Smart Wishlist vs. Webkul Product Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app can be deceptively important for Shopify merchants. A wishlist is more than a button — it influences cart recovery, repeat visits, and long-term customer value. The market offers many focused tools that promise quick wins, but picking one requires weighing features, reliability, and how the tool fits into a broader retention strategy.

Short answer: Smart Wishlist is a lightweight, easy-to-install option built for merchants who want a frictionless guest-friendly wishlist at an entry price point, while Webkul Product Wishlist leans toward structured wishlists with category organization and reminder emails but requires customers to log in. For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and combine wishlists with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, an integrated retention suite can provide better value for money than single-purpose apps.

This post compares Smart Wishlist (Webmarked) and Webkul Product Wishlist (Webkul Software Pvt Ltd) feature by feature, using available data points, real-world implications, and practical merchant scenarios. After the direct comparison, the piece explains how consolidating wishlist functionality into a larger retention platform can reduce friction, lower ongoing costs, and drive more predictable growth.

Smart Wishlist vs. Webkul Product Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Features

Core Wishlist Mechanics

• Smart Wishlist emphasizes one-click saving that works for both guest and logged-in users. Its simplicity is its main selling point: visitors can save items quickly without creating an account, which reduces friction for casual browsers and window shoppers.
• Webkul Product Wishlist requires customers to log in to access saved items. It supports wishlist categories, allowing customers to organize saved products into thematic lists (for example, "Birthday," "For Home," "Gifts"). That structure benefits customers who plan purchases and appreciate organization.

Implications:

• Guest-friendly saving typically captures more anonymous intent. For stores with significant guest traffic or simple buying journeys (fashion, accessories), the lower friction can translate to higher wishlist adoption.
• Category-based wishlists are more useful for complex buying cycles or stores with high-ticket items where customers research and compare over time.

Sharing and Social Functionality

• Smart Wishlist offers shareable lists and integrates with social sharing tools (Sharethis). This supports social workflows like saving a list to show friends or collaborators.
• Webkul provides wishlist management but focuses less on social sharing in the provided feature set. The emphasis is on categories and internal admin workflows rather than external sharing.

Implications:

• If social-driven discovery and wish lists that customers share externally matter (gift registries, influencer collaborations), Smart Wishlist’s built-in shareability and Sendgrid/Sharethis connections are advantageous.

Notifications and Reminder Emails

• Webkul explicitly supports sending reminder emails to customers about items in their wishlists. This turns passive intent into timed follow-ups and can be tied to sale windows.
• Smart Wishlist does not list built-in reminder campaigns; merchants would need to combine it with email automation tools to follow up on wishlist behavior, using available APIs or third-party integrations.

Implications:

• Reminder automation is a conversion lever. Built-in reminders in Webkul can be useful for stores that prefer single-app wishlist-to-email workflows. With Smart Wishlist, achieving similar behavior requires additional tooling.

Customization, APIs, and Developer Access

• Smart Wishlist exposes Javascript and REST APIs for advanced requirements, enabling developers to integrate saved-item events into custom flows or analytics.
• Webkul’s listing does not highlight a public API in the excerpt provided. It may have admin-facing settings and internal integrations through the Webkul ecosystem, but explicit REST/JS hooks are not documented here.

Implications:

• Merchants with dev resources who want tight tracking, custom triggers, or headless setups will appreciate Smart Wishlist’s developer endpoints. Lack of clear API documentation in Webkul’s summary could limit advanced integrations.

Performance and Theme Safety

• Smart Wishlist advertises a lightweight payload and explicitly notes it "doesn't break your theme upon uninstall." That matters for stores that run heavily customized themes or rely on performance budgets for Core Web Vitals.
• Webkul’s description does not make explicit promises about payload size or uninstall safety.

Implications:

• Apps that are light and cleanly removable reduce migration risk and theme conflicts. For fast storefronts where performance matters, that commitment is important.

Pricing & Value

Price Points

• Smart Wishlist: $4.99 per month (Standard plan).
• Webkul Product Wishlist: $7 per month (Basic Plan).

