K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist vs. XB Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist solution is a surprisingly important decision for merchants. A well-implemented wishlist can lift conversion rates, encourage repeat visits, and feed product demand signals to merchandising and marketing teams. But with dozens of single-purpose wishlist apps on Shopify, merchants must weigh features, integrations, ongoing cost, and long-term scalability.

Short answer: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is a strong option for merchants who want a lightweight, easy-to-install wishlist with flexible display options and a low barrier to entry, while XB Wishlist suits stores that prioritize a minimal, tightly integrated wishlist experience with a perfect average rating. For merchants aiming to reduce tool sprawl and capture retention gains across loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists, an integrated retention stack like Growave is generally better value for money.

This article provides a feature-by-feature, outcome-focused comparison of K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and XB Wishlist. It explains where each app excels, where each one falls short, and which merchant profiles are best suited to each. After the head-to-head comparison, the piece transitions to the broader strategic option of consolidating retention and engagement features into a single platform to lower maintenance overhead and increase lifetime value.

K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist vs. XB Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Feature Set

Core wishlist functionality

Both apps deliver the baseline that merchants expect: allow shoppers to save items for later and surface those items back to the customer.

K Wish List focuses on flexible display. It supports a floating icon, a header/nav icon, embedded wishlist types and popups, and includes social sharing out of the box. This gives merchandisers and UX designers multiple ways to prompt saves across different templates and landing pages.

XB Wishlist puts emphasis on a seamless account-based experience. Saved items persist in the customer's account and are reachable from the account dashboard. The appeal is consistency: customers who log in on multiple devices will find the same list under their account.

How this affects merchants:

• If the primary goal is to drive on-page product saves and leverage visible CTAs (float button, popup), K Wish List is more versatile.
• If the goal is to ensure wishlist persistence inside customer accounts and reduce friction for returning customers, XB Wishlist's account-link approach is cleaner.

User interface, design, and customization

K Wish List advertises full customization of icons, labels, and colors so the wishlist UI can match a brand's aesthetic. The ability to choose between popup, embedded, or dedicated page helps maintain consistency with theme layouts.

XB Wishlist emphasizes a tailored button and simple design that integrates with account pages. It appears to favor minimalism over deep visual customization.

Practical impact:

• Stores that frequently A/B test shop UI, or that need multiple wishlist placements (product page, collection pages, floating CTA), will find K Wish List more flexible.
• Stores that prioritize consistency and minimal UI maintenance (especially those who want the wishlist inside the customer account) may prefer XB Wishlist.

Sharing and social features

K Wish List lists social media sharing explicitly, and provides shareable wishlist pages. This makes it straightforward to enable gift-giving workflows and social conversions.

XB Wishlist also supports sharing of wishlists, and its analytics reportedly track wishlist activity.

Both apps enable shareability, but K Wish List's focus on visible save CTAs supports social sharing as part of acquisition and gifting campaigns.

Analytics and reporting

Both apps claim built-in analytics to track wishlist usage and interest. K Wish List explicitly mentions the ability to "track wishlist usage to gain insights into customer interest." XB Wishlist states it has "built-in analytics."

Practical considerations:

• For merchants who need wishlist data exported into marketing stacks (e.g., to trigger email flows when an item is saved), the depth and integration options of an app’s analytics matter. Public listings do not fully disclose the export/automation options; merchants should verify if saved-item events are surfaced to Klaviyo, Omnisend, or other platforms before committing.

Account persistence and multi-device behavior

XB Wishlist’s integration with customer accounts makes cross-device persistence reliable: logged-in customers find the same saved items everywhere.

K Wish List supports customer wishlists, but how persistence behaves across devices depends on whether the store requires account sign-in or offers guest save behavior. K Wish List supports customer wishlists as a feature, but merchants must confirm the specifics for their store configuration (guest-to-account merge, cookie-based saves, etc.).

Cart recovery & conversion workflows

Neither listing claims explicit cart-recovery automation tied to entries in the wishlist (for example, cart abandonment flows triggered when a saved item goes on sale). These types of automations vary by app and may be limited without deeper integrations. Merchants that want targeted re-engagement (price-drop notifications, back-in-stock, abandoned-wishlist nudges) should confirm the app’s capability to emit webhook events or native integrations.

