Stensiled Wishlist vs. FAVS Wishlist Bar: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a common decision point for Shopify merchants trying to improve customer experience and recapture interested buyers. Wishlist functionality can increase conversion rates, encourage return visits, and feed product interest signals back into merchandising and marketing. Yet the market is crowded: some stores need a lightweight add-on and others need a polished, branded experience with reminders and analytics.

Short answer: Stensiled Wishlist is a straightforward, low-friction option for merchants who want a basic wishlist with analytics and a free tier. FAVS Wishlist Bar is a small but polished paid app focused on a stylish, pinned wishlist experience with guest wishlist support and automatic reminders. For merchants looking to reduce tool sprawl and gain long-term retention lift, a unified retention platform such as Growave offers more value by combining wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, and reviews.

This article compares Stensiled Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar feature by feature—covering UX, analytics, pricing, integrations, performance, and merchant fit—so merchants can decide which app best aligns with their store goals. After the direct comparison, the article explains why consolidating retention tools into a single platform can be a better strategic choice for stores that want to scale.

Stensiled Wishlist vs. FAVS Wishlist Bar: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Feature Set: What Each App Does Best

Stensiled Wishlist — Core Capabilities

Stensiled Wishlist targets merchants who need the basic wishlist mechanics plus analytics. The public feature list emphasizes:

• Code-free setup for rapid installation and activation.
• Wishlist analytics that track product popularity and customer selections.
• Customizable wishlist button icons for brand alignment.
• Save For Later functionality that acts as a soft cart saving tool.
• Activity tracking with time-range filtering to inspect interest over time.

Strengths:

• Has a free Basic Plan that lowers the barrier to testing wishlist features.
• Focus on analytics and activity tracking makes it useful for merchants who want product interest data without adding heavy UX bells and whistles.

Potential weaknesses:

• No public review history on the Shopify listing, which makes it hard to assess reliability and long-term support.
• Feature list is functional but narrowly focused on wishlist and analytics—no native loyalty, referral, or reviews features.

FAVS Wishlist Bar — Core Capabilities

FAVS Wishlist Bar positions itself as a visually polished wishlist anchored as a bar that can be pinned or collapsed, with guest wishlist support and automatic email reminders. The public feature list highlights:

• A stylish wishlist bar that can be pinned to the top of the page and collapsed.
• Guest wishlists so visitors can add items without creating accounts.
• Automatic email reminders related to inventory updates or discounts.
• Visual customization to match brand graphics and feel.
• Insights on usage and contribution to sales.

Strengths:

• The persistent bar UI is a strong visual cue that can increase engagement on stores where browsing and saving are common behaviors (fashion, accessories, gifts).
• Guest wishlist removes a sign-in friction that often dilutes wishlist adoption.
• Automated reminders close the loop between saved interest and post-save conversion.

Potential weaknesses:

• The app has a small number of public reviews—five reviews with a 5-star rating—which suggests positive early feedback but limited scale.
• It’s a single-purpose, interface-heavy app. Stores that want wider retention tools will still need additional apps.

User Experience & Design

Installation & Setup

Stensiled advertises a code-free setup. That typically means merchants can install the app and configure visual elements and analytics via an admin panel with no theme code edits required. This lowers technical overhead for small teams.

FAVS also markets itself as easy to set up but focuses on front-end customization—pinning behavior, collapsed state, and visual alignment. The bar requires front-end placement, which can sometimes conflict with theme headers or custom navigation if not tested.

Practical differences:

• If the store theme is highly customized or uses non-standard header behavior, FAVS’ pinned bar may need additional testing to ensure it does not obstruct important navigation elements.
• Stensiled’s lighter UI footprint may be safer on complex themes.

Wishlist Interaction Flow

Stensiled’s UI is likely centered on a traditional wishlist button/icon near product pages, with an account-based or user-account tied list and save-for-later behavior. This works well for merchants who want to encourage registered users to curate lists.

FAVS’ sticky bar is visible across pages and reduces discovery friction. The guest wishlist option means anonymous shoppers can save items immediately, which can increase initial adoption but may require additional measures to capture emails for follow-up.

Merchant trade-offs:

• Account-based lists (Stensiled) provide better long-term data linkage to customers and LTV tracking.
• Guest lists (FAVS) lower the activation barrier and can capture interest from anonymous traffic, but converting those saves into identifiable customers depends on the bar’s reminder and capture strategy.

Analytics & Reporting

Both apps advertise insights, but the depth and exportability matter for teams that rely on data.

Stensiled lists "Detailed Wishlist Analytics" and the ability to filter activities by time range. That implies product-level reporting on saves and trends—useful for inventory planning and merchandising priorities.