Both are low-cost, single-purpose apps. At face value, Smart Wishlist offers the lower entry price, and Webkul is slightly more expensive.

Value Beyond Price

Price is only one part of "value for money." Consider these factors:

• Feature breadth: Smart Wishlist’s guest-friendly behavior and APIs may deliver higher wishlist adoption and easier analytics integration at a lower price. Webkul’s categorization and reminders can increase conversion potential but come with dependency on login behavior.
• Hidden costs: Single-purpose tools often require additional apps (email automation, loyalty, referrals, reviews) for a full retention strategy. Those add monthly costs and ongoing admin time.
• Support and reliability: A higher rating with few reviews (Webkul: 5.0 with 2 reviews) can be misleading. A larger sample size (Smart Wishlist: 3.6 with 81 reviews) gives more signal about recurring issues, updates, and merchant expectations.

Practical assessment:

• For a merchant only seeking wishlist UI and minimal friction, Smart Wishlist is better value at $4.99, given APIs and shareability.
• For a merchant prioritizing category organization and native reminder emails, Webkul’s $7 plan may be better value—but only if login friction is acceptable and the merchant wants reminders without adding another email tool.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Smart Wishlist Integrations

• Works with Sendgrid and Sharethis, enabling basic email and social sharing flows.
• Javascript and REST APIs allow connection to other systems like email platforms, analytics tools, and custom backends.

Webkul Integrations

• Listed to work with Product Auction and likely integrates within the Webkul family of apps.
• Webkul is known for a broad ecosystem of ecommerce extensions; integration depth may depend on the merchant’s stack and the developer’s familiarity with Webkul products.

Implications:

• A wishlist that plugs into the merchant’s existing email and analytics stack is more useful than one locked to an internal ecosystem. Smart Wishlist’s API-first approach favors integration flexibility.
• Merchants using niche Webkul products (like auctions) may find Webkul Product Wishlist appealing for tighter internal compatibility.

Implementation & Setup

Installation and Configuration

• Smart Wishlist positions itself as "super-easy to setup with no coding required," with placement options on product, collection, search result, and cart pages. That reduces time-to-value for non-technical merchants.
• Webkul’s setup likely requires configuration for login behaviors and category management. It may demand more admin configuration but offers more structured features.

Theme Compatibility and Uninstall Safety

• Smart Wishlist explicitly claims theme safety and clean uninstall behavior, which lowers risk for merchants who change themes or test other solutions.
• Webkul’s uninstall behavior isn’t specified; with fewer explicit statements, merchants should verify with support or test in a staging theme.

Implications:

• Quick setup and safe uninstall make Smart Wishlist attractive for stores that need to act fast or want to trial wishlist functionality with minimal risk.
• Webkul requires merchants to be comfortable managing login flows and potentially heavier configuration.

User Experience (Customer-Facing)

Guest vs Logged-in Experience

• Smart Wishlist: Guests can save items without creating an account, which reduces friction and captures casual intent.
• Webkul: Requires login, which creates a gating step before wishlist access.

Implications:

• Guest saving increases capture rates, but login-required wishlists can help tie intent to identifiable customers for future personalization and targeted emails.

Mobile and Cross-Device Behavior

• Smart Wishlist’s one-click approach tends to perform well on mobile, where account creation is a larger barrier. APIs enable persistent cross-device tracking if implemented.
• Webkul’s login requirement can interrupt the mobile experience unless the store uses social/local auth or progressive profile capture.

Organization & Discovery

• Smart Wishlist offers unlimited wishlists and shareable lists without specifying categories. This suits simple use cases.
• Webkul’s category feature is a key differentiator for customers who value organization and plan purchases.

Merchant Experience (Admin Tools & Reporting)

Analytics and Tracking

• Smart Wishlist exposes APIs that allow merchants to aggregate wishlist events into analytics platforms or CDPs. That supports deeper analysis of intent signals.
• Webkul provides admin tracking of wishlist data and the ability to send reminder emails. The built-in tracking is useful for merchants who want out-of-the-box admin views without setting up additional analytics.