Pricing and Value

What pricing information is public

K Wish List lists a free plan and two paid plans: Growth at $6.70/month and Growth 2 at $19.99/month. The free plan includes core features such as the float button, header icon, add-to-wishlist button, popup & embedded types, wishlist social media sharing, and customer wishlists.

XB Wishlist does not list public pricing on the provided data and therefore requires merchants to contact the developer or to install and trial the app to see pricing. Lack of visible pricing is a practical friction point for some buyers.

Value considerations:

• K Wish List’s free tier is attractive for small catalogs and merchants testing wishlist demand without financial commitment. The low-cost paid tiers offer incremental value for stores that need stable uptime or additional features.
• XB Wishlist's perfect 5.0 rating (with fewer reviews) suggests strong customer satisfaction, but the absence of public pricing makes it harder to assess ROI before installation.

Cost relative to outcomes

Merchants should evaluate cost against measurable outcomes like increased AOV, conversion lift from wishlist-to-cart transitions, and the lifetime value uplift from repeat customers incentivized by wishlist-driven re-engagement.

K Wish List provides low-cost entry, which reduces upfront risk. For stores on tight budgets that want visible, front-of-store callouts to drive saves and sharing, K Wish List delivers clear value for money.

XB Wishlist may present better value for stores that prefer embedded account-based functionality and might justify an unknown cost by reducing friction and delivering higher wishlist-to-purchase conversion rates. Without public pricing, merchants must use trial periods or reach out to the developer to quantify value.

Integrations and Ecosystem

Native integrations and automation

K Wish List lists "Works With: Checkout" which suggests it integrates with aspects of the checkout flow (important for post-login save flows or preventing wishlist items from being lost at checkout). XB Wishlist lists "Works With: Shopify Flow", indicating the app can interact with Flow automations—useful for enterprise workflows and connecting wishlist events to internal automations.

For merchants using advanced marketing stacks and automation (Klaviyo, Omnisend), neither app’s listing fully details pre-built connectors. Merchants should confirm:

• Whether wishlist events are exposed as customer or order metafields
• If webhook support exists to push events into external systems
• Compatibility with common email and SMS platforms for triggered campaigns (e.g., price-drop alerts for saved items)

Platform compatibility and headless/Plus readiness

Neither K Wish List nor XB Wishlist lists an explicit Shopify Plus or headless readiness claim in the provided data. Stores on Shopify Plus or those using headless approaches should confirm whether the apps provide:

• Checkout UI extensions or checkout.liquid compatibility
• APIs for custom theme or headless integration
• Dedicated Plus features like high-volume performance SLAs or priority support

Growave, by contrast, lists explicit support for Shopify Plus and headless options, which is important context when evaluating single-purpose wishlist apps versus a suite designed for enterprise use.

User Support and Onboarding

Support channels and responsiveness

K Wish List lists "Knowledgeable Support" on its app listing, a useful signal but not a measurable SLA. XB Wishlist’s listing has less prominent details about support. Review counts can help infer support maturity: K Wish List’s 81 reviews indicate more user feedback and likely a more established support feedback loop compared with XB Wishlist’s 19 reviews.

Practical advice:

• Check review timestamps to understand how actively the app is maintained.
• Test support responsiveness before committing by asking pre-sales questions about integrations, data export, and customization.
• Request an implementation checklist if the wishlist must match a complex theme or interact with other apps.

Onboarding and setup time

Both apps advertise simple setup and no-code installation. K Wish List emphasizes “set up in minutes with no coding required.” XB Wishlist highlights “simple setup and integration.”

However, merchants with custom themes or unique cart flows should expect additional implementation work. Testing on a duplicate theme is recommended.

Performance, Reliability, and Impact on Page Speed

Single-purpose wishlist apps typically add scripts and DOM elements. How an app impacts page load and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) depends on implementation.

K Wish List’s floating icons and popups will inject UI assets across pages. While these can drive saves, they may require optimization to avoid slowing initial paint, particularly on mobile.

XB Wishlist’s account-based approach may be lighter on front-end elements if it relies on minimal UI changes and integrates more with account pages.

