Smart Wishlist vs. Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a smaller decision that can have surprisingly large consequences for retention, average order value, and customer lifetime value. Many merchants pick an app for a single feature, then discover gaps when scaling—duplicate tools, inconsistent data, and customer experience problems become headaches.

Short answer: Smart Wishlist is a solid, no-friction option for merchants who want a lightweight, one-click wishlist with guest support and a low monthly cost. Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App is better for stores that need multi-category lists, CSS-level customization, and simple analytics for top wishlisted products. For brands that want to consolidate retention across loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlist without adding many single-purpose apps, a combined retention platform can deliver better value for money and fewer integration headaches.

This post provides a detailed, feature-by-feature comparison of Smart Wishlist and Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App to help merchants choose the right tool for their goals. After a balanced assessment, the article introduces an alternative for merchants who prefer a single integrated solution to reduce app fatigue and improve long-term retention.

Smart Wishlist vs. Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App: At a Glance

Feature-by-Feature Deep Dive

Feature Set and Core Functionality

Smart Wishlist: What it does well

Smart Wishlist emphasizes simplicity and speed. Core behaviors include a wishlist button across product, collection, search results, and cart pages, one-click saving for both guest and logged-in users, shareable lists, and unlimited wishlists per store. The app promises a lightweight payload and claims not to break themes upon uninstall. Javascript and REST APIs are provided for advanced requirements.

Strengths:

• Low barrier to adoption with “no coding required.”
• Guest wishlist support, which helps capture interest without forcing account creation.
• Shareable lists encourage social discovery and referral-like behaviors.
• API access for teams that need to extend functionality.

Limitations:

• Feature scope is intentionally narrow—no loyalty or review features.
• Integrations are limited (publicly listed as Sendgrid and ShareThis), which can constrain marketing workflows.
• Mid-range app rating (3.6 from 81 reviews) suggests mixed user experiences that may involve support, reliability, or missing features.

Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App: What it does well

Squadkin positions itself around wishlist organization and presentation. It supports multiple categories so customers can group favorites, offers full CSS customization and text changes, supports guest wishlist functionality, and includes analytics showing top 10 wishlisted products.

Strengths:

• Multiple wishlist categories help customers organize intent (e.g., “For Mom,” “Summer,” “Gift ideas”).
• CSS-level customization allows merchants to match the wishlist UI precisely to brand styling.
• Built-in analytics for top wishlisted products supports merchandising and campaign planning.
• High rating (4.9) among a small review base (5 reviews) indicates strong satisfaction among early users.

Limitations:

• Very small review sample size (5 reviews) makes it hard to generalize reliability.
• No public list of integrations; likely requires manual workflows to connect with email or marketing tools.
• For merchants wanting more than wishlist (loyalty, referrals, reviews), Squadkin does not provide those capabilities.

Installation & Setup

Smart Wishlist

Smart Wishlist’s sales messaging emphasizes “super-easy setup” and “no coding required.” The app places wishlist buttons across relevant pages and claims a lightweight payload to minimize theme conflicts. API options exist for developers who want custom flows, but typical users can get basic functionality without touching code.

Practical considerations:

• Expect a quick install and visible wishlist buttons within a short timeframe.
• Confirm theme compatibility on a staging theme before going live to avoid layout shifts.
• For Shopify stores that integrate email capture and marketing, additional manual steps may be necessary because only Sendgrid is listed as a connected service.

Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App

Squadkin emphasizes customization with CSS and text changes. This approach is attractive for stores with strict design requirements. Basic features like guest wishlist and multi-category support are configured through the app dashboard, but advanced visual changes may require CSS knowledge or developer help.

Practical considerations:

• Merchants with in-house or contracted front-end resources will get the most from Squadkin.
• Without documented integrations, merchants should plan how wishlist data is exported or connected to the marketing stack.
• Test category creation and sharing flows to ensure mobile UX is smooth—category-heavy UIs can become cumbersome on small screens.

User Experience (Customer-Facing)

Smart Wishlist user experience

Smart Wishlist’s one-click saving behavior reduces friction for customers. Guest wishlist support removes account barriers, enabling quicker capture of interest. Shareable lists make it easy for buyers to collaborate or share gift ideas with others.

UX strengths:

• Low friction for discovery-to-save conversion.
• Consistent placement across product, collection, and cart pages improves visibility.
• Lightweight behavior reduces load-time impact.

Potential UX trade-offs:

• If the wishlist UI is overly minimal, the brand experience may not feel bespoke.
• Limited customization can be a downside for premium or design-focused merchants.