Email Workflows

• Webkul offers native reminder emails, simplifying wish-to-purchase flows.
• Smart Wishlist leaves email follow-up to external tools, which can be a positive if the merchant already uses an ESP and prefers consolidated messaging control.

Implications:

• Merchants who want centralized analytics and marketing automation will favor Smart Wishlist’s API approach. Merchants who prefer turn-key email reminders will appreciate Webkul’s native capability.

Support & Trust Signals

Ratings and Review Counts

• Smart Wishlist: 3.6 rating from 81 reviews. Larger review count offers more reliable insight into recurring issues, feature requests, and support quality.
• Webkul: 5.0 rating from 2 reviews. Perfect scores with small sample sizes should be interpreted cautiously — they are less representative.

Implications:

• Lower ratings with higher review counts often provide actionable signals (what breaks, support speed, etc.). Shortlist apps based on both rating and review volume, and read recent reviews to spot trends.

Vendor Reputation

• Webmarked (Smart Wishlist) appears to focus specifically on wishlist UX and lightweight implementation.
• Webkul is a large software house with many ecommerce extensions. Their breadth can be an advantage for stores that already use Webkul products; however, breadth can also mean variance across apps in polish or UX expectations.

Support Channels

• Neither app listing provides exhaustive detail on support SLAs in the provided data. Merchants should evaluate:
  • Response times and channels (email, live chat, in-app).
  • Availability for emergency fixes (theme-breaking issues).
  • Developer support for custom implementations.

Data Portability, Privacy & Compliance

• Smart Wishlist’s REST API likely makes it straightforward to export wishlist data for internal reporting or migrations.
• Webkul’s login-centric model ties wishlist items to customer accounts, which can help with identity-based personalization, but merchants must ensure proper handling of personal data and GDPR compliance when sending reminders.

Implications:

• Merchants should validate any app’s data export and retention policies before installation, especially if moving between apps or performing migrations.

Performance & SEO Considerations

• Smart Wishlist advertises a lightweight payload which helps minimize impact on page load and Core Web Vitals. Lightweight front-end assets contribute to better mobile performance and search-engine-friendly UX.
• Webkul’s resource footprint isn’t documented in the provided summary. Merchants concerned about performance should test in staging with Lighthouse or GTmetrix and confirm lazy-loading and script throttling behaviors.

Use Cases: Which App Fits Which Merchant

• Smart Wishlist is a solid choice for:
  • Fast-moving stores that prioritize ease of installation and minimal friction for shoppers.
  • Stores with high guest traffic where sign-up friction would reduce wishlist adoption.
  • Merchants with in-house development teams who want API hooks to push wishlist signals into analytics or marketing systems.
• Webkul Product Wishlist is suitable for:
  • Stores that want structured wishlists with categories (home goods, high-ticket, or gift registries).
  • Merchants who prefer native reminder emails without relying on external automations.
  • Stores that already use Webkul products and value consistent vendor integration.

Pros and Cons

Smart Wishlist (Webmarked)

Pros:

• Guest-friendly one-click saving increases adoption.
• Low monthly price ($4.99).
• Lightweight payload and clean uninstall behavior reduce theme risk.
• Javascript and REST APIs enable custom workflows and analytics.
• Shareable lists for social or collaborative shopping.

Cons:

• No built-in reminder email feature in the default feature set.
• Mid-range rating (3.6) and a variety of reviews suggest merchants should read recent feedback.
• Single-purpose app — additional retention features require other apps.

Webkul Product Wishlist (Webkul Software Pvt Ltd)

Pros:

• Category-based wishlists that allow organization and multi-list management.
• Built-in reminder emails reduce need for third-party email automation for wishlist follow-ups.
• 5.0 rating (though based on only 2 reviews).

Cons:

• Requires customer login, which raises friction for casual browsers.
• Higher entry price than Smart Wishlist ($7 vs $4.99).
• Small review sample makes long-term reliability harder to assess.
• No explicit mention of API access or lightweight theme-uninstall behavior.