Best practices:

• Measure Lighthouse/CrUX metrics before and after install.
• Request async or deferred script loading from the developer where possible.
• Consider lazy-loading non-critical UI (e.g., wishlist modal assets) to reduce initial impact.

Security, Data Ownership, and Privacy

Wishlist apps involve customer interactions and potentially personal data. Merchants should verify:

• Where wishlist data is stored (Shopify metafields vs. third-party DB)
• Data export options and ownership rights
• Compliance with privacy regulations and Shopify’s policies

K Wish List and XB Wishlist both claim customer wishlist features, but their data storage approach is not specified in the listing. Merchants should request specifics on data retention, exportability, and deletion processes to remain GDPR/CCPA-compliant.

Developer Flexibility and Customization

K Wish List supports icon and label customization and offers several display types, which helps with branding and A/B tests. XB Wishlist offers a customizable button but appears more prescriptive.

For stores needing deep custom behavior (custom triggers, backend automation, or storefront API access), app extensibility and developer documentation determine how far a merchant can adapt an app to unique needs.

Reviews & Market Signals

K Wish List: 81 reviews, 4.7 rating. The higher review count suggests broader adoption and more public user feedback to evaluate. A 4.7 rating is strong and indicates consistent satisfaction.

XB Wishlist: 19 reviews, 5.0 rating. The perfect rating is attractive but the smaller sample size warrants caution: fewer reviews mean less evidence of stability across diverse store types.

Interpretation:

• Higher review count tends to correlate with broader compatibility and longer time in market.
• Very high ratings with small sample sizes may reflect niche satisfaction but less exposure to edge-case issues.

Migration, Data Portability, and Switching Costs

Switching wishlist providers can be more involved than it seems, especially if wishlists are tied to customer accounts or stored externally. Key migration questions to ask:

• Can wishlist data be exported (CSV or via API)?
• Is there a migration path that preserves customer saves and time stamps?
• Are saved item IDs the same between apps or will historic engagement data break?

K Wish List’s focus on trackable wishlist usage suggests some data visibility, but migration policies should be confirmed. XB Wishlist’s account-based model may make migration simpler if data is stored in customer metafields that can be exported and reimported.

Privacy & Legal Considerations

Wishlist features that collect emails or prompt for account creation should be configured to respect consent and cookie rules. If wishlists are used as acquisition touchpoints (collecting email or phone), ensure opt-ins are explicit and comply with local regulations.

Use Cases and Merchant Recommendations

• Merchants on a tight budget who want visible product save CTAs, social sharing for gifting, and an easy free-to-start plan: K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist is a solid choice.
• Merchants who want wishlists tightly integrated into customer accounts and prefer a minimal, consistent wishlist inside account dashboards: XB Wishlist can be a great fit.
• Merchants needing advanced automations, cross-channel re-engagement, loyalty and referral capabilities, or enterprise features should evaluate an integrated platform that consolidates wishlist with retention tools—this reduces app maintenance and increases cross-feature synergies.

Pros and Cons Summary

K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist (Kaktus)

Pros:

• Multiple display types (float button, header icon, popup, embedded)
• Free tier with useful features; clear paid tiers at low price points
• Customizable design to match brand UI
• Higher review count (81) with a solid rating (4.7)

Cons:

• Some advanced automations and cross-app integrations are not fully documented on the listing
• Floating UI can add to page weight if not optimized
• Merchants may still need additional apps for loyalty, referrals, and reviews

XB Wishlist (XB)

Pros:

• Clean account-based wishlist with shareable lists
• Strong satisfaction signal (5.0 rating)
• Simple setup and minimal UI overhead

Cons:

• Smaller number of public reviews (19), making long-tail issues harder to surface
• Pricing not publicly listed, which adds friction for budget planning
• Fewer visible customization options for display variations

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

Large and midsize merchants often reach a tipping point: feature creep across multiple single-purpose apps increases subscription bills, creates integration complexity, and fragments customer data. This phenomenon—commonly referred to as "app fatigue"—raises operational cost and slows experiments because engineers and marketers spend time stitching events together rather than acting on them.

An alternative approach is to consolidate retention and engagement tools into a single platform that covers loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlist. The "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy reduces the number of vendors to manage and centralizes customer behavior into one dataset that marketing and CX teams can action.