Squadkin user experience

The ability to create multiple categories gives customers a stronger mental model of saved items. This supports longer consideration cycles and more complex shopping behaviors. Shareability and customizable alert texts make the tool feel branded and communicative.

UX strengths:

• Customers can organize items around intent, increasing likelihood of conversion later.
• Fully customizable messaging can enhance clarity and reduce confusion on add/remove actions.

Potential UX trade-offs:

• More features and options may add cognitive load for shoppers who want a simple “save for later” flow.
• If categories are misused, customers may abandon lists rather than engaging with them.

Customization & Merchandising Control

Smart Wishlist

Customization in Smart Wishlist appears focused on ease-of-use with limited branding control. Javascript and REST APIs are available, which means developers can extend behavior, but merchants without dev resources will face constraints.

Merchandising implications:

• Merchants that want quick enablement with a standard UI will appreciate Smart Wishlist.
• For curated storefronts where wishlist appearance matters, reliance on default UI can be limiting.

Squadkin

Squadkin advertises full CSS customization and text edits, which provides much more control over the look and messaging of wishlist features. That can be leveraged to increase brand cohesion and subtly guide customer behavior.

Merchandising implications:

• Brands with sophisticated design needs will find Squadkin’s flexibility valuable.
• Merchants can A/B different messages or styles to see what drives more saves or shares.

Analytics & Reporting

Smart Wishlist

Smart Wishlist’s public feature list does not emphasize built-in analytics beyond APIs that developers can use to export data. For merchants that rely on Shopify Analytics, external BI tools, or Klaviyo-style segmentation, Smart Wishlist may require manual export or custom integration.

Considerations:

• Developers can use REST APIs to push wishlist events into analytics stacks.
• Merchants without dev resources may not get strong actionable insights directly from the app.

Squadkin

Squadkin includes analytics for the top 10 wishlisted products, a quick merchandising signal for what customers want most. This is useful for merchandising, email campaigns, and inventory prioritization.

Considerations:

• The top-10 feature is a helpful starting point but is not a full analytics suite.
• Merchants that need cohort-level insights, user-level wishlist journeys, or multi-channel attribution will need separate analytics tooling.

Integrations & Ecosystem Compatibility

Smart Wishlist

Documented “Works With” entries list Sendgrid and ShareThis. Smart Wishlist also provides APIs for advanced integrations.

Practical implications:

• Out-of-the-box marketing automation is limited. Connecting to Klaviyo, Omnisend, or others will likely require manual integration or developer time.
• API access is valuable for stores willing to invest in custom integrations.

Squadkin

No public list of third-party integrations is shown. That suggests merchants should plan on manual workflows or ask the app team about available endpoints.

Practical implications:

• Merchants that depend on a modern marketing stack may find additional friction syncing wishlist data into email or CRM.
• Squadkin’s focus on in-app functionality (categories, CSS) may not extend to broad integration support.

Pricing & Value for Money

Smart Wishlist pricing

Smart Wishlist has a single publicly listed plan:

• Standard: $4.99 / month

With this plan, merchants get the core wishlist features with a very low monthly cost. For stores that only need wishlist capability, Smart Wishlist is an economical choice.

Value considerations:

• Very low recurring cost.
• Good fit where minimal functionality is acceptable and developer resources are limited.
• Cost does not cover loyalty, reviews, referrals, or other retention features.

Squadkin pricing

Squadkin’s entry plan:

• Basic: $3.99 / month

The Basic plan includes multiple categories, guest wishlist, custom CSS, text customization, social sharing, unlimited wishlists, and analytics. At $3.99, Squadkin is slightly cheaper than Smart Wishlist and provides more customization and analytics capabilities at entry level.

Value considerations:

• Lower price with robust feature set for wishlist organization and branding.
• For merchants who want wishlist plus deeper brand matching, Squadkin provides strong value for money.
• Like Smart Wishlist, Squadkin does not bundle loyalty, review, or referral features.

Comparing value

Both apps are low-cost and focus solely on wishlist functionality. Squadkin offers more out-of-the-box customization and analytics for a marginally lower price, which can make it a better value when visual branding and top-product insights matter. Smart Wishlist’s advantage lies in its straightforward setup and API access if developers plan to extend the feature set.

If the business objective is broader—not just a wishlist but loyalty, repeat purchase programs, review capture, and referrals—both single-purpose apps will increase the total cost of ownership when additional apps are added.

