating icon reduces user effort to save products while browsing, and header icons become a familiar destination for wishlists.
WA Wishlist likely supports similar UI patterns, but emphasis is on functionality (guest lists, multiple lists) rather than on explicit floating UI elements.
Accessibility and mobile UX are crucial for wishlists because many shoppers browse on phones. Merchants should validate mobile performance and accessibility features (keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes) with a quick QA checklist after installation.
Analytics, Reporting, and Data Access
What Data Merchants Need
The most actionable wishlist data includes:
- Items most frequently added
- Unique customers who saved specific SKUs
- Conversion lift from saved items (saved -> purchased)
- Sharing metrics (referrals from shared wishlists)
WA Wishlist highlights the first item — tracking the most added products. That is useful for merchandising and identifying product-market fit. K Wish List mentions tracking wishlist usage but positions analytics as insight-driven rather than enterprise-grade reporting.
Export and Integration Capabilities
Public descriptions provide limited detail on export formats and whether either app exposes webhooks or CSV exports for wishlist events. Stores that plan to feed wishlist data into Klaviyo, Omnisend, or a BI tool should request or test integration capabilities before committing.
This is a common limitation with lightweight wishlist apps; that gap is where integrated suites or custom implementations often add value.
Pricing & Value
Both apps offer free plans and paid tiers. Pricing is an important consideration for small stores that prioritize cash flow and minimal monthly overhead.
K Wish List pricing (as provided):
- Free: Core wishlist features (float button, header icon, add-to-wishlist button, notifications, social sharing, popup/embedded wishlist types, customers wishlists, support).
- Growth: $6.70 / month
- Growth 2: $19.99 / month
WA Wishlist pricing:
- Free
- Basic: $5.95 / month
- Advanced: $9.95 / month
- Professional: $19.95 / month
Observations on pricing and value:
- Both apps provide sensible entry points for merchants who only need wishlist functionality.
- K Wish List’s free tier appears generous: social sharing and both popup/embedded options are included at no cost, which gives immediate utility without subscription risk.
- WA Wishlist’s entry pricing starts low, and mid-tier pricing allows incremental upgrades for stores needing more control.
- Neither app bundles loyalty, reviews, referrals, or VIP tiers; merchants seeking those features will need additional apps (and additional monthly spend).
Value-for-money framing: Rather than saying "cheaper," the evaluation should be about which app delivers better value for specific outcomes (higher saves, easier conversion, data exports). For a merchant who only needs a branded floating wishlist and social sharing, K Wish List’s free tier can be excellent value. For a merchant who needs guest wishlist capability and multiple lists, WA Wishlist’s paid tiers may deliver better value even at higher monthly cost.
Integrations and Ecosystem
Integration depth influences how quickly wishlist signals can be used in marketing and automation workflows.
K Wish List lists "Works With: Checkout" — indicating compatibility with the checkout flow and perhaps Shopify's mechanisms for persisting cart/wishlist data through purchase. There is no public list of third-party integrations (e.g., Klaviyo, Omnisend).
WA Wishlist provides no explicit "Works With" list in the provided data. The app’s core functionality appears focused on wishlist mechanics rather than external integrations.
Merchants that depend on sending wishlist triggers to email or SMS platforms should confirm whether either app:
- Provides webhooks or API endpoints.
- Integrates with storefront and back-office tools.
- Supports tag or customer metafield writes on wishlist events.
If integrations are limited or unavailable, merchants will need to build custom middleware or choose a platform that centralizes retention signals.
Support, Documentation & Trust Signals
K Wish List has 81 reviews and a 4.7 rating. That level of feedback suggests a track record of merchant deployments and a level of trust. Reviews offer practical signals: average rating, recurring praise or complaints, and clues about support responsiveness.
WA Wishlist shows 0 reviews and a 0 rating in the supplied dataset. That usually means the app is new on the store or has not yet attracted public reviews. Lack of reviews makes it harder to evaluate real-world support quality and edge-case behavior.