Growave positions itself as that integrated retention platform. Growave combines wishlist functionality with loyalty and rewards, referrals, reviews and UGC, VIP tiers, and other retention features. That consolidation yields several practical benefits.

Benefits of consolidation

• Unified customer profiles: When wishlists, loyalty points, and referral activity live in one system, it becomes possible to build targeted programs such as rewarding customers who save high-margin items or offering exclusive early access to VIPs who reach point thresholds.
• Reduced integration overhead: A single platform reduces the number of connectors and webhooks to maintain, lowering the chance of event duplication or misfires.
• Holistic analytics: Centralized data makes it easier to measure LTV uplift from combined programs, such as the interplay between loyalty incentives and wishlist-driven purchases.
• Faster experiments: With multiple features under one roof, marketing can launch bundles (e.g., reward points for wishlist saves) without coordinating multiple vendors.

Growave supports these use cases directly and provides multiple implementation paths for different merchant sizes. For merchants evaluating consolidation, it is possible to consolidate retention features under one pricing umbrella and reduce technical debt.

How Growave maps to wishlist outcomes

• Wishlist availability: Growave includes wishlist functionality alongside loyalty and reviews, making it simple to use saved-item signals to drive other retention actions.
• Cross-feature activations: For example, awarding points when a customer saves an item or sharing review-based discounts becomes straightforward because the features are built to work together.
• Enterprise readiness: Growave supports Shopify Plus and headless implementations, which matters for high-volume stores that need consistency, performance, and SLAs—see Growave’s solutions for solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Integrations that matter

Growave is built to work with the broader marketing and support ecosystem. For stores that rely on email automation and customer support tooling, Growave integrates with tools such as Klaviyo, Omnisend, Recharge, and Gorgias. These integrations enable sending targeted lifecycle emails when wishlist behavior signals purchase intent or churn risk.

Merchants can also collect and showcase authentic reviews alongside wishlist data, creating UGC opportunities that boost conversion and trust.

Pricing and deployment

Consolidation often looks more expensive at first glance because monthly tiers are higher than single-purpose apps’ cheap plans. However, the combined cost of separate wishlist, loyalty, referral, and reviews SaaS subscriptions can exceed consolidated platform pricing, and the operational savings matter.

Merchants can evaluate Growave plans and potential cost savings on the pricing page and by comparing the total of separate app subscriptions with the consolidated subscription. For most merchants targeting LTV growth and operational simplicity, it is possible to consolidate retention features cost-effectively.

Customer success and proof points

Real customer examples can clarify outcomes. Merchants can review customer stories from brands scaling retention to see how centralized programs lifted repeat purchase rates and increased average order value by bundling loyalty and wishlist triggers.

Try-before-you-commit and demos

For teams that want to validate the fit before migrating stacks, Growave offers resources and discovery sessions. Those planning a migration or an enterprise rollout can Book a personalized demo to see how wishlist signals are connected to loyalty and referral workflows. The demonstration helps merchants translate wishlist engagement into measurable incremental revenue.

Book a personalized demo

Feature callouts (how Growave supports key needs)

• Loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases: Growave’s loyalty engine supports customizable earning and redemption rules, personalized reward actions, and VIP tiers that increase customer retention when paired with wishlist triggers. See how merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
• Collect and showcase authentic reviews: Growave’s Reviews & UGC modules help automate review collection, syndicate reviews into product pages, and use social proof to convert wishlist visitors into buyers. Merchants can use collect and showcase authentic reviews to increase conversion rates across product pages.
• Enterprise and Plus readiness: For merchants on Shopify Plus or those requiring headless architecture, Growave supports advanced features and dedicated services for larger implementations and can be previewed via its Plus materials on the platform.

How consolidation reduces risk

Consolidating reduces the number of vendor contracts, simplifies billing, and means fewer migration projects in the future. The single point of contact for support and onboarding reduces coordination time and yields predictable product roadmaps.

Merchants considering consolidation should evaluate:

• The feature map: Does the platform include everything currently handled by separate apps?
• Integration coverage: Does it work with existing email and CX tools?
• Migration paths: Are there import utilities for wishlist data and reward histories?
• Support and SLAs: Does the vendor offer enterprise support as your store scales?