Support, Reliability, and Reviews

Smart Wishlist reviews & support signals

• Shopify reviews: 81 reviews with an average rating of 3.6.
• A larger review base provides more signal about consistent user experiences, but the 3.6 rating indicates varied customer satisfaction. Common issues in apps with mid-range ratings include support responsiveness, bugs, and missing features.

What to do:

• Review recent reviews for patterns—installation issues, theme conflicts, or support delays are common causes of lower ratings.
• Consider trialing the app and testing the support response time before committing.

Squadkin reviews & support signals

• Shopify reviews: 5 reviews with an average rating of 4.9.
• Very high rating but small sample size. This likely means those who reviewed had positive experiences, but the small number makes it difficult to know about long-term reliability or how the app scales.

What to do:

• Ask the app developer for references or case examples, and test support workflows during the trial period.

Technical Considerations: Performance, Data Ownership, and Uninstall Behavior

Performance

Both apps advertise lightweight payloads or minimal performance impact. Smart Wishlist explicitly claims a lightweight payload and non-destructive uninstall. Squadkin’s emphasis on CSS and client-side customization implies that merchants should test for performance impacts when using heavy styling or many categories.

Checklist:

• Test on mobile: wishlist interactions must be fast on slow networks.
• Measure page speed and Lighthouse scores before and after install.
• Confirm lazy-loading or async behavior for wishlist scripts.

Data Ownership & Export

Neither app advertises full data export or direct, out-of-the-box sync to popular CRMs. Smart Wishlist’s API can facilitate custom exports. Squadkin’s analytics are internal, and merchants should ask the developer about export capabilities if the store wants to include wishlist events in CRM or email flows.

Checklist:

• Confirm how user-level wishlist data is stored and whether it can be exported.
• If running GDPR/CCPA-sensitive stores, check how personal data for guest wishlists is handled.

Uninstall Safety

Smart Wishlist claims it “doesn’t break your theme upon uninstall,” which is meaningful for merchants concerned about uninstall cleanup. Squadkin does not include an explicit uninstall promise; merchants should test uninstall on a staging copy.

Checklist:

• Back up theme files before install.
• Uninstall on a development theme to confirm clean removal.

Use Cases and Which App Fits Which Merchant

When Smart Wishlist is the right choice

• Small-to-medium merchants that want a fast, no-friction wishlist with guest support.
• Teams with limited development resources who want a simple installation.
• Stores prioritizing performance and minimal app footprint.
• Merchants that plan to build custom integrations via API and can invest developer time selectively.

When Squadkin is the right choice

• Merchants that prioritize branded wishlist UI and need CSS-level control.
• Stores that want multiple wishlist categories to better support complex buying journeys.
• Merchants who value quick merchandising insight from top wishlisted products.
• Teams that can manage customization and want a low-cost but flexible wishlist app.

When neither single-purpose wishlist app is the best long-term choice

• Merchants that intend to add loyalty programs, referral campaigns, review collection, and VIP tiers will quickly accumulate single-purpose apps and a fragmented data set.
• Fast-growing stores and enterprise merchants often prefer consolidated data, fewer integration points, and cross-feature workflows (e.g., reward points for adding reviews or referrals tied to wishlist sharing).
• For merchants who want to avoid app fatigue and consolidate retention features, an integrated platform may offer better long-term value.

Implementation Roadmap: How to Evaluate and Test Each App Before Committing

Quick checklist for initial evaluation

• Install on a duplicate or unpublished theme to test visual integration.
• Add items as both guest and logged-in users to confirm behavior and data persistence.
• Test wishlist sharing flows across devices and with email/social channels.
• Confirm analytics or event tracking: does wishlist behavior show in Shopify Analytics, Google Analytics, or other reporting tools?
• Contact support with a technical question to test response time and quality.
• Check uninstall behavior on the staging theme.

Measuring success after launch

• Track wishlist-to-purchase conversion rate: how many wishlist items convert into orders within 30/60/90 days?
• Monitor repeat buyers and whether wishlists correlate with higher AOV or faster conversion.
• Use wishlist analytics (if available) to identify top products for promotional campaigns or inventory decisions.
• If the app lacks built-in analytics, create UTM or event-based tracking to capture wishlist interactions for downstream analysis.

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

Merchants who adopt many single-purpose apps often face “app fatigue”: duplicated features, inconsistent customer experiences, data fragmentation, and rising monthly costs. Each additional app increases integration maintenance and the potential for theme conflicts or performance issues.

What is app fatigue?