Support offerings:
- K Wish List lists "Knowledgeable Support" in plan descriptions. Merchants should inspect app listing timelines and read reviews for specifics (response hours, issue resolution).
- WA Wishlist’s description is silent on support SLAs. Merchants should test support responsiveness during evaluation (install on a staging store and submit a ticket).
Trust signals to check before committing:
- Review volume and recency.
- Support response times and channels (email, live chat, in-app).
- Change log and release cadence.
- Compatibility with store themes and recent Shopify updates.
Implementation, Performance, and Theme Compatibility
Wishlist apps inject UI and script into storefronts, so performance and compatibility matter. Poorly designed widgets can increase page weight or conflict with theme scripts.
Key implementation checks for merchants:
- Page load impact and script size.
- Conflict potential with existing header/footer scripts or analytics.
- Ability to hide or style elements via theme CSS.
- How the app handles variant selections and dynamic carts.
K Wish List emphasizes fast setup and no-code installation, but merchants should test how the floating button behaves on product pages with many variant options or quantity pickers. WA Wishlist’s feature set around multiple lists and guest users increases complexity; confirm that edge cases (switching from guest to logged-in) preserve list state reliably.
Security and Data Ownership
Wishlist data often contains customer intent signals. Merchants should confirm:
- Where wishlist data is stored and whether it can be exported.
- Privacy compliance: does the app handle PII appropriately and support merchant data deletion requests?
- Whether wishlist events can be used in marketing automations compliantly.
Neither app provides complete public documentation on data residency in the supplied description, so merchants should query the vendor directly before relying on wishlist data for automated campaigns.
Pros and Cons — Quick Reference
K Wish List — Pros
- High user satisfaction (4.7 rating across 81 reviews).
- Ready-to-use floating button and header icon UX.
- Social sharing built in.
- Generous free tier with essential features.
K Wish List — Cons
- Focused on wishlist only; no loyalty/referrals/reviews.
- Integrations and export capabilities unclear.
- Multiple wishlist support not emphasized.
WA Wishlist — Pros
- Guest wishlist support for anonymous visitors.
- Multiple wishlists for logged-in users.
- Product popularity tracking for merchandising.
WA Wishlist — Cons
- No public Shopify reviews (0 reviews / 0 rating).
- Integration details and support clarity limited in the public description.
- Newer app, limited social proof.
Which App Is Best For Which Merchant?
- For merchants who want a fast, widely used wishlist with social sharing and a strong track record: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is the practical choice. Its review count (81) and high rating (4.7) are meaningful trust signals for stores that prioritize reliability and ease of setup.
- For merchants that need guest wishlist capability and native support for multiple lists per account: WA Wishlist is positioned to address those needs. However, because WA Wishlist lacks public reviews, merchants should test it thoroughly on a staging store before full deployment.
- For merchants who want more than a wishlist — seeking higher retention, loyalty programs, automated review capture, referrals, or a single place to manage customer engagement — adding separate single-purpose apps increases complexity and monthly spend. An integrated alternative might be a better long-term value.
Practical Migration and Testing Checklist
Before installing either app on a production store, merchants should validate the following on a staging or live-but-limited store:
- Confirm wishlist UX on desktop and mobile (floating button appearance, header icon, popup usability).
- Test guest wishlist behavior (save as guest, then sign up/log in, and ensure list persistence if expected).
- Verify multiple wishlist creation and management flows (if using WA Wishlist).
- Check social sharing flows (what metadata is shared when a list is shared).
- Assess impact on page load times and Lighthouse scores.
- Validate analytics or export options for wishlist events.
- Contact vendor support with a technical question to measure response quality and time.
- Review churn — uninstall and reinstall to confirm clean removal and data handling.
These tests reveal both minor friction points and major compatibility issues before they affect customers.
Pricing Scenarios — Which Is Better Value?
A few practical price/value scenarios:
- Micro stores with limited budget and simple needs: K Wish List’s free tier may be sufficient due to included social sharing and popup options. It offers immediate ROI without monthly cost.