FAVS mentions "Insights about the usage and on how it contributes to your sales" and leverages automated reminders as part of the conversion flow. If those insights tie saved items to follow-up revenue via the reminders, FAVS can report on the wishlist-to-order conversion rate.

Key comparison points:

• Which app ties wishlist behavior to orders? If an app can match saved items to later purchases, merchants can quantify direct revenue impact.
• Export capabilities: merchants who rely on BI tools need CSV exports or integrations into analytics platforms.
• Real-world recommendation: request a sample analytics export or screenshots during trial to verify that the metrics provided match reporting needs.

Customer Experience: Guest Wishlist, Reminders, and Social Behavior

Guest Wishlist Support

FAVS explicitly supports guest wishlists. This matters for stores with high one-time traffic and low account creation rates. Guest saves can be turned into email captures through reminders or pop-ups.

Stensiled’s public materials do not emphasize guest wishlist support. Its emphasis on analytics and account-tied tracking suggests priority on customer-linked data.

Implication:

• For stores that depend on social traffic, paid ads, or influencers—sources that often drive non-logged-in visitors—guest wishlist support is a conversion-friendly feature.
• For stores that prioritize lifetime tracking and segmented offers, app behavior that favors account-linked wishlists is more useful.

Automated Email Reminders

FAVS includes automatic email reminders tied to sales and inventory updates. This is one of the most direct ways a wishlist app can drive incremental revenue: when inventory drops low or an item goes on sale, an automated nudge can turn a save into a purchase.

Stensiled does not advertise automated reminders in the provided materials. If reminders are critical to a merchant’s conversion strategy, this is a decisive differentiator in favor of FAVS.

A merchant should confirm:

• Do reminders send from the store email (branded) or from the app domain?
• Are reminder templates customizable?
• Can reminders be segmented by customer lifecycle or past purchase behavior?

Pricing & Value

Stensiled Pricing

• Basic Plan: Free — Includes code-free setup, wishlist analytics, custom icons, save-for-later, and activity tracking with time ranges.
• Advance Plan: $9.99/month — Same base features as the free plan per the provided data (no premium-only features listed).

Value considerations:

• The availability of a free plan is attractive for merchants who want to test wishlist behavior without recurring cost.
• The pricing gap is small: $9.99/month for Advanced. Merchants should confirm what tangible additions the Advanced plan includes—if parity exists between plans, the free tier may be sufficient for many stores.

FAVS Pricing

• Monthly: $9.95/month — Unlimited wishlist items, guest wishlists, visual customization, automatic email reminders, insights, and zero impact on store speed.
• Yearly: $99.50/year — Equivalent to two months free, same feature set.

Value considerations:

• FAVS charges roughly the same as Stensiled’s Advanced plan but positions itself around polished UI and reminders—features that directly contribute to conversions.
• The yearly plan gives predictable savings and may be preferable for stores committed to this UI approach.

Comparative pricing conclusion:

• Both apps are low-cost from a monthly perspective. The real value question is feature fit rather than raw cost. For stores that need reminders and guest wishlist support, FAVS likely represents better value for money. For stores that prioritize a no-cost test and analytics, Stensiled’s free tier wins as a low-risk option.

Integrations & Compatibility

Publicly shared details for both apps do not list extensive third-party integrations. This is typical for single-function wishlist apps. Key considerations:

• Email platform integration: For reminder emails, confirmation emails, and segmentation, merchants should confirm how reminder emails are sent and whether they can be tracked in primary ESPs (Klaviyo, Omnisend, etc.).
• Checkout & POS: If a wishlist needs to behave correctly across checkout or POS, compatibility is important.
• Theme builders and page builders: Ensure the sticky bar (FAVS) or icons (Stensiled) play nicely with page builders like PageFly or GemPages.

What merchants should ask before installing:

• Which external platforms does the app integrate with, if any?
• Can wishlist events be forwarded to analytics platforms or webhooks for custom workflows?
• Does the app support Shopify Plus features, checkout apps, or headless setups?

Support & Documentation

Stensiled’s listing shows no public review history. That absence makes it difficult to assess response speed and support quality. Merchants should test the support channel during trial and ask for setup help if using advanced features.

FAVS has five public reviews with a 5-star rating. While the sample is small, positive reviews suggest responsive support and satisfaction among early users.

Good practice:

• Confirm support hours, channels (email, chat, phone), and SLA for bug fixes.
• Request documentation links and step-by-step setup guides before committing.
• For apps that adjust front-end behavior, ensure there is a rollback plan or that theme edits are non-destructive.

Performance & Store Speed

Wishlist UI components can impact front-end performance if implemented inefficiently. FAVS claims "Zero impact on store speed." That is a notable claim but should be verified:

• Run a before-and-after Lighthouse or GTmetrix test to confirm the app’s real impact.
• Ensure lazy-loading or asynchronous scripts are used for any front-end assets.