Practical Recommendations

• If priority is maximum wishlist adoption from anonymous users and minimal setup risk, start with Smart Wishlist. Its API surface can scale into broader analytics and automation later.
• If the store’s customer base values organized wishlists and the business wants built-in reminder emails without adding an ESP workflow, Webkul Product Wishlist may fit better.
• For merchants already using Webkul’s ecosystem, the product integration point could make Webkul Product Wishlist the path of least resistance.

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

Many merchants use multiple single-purpose apps to assemble features like wishlists, reviews, loyalty, referrals, and tiered rewards. That approach solves one problem at a time but creates new challenges: higher monthly costs, multiple billing relationships, overlapping scripts that harm performance, fractured customer data, and extra admin overhead. This accumulation is often called "app fatigue."

An alternative approach is to consolidate retention features into a single platform that provides wishlist functionality alongside loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers. This reduces friction for both merchants and customers and creates unified signals that improve personalization and lifetime value.

Growave’s philosophy — "More Growth, Less Stack" — is built around that consolidation: wishlists are one piece of a retention suite that also includes loyalty, referrals, and reviews. Consolidation delivers tangible advantages:

• Unified customer data: Wishlist behavior feeds loyalty, referral, and review triggers without fragmenting data.
• Fewer scripts: A single, well-architected integration reduces payload and performance risk compared to several small apps.
• Single vendor support: One support relationship for cross-feature issues simplifies troubleshooting.
• Clearer ROI: Aggregated impact on retention, repeat purchase rates, and lifetime value is easier to measure.

For merchants evaluating the trade-offs between single-purpose apps and an integrated solution, it helps to examine specific benefits and see how an integrated platform addresses common wishlist shortcomings.

How consolidation solves wishlist limitations

• Reminder emails and nurture flows become part of a larger lifecycle program, not one-off messages. That increases conversion odds when wishlists combine with loyalty incentives and referral prompts.
• Wishlist signals can trigger targeted rewards — for example, awarding points for saving items or for converting a wishlist into a purchase — which strengthens loyalty without adding more apps.
• Reviews and UGC prompts can be tailored based on saved items to drive social proof precisely where it matters.

Merchants interested in evaluating consolidation options can explore how a combined toolset maps to business objectives and costs. For a pricing view that helps compare consolidation against multiple single-purpose subscriptions, consider how much can be saved by choosing to consolidate retention features rather than maintaining several monthly fees. See how merchants can consolidate retention features into a single plan and compare the economics against stacked solutions.

Growave: A closer look at the integrated option

Growave bundles wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, reviews & UGC, and VIP tiers, creating a single source of truth for customer engagement. Important merchant-facing strengths include:

• Loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and increase LTV: Growave’s loyalty engine supports customizable point actions, redemption options, and tiered VIP programs designed to reward repeat behavior. Learn how merchants use loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to increase retention.
• Review and UGC tools to collect and showcase authentic customer content: A combined reviews and wishlist approach makes it easier to request reviews from users who purchased or saved specific items. Merchants can collect and showcase authentic reviews to build conversion-driving social proof.
• Wishlist that ties into the full engagement lifecycle: Saved items can trigger follow-ups, rewards, or review prompts within the same platform, eliminating cross-app coordination.
• Built for scale: Growave supports Shopify Plus, multi-language stores, and enterprise needs with advanced integrations and API/SDK support. Merchants on higher tiers can access features designed for headless setups and checkout-level integrations, which is particularly relevant for Plus merchants who want a consolidated solution. For a look at enterprise-level features and support for larger merchants, see the solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Merchants who want to evaluate Growave in context can install the integrated retention suite to test core flows or compare pricing tiers to see which plan aligns with order volumes and feature needs.

Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention. (Book a personalized demo)

Examples of integrated flows that single apps struggle to deliver

• Rewarding wishlist actions: Award points when a shopper saves items and nudge them to redeem points for discounts on saved items. Achievable when loyalty and wishlists are part of one platform.
• Review asks tied to wishlist conversions: When a wishlist item converts to a purchase, trigger a targeted review request that references the original saved item. This yields higher-quality UGC.
• Cross-feature campaigns: Launch a promotion that awards points for referring a friend who saves an item and later converts — a campaign that spans wishlist, referrals, and loyalty.

All of these flows are more costly and fragile to implement when every step requires a separate app and separate integrations.

Practical deployment notes for merchants considering consolidation

• Run a quick inventory of current subscriptions and scripts. Identify overlap and measure monthly spend.
• Map the customer journey and mark where wishlist signals could inform loyalty, reviews, or referral prompts.
• Test consolidated features in a staging environment to measure performance impact and verify data flows.
• Compare projected ROI from consolidated campaigns (improved retention, higher repeat purchase rate) against the marginal cost of migration and subscription differences.

For merchants ready to explore plans and projected savings, it helps to consolidate retention features into a single subscription and test the difference. Merchants can also try specific features like collect and showcase authentic reviews and review loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to see how combined tactics perform.

Final Comparison Summary: Which App Is Best For Which Merchant

For merchants choosing between Smart Wishlist and Webkul Product Wishlist, the decision comes down to wishlist philosophy and surrounding tooling.

• Smart Wishlist is best for merchants who prioritize:
  • Low-friction guest saving.
  • Quick, no-code setup with minimal theme risk.
  • API access for custom analytics and automation.
  • Lower monthly cost and fast time-to-value.
• Webkul Product Wishlist is best for merchants who prioritize:
  • Structured wishlist organization (categories).
  • Native reminder emails tied to logged-in customers.
  • A wishlist experience that assumes customers will register and return.

Both apps solve parts of the same problem, but neither removes the need for other retention features (loyalty, referrals, reviews) if the merchant aims to grow LTV and retention systematically.

For merchants ready to move beyond multiple single-purpose tools and to test a higher-value strategy, explore how consolidation can reduce tool sprawl and amplify retention across channels. Merchants can see consolidated options and compare costs by visiting a page to consolidate retention features and can also install the integrated retention suite to trial core workflows. Start a 14-day free trial to evaluate how a unified platform improves retention and streamlines operations. (Start a 14-day free trial)

FAQ

Q: How do Smart Wishlist and Webkul Product Wishlist differ on customer friction?

• Smart Wishlist reduces friction by allowing one-click saving without requiring login, which typically increases capture from casual visitors. Webkul Product Wishlist requires login, which creates a friction point but enables more identity-linked follow-ups.

Q: Which app provides better out-of-the-box lifecycle automation?

• Webkul includes built-in reminder emails from the wishlist, offering a native lifecycle touchpoint. Smart Wishlist focuses on lightweight saving and exposes APIs to enable follow-ups through a separate email automation platform.

Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?

• An integrated platform bundles wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, providing consistent data, fewer scripts, and unified campaign capabilities. This reduces the overhead of multiple billing lines and integration work while enabling cross-feature campaigns that single apps cannot deliver alone. Merchants can evaluate consolidated plans and compare economics by choosing to consolidate retention features.

Q: If a merchant already uses a powerful ESP, is a wishlist-only app enough?

• If the ESP handles automation and personalization well, a wishlist-only app with APIs (like Smart Wishlist) can integrate smoothly. However, if the merchant prefers single-vendor simplicity and richer, cross-feature campaigns, an integrated solution that includes wishlist, loyalty, and reviews may offer better long-term value. Merchants can compare how loyalty and wishlist interactions work together by reviewing loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and see how reviews tie into conversions with tools to collect and showcase authentic reviews.

For merchants choosing between focused wishlist tools and a consolidated retention platform, the choice depends on immediate priorities: speed and low cost versus structured wishlists and native reminders. For merchants ready to reduce app fatigue and unlock coordinated retention tactics across loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists, comparing multi-feature pricing and a hands-on trial can illuminate the best path forward. Explore plans to compare pricing tiers and install the integrated retention suite to test how a consolidated approach performs for the store.