Introduction
Shopify merchants often face a crowded app store when choosing tools to increase conversions and customer retention. Wishlist apps promise improved conversion rates, better product discovery, and a softer route to future purchases — but not all wishlist apps are built the same. Choosing a single-purpose app can solve one problem quickly but may also increase technical overhead and fragment customer data.
Short answer: Stensiled Wishlist is an attractive option for merchants who want a simple, code-free wishlist with analytics and a low entry cost; Pro Wishlist focuses on quick theme integration and guest wishlist features for stores that prioritize frictionless setup. For merchants who want to reduce tool sprawl and get measurable lifts in retention, a multi-module retention platform like Growave often represents better value for money than standalone wishlist apps.
The purpose of this post is to provide a detailed, feature-by-feature comparison of Stensiled Wishlist and Pro Wishlist so merchants can pick the right tool for their store. After an objective comparison, the article explains why an integrated retention platform can be a smarter long-term strategy for stores that want to increase customer lifetime value (LTV) and simplify operations.
Stensiled Wishlist vs. Pro Wishlist: At a Glance
| Aspect | Stensiled Wishlist | Pro Wishlist |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Vowel Web | Devmont Digital |
| Core function | Wishlist with analytics, save-for-later | Wishlist with theme integration and guest wishlist |
| Best for | Merchants seeking a free or low-cost wishlist with analytics | Merchants who want a fast, theme-native wishlist and guest support |
| Rating (Reviews) | 0 (0 reviews) | 0 (0 reviews) |
| Key features | Detailed wishlist analytics, custom icons, time-range activity tracking, Save For Later | Quick setup (<5 minutes), theme integration, most-saved product tracking, guest wishlist, responsive support |
| Pricing (public) | Free plan available; Advance Plan $9.99 / month | Pricing not listed publicly (contact developer) |
The table above provides a quick snapshot. The rest of the article expands on each area — features, install and setup, reporting, integrations, pricing and value, support, and the strategic trade-offs of adding single-purpose apps to a store.
Deep Dive Comparison
Features
Core Wishlist Functionality
Both Stensiled Wishlist and Pro Wishlist provide the essential wishlist capability: letting customers save products for later and returning at a later date to purchase. However, their emphasis differs.
Stensiled Wishlist:
- Focused on analytics and product/customer activity tracking.
- Offers customizable wishlist button icons and a dedicated “Save For Later” behavior.
- Time-range filtering for activity monitoring which can help identify seasonal or campaign-driven interest.
Pro Wishlist:
- Focused on frictionless UX and theme-native presentation.
- Highlights guest wishlist capability so customers can save items without creating an account.
- Tracks most-saved products to help merchants prioritize inventory and marketing.
Strategic takeaway: Choose Stensiled if merchant analytics around wishlist behavior are a priority. Choose Pro Wishlist if store UX and low-setup friction matter more.
Analytics & Reporting
Stensiled Wishlist explicitly lists “Detailed Wishlist Analytics” and “Track products, customers activities, with time range filtering.” That suggests a built-in reporting interface that allows merchants to identify popular items, returning wishlist patterns, and periods of heightened activity. For stores that want to segment wishlist interactions by date range, this is a useful feature.
Pro Wishlist claims tracking for the “most-saved products” but does not list granular analytics in the same way. If the merchant needs basic signals to inform merchandising decisions, Pro Wishlist covers that need. If the merchant needs richer behavioral analytics tied to customers and time windows, Stensiled appears to offer more depth.
Customer Experience
Both apps aim to reduce friction for shoppers, but they approach it differently.
Pro Wishlist:
- Emphasizes theme integration and minimal setup time; a good theme-aligned wishlist can feel native to shoppers.
- Guest wishlist capability reduces friction from mandatory account creation, potentially improving conversion for first-time browsers.
Stensiled Wishlist:
- Supports customization of icons and Save For Later behaviors, which can be used to match brand aesthetics and UX patterns.
- Focus on tracking suggests the merchant-facing dashboard is stronger than end-user features like guest flow.
Merchant implication: If conversion lift through improved checkout UX and guest user capture is the priority, Pro Wishlist has an edge. If branding and merchant-side insight matter more, Stensiled may be preferable.
Customization & Design
Stensiled Wishlist lists “Wishlist button icons selection,” implying flexible visual options that can be applied without coding. Such visual customization helps maintain consistent brand presentation across product lists and detail pages.
Pro Wishlist’s “seamless integration with your Shopify theme” promises a wishlist display that adapts to existing layouts, which can be valuable for merchants that prefer minimal visual adjustments. However, theme-native does not always mean deeply customizable without developer work.
Both apps advertise code-free setup, but the depth of design control likely varies. Merchants with strict brand design requirements should request live examples or screenshots before installing either app.
Installation, Setup, and User Experience
Time to Value
Stensiled:
- Offers a free Basic Plan with code-free setup. Merchants can experiment without financial commitment.