App fatigue refers to the cumulative technical and operational burden of relying on multiple specialized applications to cover adjacent needs—wishlists, loyalty, referrals, reviews, VIP tiers, and more. Symptoms include:

• Multiple dashboards and disconnected customer profiles.
• Fragmented retention strategies that don’t coordinate rewards with reviews or referrals.
• Rising monthly fees and management complexity.
• Slower ability to run cross-feature campaigns (e.g., reward customers for sharing wishlists).

Why an integrated retention platform reduces friction

An integrated platform consolidates wishlist, loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP programs into a single source of truth for customer engagement. That streamlines customer journeys and simplifies data flows.

Benefits:

• Unified customer profiles make it possible to reward wishlist actions, trigger referral campaigns, and use reviews to power social proof.
• Fewer apps reduce the risk of theme conflicts and improve site performance.
• Cross-feature reporting helps merchants understand how loyalty programs impact wishlist activity, purchase frequency, and lifetime value.

Growave’s “More Growth, Less Stack” proposition

Growave promotes a unified retention strategy that reduces the need for multiple single-purpose tools. The platform bundles Loyalty & Rewards, Referrals, Reviews & UGC, Wishlist, and VIP Tiers. For merchants tired of stitching together wishlist-only and review-only apps, Growave provides an integrated approach that supports coordinated campaigns and consolidated analytics.

For merchants evaluating consolidation, consider how Growave addresses common pain points:

• Loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases are built into the same platform as the wishlist, enabling points-for-actions flows and direct incentives tied to saved items. See how merchants can consolidate retention features by reviewing Growave’s pricing and plans with an eye toward reducing the total number of apps: consolidate retention features.
• Collect and showcase authentic reviews while tying review activity to rewards or VIP status; this closes the loop between social proof and incentives: collect and showcase authentic reviews.
• For product roadmaps and customer inspiration, merchants can learn from customer examples and adoption patterns to understand outcomes beyond wishlist metrics: customer stories from brands scaling retention.

Growave has been installed by merchants across sizes and supports deeper integrations for headless storefronts and enterprise-level customization. For teams considering migration from single-purpose tools, the platform offers clear migration paths and consolidated reporting to measure retention gains without juggling a suite of disconnected apps. To evaluate how consolidation can improve workflows and retention, consider speaking with a specialist: book a personalized demo.

(Note: scheduling a demo is an optional next step for stores that want a tailored migration plan and estimates for ROI and integration work.)

How Growave compares functionally to Smart Wishlist and Squadkin

• Wishlist parity: Growave includes wishlist features comparable to Smart Wishlist and Squadkin but packaged alongside loyalty, referrals, and reviews.
• Cross-feature automation: Points for actions, review rewards, and VIP tier triggers allow merchants to transform wishlist behavior into measurable retention outcomes.
• Integrations: Growave lists integrations with major tools like Klaviyo and Omnisend, enabling richer marketing automation than most single-purpose wishlist apps.
• Enterprise support: Growave supports Shopify Plus stores and provides API/SDK options for headless or highly customized storefronts.

See practical next steps for merchants evaluating consolidation:

• Compare total monthly spend of current wishlist + loyalty + reviews + referrals apps versus Growave entry or growth plans. For many merchants, consolidating features reduces recurring costs and produces better cross-feature ROI: consolidate retention features.
• For stores prioritizing reviews, see how combining review capture with rewards improves review volume and quality: collect and showcase authentic reviews.

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

Migration Considerations: Moving From Single Apps to an Integrated Platform

Data migration

• Export wishlist data: Obtain user-level wishlist lists and product relations from the existing apps (Smart Wishlist allows API access; Squadkin may allow export via its dashboard or by request).
• Map user identifiers: Align guest wishlist identifiers to email or customer accounts if possible, to associate historical wishlist behavior with loyalty accounts.
• Preserve sharing links: If wishlists are shared externally, consider how to preserve or replace those links when switching platforms.

Feature parity and gaps

• Ensure the receiving platform supports the wishlist behaviors customers expect (multi-category saved lists, guest support, sharing).
• If specific CSS customizations exist, extract styles and re-implement them in the new platform with a staging theme.

Testing and rollout

• Implement on a staging environment first and test save, share, and purchase flows across desktop and mobile.
• Plan a phased rollback window and monitor key metrics (wishlist saves, wishlist-to-order conversion, page speed).

Cost-Benefit Analysis: How to Choose Given Growth Plans

Small store, limited resources

• If the primary goal is a low-cost wishlist with minimal maintenance, Smart Wishlist or Squadkin provides immediate value at under $6/month.
• Squadkin offers more for branding at $3.99/month; Smart Wishlist trades off nuanced customization for API access and slightly higher price at $4.99/month.