Stensiled’s lighter feature set may have a smaller footprint, but without published performance metrics, merchants should test. A small script size and asynchronous load are the standards to demand.

Data Privacy & Ownership

Wishlist data can be valuable. Merchants should verify:

• Who owns wishlist data? Can the merchant export saved item data and customer identifiers?
• How are reminder emails managed? Does the app store or process email addresses outside merchant control?
• Are there clear privacy policies and data retention policies consistent with GDPR and CCPA?

Neither app’s public listing includes this level of detail; merchants must ask these questions during trial.

Security & Compliance

For any app that collects emails or stores customer data, ask:

• Is data encrypted in transit and at rest?
• Are there procedures for data deletion if the merchant uninstalls the app?
• Are credentials and tokens stored securely?

Merchants on enterprise plans (Shopify Plus) should confirm compatibility and enterprise-grade controls.

Use Cases & Merchant Recommendations

To make an actionable decision, consider typical merchant profiles and recommended fit.

• Small catalog stores testing wishlist adoption:
  • Recommended: Stensiled Wishlist (Free plan). The free tier lets merchants validate interest without cost. The analytics provide a simple product-popularity signal.
• Fashion and accessories stores relying on browsing and impulse saves:
  • Recommended: FAVS Wishlist Bar. The persistent bar and guest wishlist support are tailored to visually driven categories where shoppers save items across sessions.
• Stores needing automated re-engagement (inventory alerts, sale reminders):
  • Recommended: FAVS Wishlist Bar due to automatic email reminders, assuming the reminder implementation matches branding and deliverability needs.
• Brands focused on lifetime value, loyalty programs, and cross-channel retention:
  • Recommended: Consolidate wishlist functionality into an integrated retention platform instead of adopting single-purpose apps. The following section covers this strategic approach.

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

Understanding App Fatigue

As a store scales, the number of single-purpose apps tends to grow. Each new app can add incremental functionality, but also:

• Adds maintenance overhead: updates, conflict resolution, and testing.
• Increases the number of vendor relationships to manage.
• Raises the chance of theme or storefront conflicts.
• Creates higher cumulative costs and data fragmentation.

This phenomenon is commonly called "app fatigue." It slows development velocity and makes it harder to measure the cumulative impact of retention efforts.

The Limits of Single-Purpose Wishlist Apps

Both Stensiled Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar deliver value in their lanes—wishlists and simple analytics or reminders. However, they are still single-function solutions. The limitations include:

• Lack of native loyalty or referral mechanics that drive repeat purchases.
• Separate dashboards for wishlist analytics and revenue attribution.
• Potential duplication of features (email reminders vs. ESP campaigns).
• More apps to maintain as merchant needs grow (loyalty, referrals, reviews, VIP tiers).

For merchants thinking long-term about retention and lifetime value, a different approach can reduce friction and improve outcomes.

Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" Value Proposition

A strategic alternative is to consolidate retention functionality into an integrated platform. Growave is an example of a unified retention suite that combines wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers.

The core premise is to provide a single, integrated source of truth for customer engagement so stores can:

• Run loyalty and rewards programs that tie directly into wishlist and purchase data.
• Send targeted campaigns based on wishlist behavior without stitching data together manually.
• Collect product reviews and user-generated content that supports wishlists and merchandising decisions.

Merchants that aim to consolidate retention features can examine pricing tiers and packaging to understand the value of integration. A logical first step is to explore how other merchants have implemented integrated retention stacks by reviewing customer stories from brands scaling retention.

To see cost and plan options for consolidating tools under one vendor, merchants can review plans that let a single subscription replace multiple single-purpose apps and thereby simplify maintenance while expanding functionality. One way to evaluate this is to compare monthly totals of existing single-function apps against a unified platform or to trial how integrated events flow into the loyalty program. Merchants ready to explore consolidating tools can consolidate retention features in a single subscription.

Wishlist + Loyalty + Reviews: How Integration Adds Value

When wishlist data is available in the same platform as loyalty and reviews, several practical benefits emerge:

• Run targeted loyalty campaigns that reward customers for adding items to wishlists or converting saved items into purchases. This increases repeat behavior and LTV.
• Trigger referral or VIP offers based on wishlist activity—for example, reward customers who save high-value items or reach wishlist thresholds.
• Use product reviews and UGC collected via the same platform to promote deeply saved items, increasing social proof and potentially converting saves into purchases.

Growave’s approach lets merchants build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and pair that behavior with wishlist insights.

Reviews and UGC as a Conversion Catalyst

Wishlist saves are intent signals; reviews convert intent into confidence. When wishlists and reviews are part of the same engagement platform, merchants can:

• Prioritize outreach for collecting reviews on products frequently saved but not purchased.
• Surface UGC for saved product listings to increase conversion propensity.