Merchants can learn more about adoption options and pricing by exploring Growave’s pricing and store listing. It is also possible to install Growave from the Shopify App Store to trial basic functionality.

Merchants who want to see pricing comparisons and sign up for a trial can also consolidate retention features under a single plan.

Decision Framework: Which Option Is Right?

• Choose K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist if:
  • The store needs a low-cost or free starting point for wishlist functionality.
  • Designers want flexible floating CTAs and multiple display options.
  • The priority is fast setup and visible save CTAs to boost immediate product saves.
• Choose XB Wishlist if:
  • The store prefers account-based persistence and a minimal wishlist UI.
  • Ease of use and a seamless customer-account experience are critical.
  • The team is comfortable contacting the developer for pricing or trial details and wants a lightweight solution.
• Choose an integrated platform like Growave if:
  • The business is ready to consolidate multiple retention features (loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlist) to increase LTV.
  • The team wants integrated campaigns that use wishlist saves to trigger loyalty or referral actions.
  • The store is scaling and needs enterprise-level integrations, Plus readiness, or centralized analytics.

Migration and Implementation Checklist

Before committing to any wishlist solution, merchants should validate the following items (each item is a recommended check during evaluation):

• Confirm how saved items are stored and whether they can be exported.
• Test wishlist behavior for logged-in and guest customers.
• Validate integrations with the existing email automation stack.
• Measure page-speed impact in a staging environment.
• Ask about support SLAs and onboarding resources.
• Confirm pricing transparency and what features are included at each tier.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and XB Wishlist, the decision comes down to priorities: K Wish List offers a flexible, low-cost entry with multiple display types and strong adoption signals (81 reviews, 4.7 rating), while XB Wishlist provides a neat account-centric wishlist with excellent satisfaction scores (19 reviews, 5.0 rating) but less visible pricing. Both are capable solutions for specific needs.

Beyond single-purpose apps, consolidation into an integrated retention platform becomes compelling as stores scale. Consolidation reduces app fatigue, centralizes customer data for better segmentation and automation, and enables loyalty, reviews, and wishlist features to work together. Merchants considering a unified approach can explore Growave’s pricing and plans to evaluate trade-offs and potential savings. Start a 14-day free trial to see how a unified retention stack accelerates growth. Start a 14-day free trial

FAQ

Q: How do K Wish List‑Advanced Wishlist and XB Wishlist differ in setup complexity? A: Both apps advertise simple, no-code setup. K Wish List has more frontend placement options (floating button, header icon, popup, embedded) which can require additional configuration to match themes. XB Wishlist emphasizes account-based persistence and a streamlined setup that reduces frontend variation. Merchants with heavily customized themes should expect some additional implementation effort regardless of choice.

Q: Which app offers better value for merchants on tight budgets? A: K Wish List has a clear free tier and low-cost paid plans ($6.70/mo and $19.99/mo), making it more predictable for budget-conscious merchants. XB Wishlist does not list pricing publicly, so it is harder to assess value without contacting the developer or installing the app to trial it.

Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps? A: An all-in-one platform consolidates wishlist, loyalty, referrals, and reviews into a single dataset and control plane. This reduces the number of subscriptions, simplifies integrations, and enables cross-feature programs (for example, awarding points when a customer saves a high-value item). Consolidation can be better value for money as a business scales, though single-purpose apps may be more cost-effective for small stores with narrowly defined needs.

Q: If wishlist data matters for marketing automation, which app is easier to integrate? A: XB Wishlist’s account-based model can make cross-device persistence straightforward. K Wish List offers analytics and tracking but merchants should confirm whether wishlist events are exposed to email platforms and webhooks for automation. For richer integrations and centralized event data, a consolidated retention platform can reduce the need for custom connectors.

For direct evaluation, merchants can also install Growave from the Shopify App Store and compare how wishlist behavior ties into loyalty programs and reviews. More details on pricing and plan features are available if merchants want to consolidate retention features. Additional information about using wishlist events as part of loyalty and rewards programs is available to help teams plan a migration toward fewer apps and more coordinated retention programs: loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and collect and showcase authentic reviews.