Growing store with retention focus

• Stores that plan to invest in loyalty, reviews, and referrals should model the combined cost of multiple apps versus a single integrated platform.
• Growave’s entry plan bundles multiple retention features and may provide a better overall return when measured by retained customers and repeat purchase uplift. Compare expected savings and value by looking at consolidated pricing and a trial: consolidate retention features.

Enterprise and Plus merchants

• For high-growth and Plus merchants, integration depth, performance, and a dedicated success plan matter. Growave provides Shopify Plus support and advanced options for enterprise-level needs: solutions for high-growth Plus brands.
• Evaluate the cost of maintaining multiple vendor relationships versus one vendor accountable for cross-feature UX and uptime.

Practical Recommendations: Which App to Pick Based on Business Goals

• Goal: Speed to market with minimal overhead
  • Consider Smart Wishlist for quick setup if a one-click guest wishlist is the immediate priority.
• Goal: Brand-consistent wishlist with categories and merchandising insight
  • Consider Squadkin for CSS-level customization and top-10 product analytics.
• Goal: Increase repeat purchases, reduce tool sprawl, and run coordinated retention campaigns
  • Consider an integrated platform that includes wishlist plus loyalty, referrals, and reviews to drive higher LTV. See how merchants can both consolidate tools and improve retention metrics: consolidate retention features.

Comparison Summary: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Ideal Fit

Smart Wishlist

• Strengths: Easy setup, guest wishlist support, shareable lists, API access, low cost.
• Weaknesses: Limited analytics and integrations; mixed review rating (3.6 from 81 reviews) indicates varied experiences.
• Best for: Merchants seeking a straightforward wishlist with minimal developer overhead.

Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App

• Strengths: Multi-category support, CSS customization, top-10 analytics, high rating among a few customers.
• Weaknesses: Very small review base (5 reviews) and unclear integration surface; potential need for developer resources for styling.
• Best for: Merchants who want more control over wishlist appearance and organization without paying high subscription fees.

Growave (Alternative)

• Strengths: Bundled retention features—loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlist, VIP tiers—reduces the number of apps and unifies customer data. High volume of reviews and strong rating indicate broader adoption.
• Weaknesses: Higher starting price than a single wishlist app; requires commitment to a broader retention strategy.
• Best for: Merchants who want to build sustainable retention programs, reduce app fatigue, and centralize customer engagement across multiple channels. Consider exploring how consolidated features improve retention and ROI: consolidate retention features.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Smart Wishlist and Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App, the decision comes down to priorities. Smart Wishlist is a practical pick for stores that want a fast, minimal wishlist with API access and guest support; it is simple to install and inexpensive. Squadkin ‑ Multi Wishlist App provides stronger customization and category-based organization at a slightly lower monthly price, making it better for merchants that want branded wishlist experiences and basic analytics of wishlisted products.

If the goal extends beyond wishlist functionality to long-term retention—combining loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers—consolidating those capabilities into one platform reduces tool sprawl and produces better cross-feature outcomes. Merchants ready to move from single-purpose apps to a unified retention stack can test Growave’s offering and see whether combining wishlist with loyalty and reviews yields better lifetime value and simpler operations: consolidate retention features.

Start a 14-day free trial to see how Growave replaces multiple apps and increases customer lifetime value.

FAQ

• How do Smart Wishlist and Squadkin compare on customization?
  • Smart Wishlist prioritizes simplicity and minimal configuration; customization is possible via APIs for developer teams. Squadkin focuses on CSS-level control and editable messaging, giving merchants more front-end flexibility without complex development.
• Which app provides better analytics out of the box?
  • Squadkin offers a built-in “top 10 wishlisted products” report, which is useful for merchandising. Smart Wishlist does not emphasize built-in analytics but provides APIs for custom reporting. Neither is a full analytics platform.
• Can a merchant use wishlist apps together with loyalty or reviews?
  • Yes, both Smart Wishlist and Squadkin can be used alongside loyalty and review apps, but this often creates multiple vendors and fragmented customer data. Merchants should plan for integration points or consider a single platform that combines these features.
• How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized wishlist apps?
  • An integrated platform consolidates wishlist, loyalty, referrals, and reviews into a single dataset and dashboard, reducing maintenance and enabling cross-feature automation. Specialized apps can be cheaper initially but may increase total cost of ownership and operational complexity for merchants that require more retention features.