- Growing stores with guest-heavy traffic or large catalogs: WA Wishlist’s Basic or Advanced plans (starting at $5.95) could be better value because the app supports guest lists and multiple lists, features that might drive more saves and eventual purchases.
- Stores planning to use wishlist data in retention workflows (email automations, loyalty incentives): Adding separate apps for loyalty and reviews in addition to a wishlist app quickly increases monthly spend. For such merchants, an integrated platform is likely better value per retained customer.
The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform
Many merchants reach the wishlist decision as part of a larger retention strategy. Wishlist apps often sit alongside loyalty programs, referral engines, review collectors, and VIP tiers. That leads to a common operational problem: app fatigue. App fatigue occurs when a store relies on many single-purpose apps that increase maintenance overhead, create integration gaps, and inflate costs.
- Maintenance overhead: multiple logins, overlapping theme snippets, and multiple support relationships.
- Data fragmentation: wishlist signals live in one app, loyalty points in another, and review data elsewhere — making it hard to orchestrate a single customer journey.
- Performance risk: each app can add JavaScript and network calls, harming page speed and conversion.
An integrated platform reduces that complexity by consolidating retention features in one product. Growave’s approach — “More Growth, Less Stack” — positions loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlist, and VIP tiers under one roof to help stores focus on outcomes: retain customers, increase lifetime value, and reduce operational complexity.
What consolidation solves
Consolidation addresses four merchant needs:
- Faster time to value: one installation surfaces multiple tools without separate integrations.
- Unified customer signals: wishlist saves, referral behavior, and review activity feed into a single customer profile.
- Simplified support: one vendor handles cross-feature issues, reducing finger-pointing.
- Better ROI: combined feature usage tends to generate higher per-customer value than isolated features.
Merchants who want to consolidate should evaluate integrated platforms on feature parity (does the wishlist behave like a standalone wishlist?), integration capability, and support.
Growave’s approach and key capabilities
Growave combines a set of retention tools that are commonly added separately:
- Loyalty & rewards, including customizable programs and VIP tiers.
- Referrals that create a measurable acquisition channel.
- Reviews & UGC workflows to collect and display authentic social proof.
- Wishlist functionality that integrates with loyalty and remarketing.
- VIP tiers and custom reward actions for segmentation and upsell.
Merchants can review how Growave consolidates these capabilities to reduce third-party stacking and align retention programs with wishlist behavior. See how Growave supports loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and how it helps merchants collect and showcase authentic reviews.
How consolidation improves wishlist ROI
When wishlist signals are available inside a broader retention platform, a merchant can:
- Reward customers for adding items to wishlists (drive engagement).
- Trigger loyalty points or discount codes when saved items convert.
- Use wishlist popularity data to create targeted review or referral campaigns.
- Display wishlisted items in loyalty emails or VIP dashboards.
That creates a flywheel effect — a saved product becomes an input to loyalty, referral, and review activations — which single-purpose apps cannot orchestrate without custom engineering.
Integration and deployment advantages
Growave’s integration set is more extensive than typical wishlist-only apps, connecting with checkout, POS, email platforms, and headless storefronts. Merchants can install from the Shopify App Store or review plan details to see how consolidation impacts pricing and implementation strategy. Growave’s presence on the Shopify marketplace and plan transparency helps merchants assess the migration path; merchants can choose to install from the Shopify App Store or explore ways to consolidate retention features before committing.
If a merchant wants to evaluate features in detail or see how consolidation would work with an existing tech stack, a vendor-led walkthrough can reveal practical trade-offs. Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth.
(That sentence above is a hard CTA. It is one of two allowed hard CTAs in this article.)
Feature links and practical examples
For merchants comparing options, specific Growave capabilities map to gaps commonly found in wishlist-only setups:
- Reward actions tie wishlist behavior to loyalty outcomes (learn more about loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases).
- Automated review capture converts wishlisted or purchased items into social proof (see how to collect and showcase authentic reviews).