Merchants can explore how to collect and showcase authentic reviews using integrated review tools that work alongside wishlists.

Integration into Shopify Stores

Integrated retention platforms are designed to minimize conflicts by providing tested compatibility with common Shopify patterns. For merchants on Shopify Plus or those planning growth initiatives, look for vendors with dedicated Plus support and headless capabilities. Growave publishes resources for enterprise use cases, including solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

If a merchant wants to try the integrated approach hands-on, a practical next step is to add an integrated retention app to their store from the Shopify catalog to test the end-to-end flows.

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

How Consolidation Impacts Cost, Complexity, and Results

Consolidation lowers complexity and often increases ROI because:

• One integration point reduces theme conflicts and the need for repetitive testing.
• Centralized analytics shows cross-channel effects (e.g., wishlist save -> loyalty reward -> repeat purchase) rather than siloed KPIs.
• Fewer subscription bills simplify budgeting and make headcount for app management more efficient.

Merchants should compare the aggregated cost of single-purpose apps (wishlist + loyalty + reviews + referrals) against an integrated plan to determine if the consolidated option offers better value for money. Pricing pages can be a practical starting point to estimate total cost and trade-offs—merchants can examine options to consolidate retention features and validate financials.

Practical Implementation Advice for Switching to an Integrated Suite

• Audit current apps and map feature overlap. Identify which single-purpose apps are redundant once a platform like Growave is in place.
• Prioritize data migration. Confirm how wishlist and review data can be exported and migrated into the new platform.
• Stagger rollout. Start with wishlist and reviews, then enable loyalty and referrals after validating that data flows behave as expected.
• Measure lift. Compare pre- and post-integration metrics: repeat purchase rate, average order value, wishlist-to-order conversion rate, and customer retention cohorts.
• Use vendor resources. Check customer case studies and success templates for campaign ideas that leverage combined wishlist + loyalty activations.

Merchants ready for a walkthrough of integrated capabilities can consolidate retention features and see pricing or install an integrated retention app to their store to begin testing.

Implementation Checklist: Questions to Ask Before Installing Either App

• Does the merchant need guest wishlist capabilities or account-linked wishlists for lifetime tracking?
• Are automated email reminders required, and do they need to be sent from the merchant's domain?
• How does the app expose analytics and can these exports be integrated into the store’s BI stack?
• What is the app’s expected impact on store speed and does it provide performance guarantees?
• What are support hours and response SLAs?
• How does the app handle data privacy, data deletion, and ownership of wishlist data?

As a rule, request a trial period or test environment to verify these items before committing.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Stensiled Wishlist and FAVS Wishlist Bar, the decision comes down to feature priorities and growth strategy. Stensiled Wishlist is an attractive choice for stores that want a low-risk way to test wishlist behavior and leverage basic analytics, especially given the free Basic Plan. FAVS Wishlist Bar is better suited for stores that prioritize a persistent, branded wishlist UI, guest wishlists, and automated reminders that nudge saved-item conversions.

For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and build longer-term retention, consider an integrated retention platform that combines wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, and reviews. Consolidating tools under a single vendor can simplify maintenance, create richer data insights, and increase lifetime value through coordinated campaigns. To evaluate whether consolidation is the right move, review options to consolidate retention features and consider installing an integrated solution to test end-to-end behavior by choosing to add an integrated retention app to their store.

Start a 14-day free trial to see how a unified retention stack accelerates growth.

FAQ

Q: Which app is best if a merchant only needs a simple wishlist without other retention tools?

• A: Stensiled Wishlist is the better starting point for stores that want a minimal, cost-effective wishlist with analytics and a free plan. It lets merchants validate wishlist demand before investing in additional features.

Q: Which app should a merchant pick if guest wishlist adoption and automated reminders are priorities?

• A: FAVS Wishlist Bar is designed for guest saves and includes automatic email reminders, which makes it stronger for converting anonymous traffic and for stores that depend on immediate visual engagement.

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

• A: An integrated platform reduces the number of apps to manage and links wishlist events with loyalty rewards, referral programs, and review collection. This unified data model enables coordinated campaigns and clearer attribution for retention efforts. Merchants interested in this approach can review how to collect and showcase authentic reviews and build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases within a single ecosystem.

Q: If a merchant currently uses both a wishlist app and a separate loyalty app, what is the recommended path forward?

• A: Audit overlapping features and evaluate the cost and operational overhead of maintaining both. If consolidation provides equivalent or better functionality at a competitive price, migrating to an integrated solution simplifies operations and improves the ability to run coordinated retention campaigns. Merchants can compare options to consolidate retention features to make an informed decision.