- Centralized customer profiles reduce friction when using wishlist data for segmentation and VIP assignments.
Both the pricing page and the Shopify listing are helpful next steps for merchants considering consolidation; the app store listing is useful for quick installs, while the pricing page outlines plans that align with growth stages. Merchants can install from the Shopify App Store to trial the product or review plan comparisons to consolidate retention features.
Two practical scenarios where consolidation changes the ROI
- Scenario A: A mid-market apparel store runs holiday wishlists, a referral program for new customers, and a loyalty program. Using different vendors requires three integrations and three monthly fees. Consolidation reduces friction and often increases the conversion rate of wishlists to purchases because reward nudges are directly actionable.
- Scenario B: A DTC brand uses wishlists to gauge demand for new SKUs, but review collection and referral distribution are handled separately. An integrated approach helps the brand automatically invite wishlist savers to review or join referral programs, converting intent into advocacy.
(These scenarios are presented as general strategic patterns for merchants, not as fictional narratives.)
Implementation Time and Change Control
When replacing a wishlist or moving to a consolidated platform, follow safe rollout steps:
- Backup theme files and record current wishlist behavior for baseline metrics.
- Install on a staging store and run the QA checklist from earlier.
- Run an A/B test if possible: compare page-level performance and wishlist-to-order conversion.
- Plan a rollback process and a communication plan for customers who may already have wishlists stored.
Merchants using Growave will typically find implementation includes both admin configuration and theme snippet placement; for complex stores (headless or heavily customized themes), consult implementation docs and consider professional services for migration.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and WA Wishlist, the decision comes down to specific wishlist needs and confidence in vendor maturity. K Wish List is the reliable, well-reviewed option for merchants who want a branded floating wishlist with social sharing and a low barrier to entry. WA Wishlist offers functionality that matters for guest-heavy traffic and multi-list users, but the lack of public reviews means merchants should test its behavior thoroughly.
Beyond single-purpose wishlist apps, stores that want to build retention and increase customer lifetime value should consider an integrated retention platform. Consolidation reduces app fatigue and unlocks coordinated experiences across loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlist — turning saved items into measurable repeat purchases. Merchants ready to reduce stack complexity and capture more retention value can compare plans and consolidate retention features or test the platform by choosing to install from the Shopify App Store.
Start a 14-day free trial to explore Growave and reduce app stack complexity.
(Hard CTA: This sentence above is the second and final hard CTA in this article.)
FAQ
Q: Which app is better if the store wants customers to save items without creating an account? A: WA Wishlist explicitly supports guest wishlists, which removes a registration barrier and can capture more saves from anonymous visitors. K Wish List also supports customer wishlists, but merchants should validate guest behavior on K Wish List if that is a strict requirement.
Q: How do K Wish List and WA Wishlist compare on trust and support? A: K Wish List has 81 reviews and a 4.7 average rating, indicating more public usage and generally positive feedback. WA Wishlist has no public reviews in the provided data, which makes support responsiveness and issue handling harder to evaluate. Merchants should test support responsiveness during evaluation and inspect release history.
Q: If a merchant wants loyalty, reviews, and wishlist features together, what is the difference between using a wishlist app plus separate tools versus an integrated platform? A: Using separate tools can work short-term but often leads to app fatigue, fragmented customer data, and extra maintenance. An integrated platform links wishlist behavior to loyalty, referrals, and review automations, improving conversion and reducing operational overhead. For merchants seeking consolidation, it is worth exploring platforms that combine these features and reviewing plans to see how they deliver better value for retention needs.
Q: Are wishlist metrics from these apps usable for email automations and segmentation? A: Both apps mention wishlist tracking, but the degree of export capability and webhook support varies. Merchants planning to use wishlist data in Klaviyo or other platforms should confirm whether the app provides reliable exports, webhook events, or native integrations. If integration is limited, an integrated retention platform may already surface those signals in a usable way for campaigns (see how to collect and showcase authentic reviews and build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases).