- Time to meaningful insight depends on traffic and wishlist adoption; analytics require a sample of interactions to be actionable.
Pro Wishlist:
- Emphasizes setup under 5 minutes and seamless integration with themes, so initial visible results can be immediate.
- Guest wishlist reduces barriers for adoption, which can speed the arrival of meaningful user behavior.
Practical point: If the priority is to get a wishlist visible to customers quickly, Pro Wishlist may offer faster time-to-value. If deeper analytics are required, Stensiled’s free plan allows testing without cost.
Technical Overhead
Stensiled:
- Has a free plan and a $9.99 / month Advance Plan, implying low technical and financial overhead.
- Code-free setup reduces dependence on developers, but the merchant will still want to verify compatibility with custom themes.
Pro Wishlist:
- Native theme integration tends to reduce the need for theme modifications but can still require testing across templates (collection pages, quick view modals, custom product pages).
Both apps will add a script and potentially theme snippets to a store. That can have implications for page speed and script conflicts — see Performance & Mobile below.
Integrations
Neither app lists a long roster of integrations. The data provided does not show third-party platform connectors such as Klaviyo, Recharge, or Gorgias. That matters for merchants who rely on email automation, post-purchase flows, or advanced segmentation.
- Stensiled appears designed as a standalone wishlist tool with analytics, not a hub that forwards wishlist events to CRMs or email platforms.
- Pro Wishlist’s description centers on theme integration and guest wishlist; no explicit third-party integrations are listed.
Implication: If wishlist events must trigger automated emails or appear in a marketing platform, additional custom integration or middleware may be required. Merchants that need wishlist events in their marketing stack may prefer a solution that offers built-in connections or webhooks.
Pricing & Value
Stensiled Wishlist:
- Basic Plan (Free): Code-free setup, wishlist analytics, custom icons, Save For Later, track activities with time range option.
- Advance Plan ($9.99/month): Same features listed — unclear what additional value the paid plan provides compared to the free plan based on the provided data.
Pro Wishlist:
- No public pricing listed in the provided data. This typically means pricing may be set via contact, tiered by store size or features, or omitted from listing.
Value considerations:
- For merchants with limited budgets and a desire to test wishlists, Stensiled’s free plan offers near-zero financial risk.
- Pro Wishlist’s lack of public pricing increases uncertainty. Merchants should request a clear pricing breakdown before committing.
- Neither app is a full retention platform; marketplace-style wishlists deliver a narrow value set compared to multi-module retention suites, which combine loyalty, referrals, and review collection.
Phrase to keep in mind: “better value for money.” When judged purely on dollar cost, Stensiled’s free tier may appear more economical. When judged on strategic value — the ability to drive repeat purchases and consolidate data — a platform that bundles multiple retention tools typically delivers better value for money.
Support & Documentation
Stensiled:
- Developer is Vowel Web. Public-facing listing states analytics and features but no explicit support SLA is shown.
- Free plan users may get basic support; expect email or in-app ticketing.
Pro Wishlist:
- Developer is Devmont Digital and lists “responsive customer support for timely technical assistance” as a feature.
- The promise of responsive support suggests merchants should expect reasonably quick responses, but specific hours and SLA are not provided.
Practical advice: Ask both developers about response time, availability across time zones, escalation paths, and whether theme customizations are included or billed separately.
Data Handling, Ownership & Privacy
Neither app provides explicit details in the given data about data ownership, exportability, or compliance (e.g., GDPR, CCPA). For any app that tracks customer behavior or stores customer-created lists, merchants should confirm:
- Who owns wishlist data and whether it can be exported.
- If export is available, in which formats and how often.
- Where data is hosted and what privacy standards are followed.
- Whether wishlist emails (if any) are sent from merchant-owned accounts or from app domains.
This is non-negotiable for merchants in regulated regions or those that want to include wishlist data in their CRM.
Performance & Mobile Experience
Wishlist apps add client-side code, and careful implementation is necessary to avoid slowing site performance. The provided data does not include performance benchmarks for either app.
Merchant checklist:
- Validate that app scripts are loaded asynchronously and do not block page rendering.
- Check Core Web Vitals before and after installation.
- Review mobile layout and touch behavior for wishlist buttons and modals — customers on mobile often form most of the wishlist activity.
Because Pro Wishlist emphasizes theme integration, it may deliver a more optimized mobile experience out of the box if integration is closely aligned with responsive templates. Stensiled’s use of custom icons and analytics may increase script size, which requires merchant testing.
Use Cases and Decision Guide
Below are distilled guidance points to help merchants choose.
When to consider Stensiled Wishlist:
- Merchant wants a low-risk test driven by a free plan.
- Analytics and time-range tracking of wishlist behavior are important.
- Visual customization of wishlist button/icons matters to match brand style.
- Merchant is comfortable extracting insights from an app-specific dashboard rather than having events flowing into a central marketing platform.
When to consider Pro Wishlist:
- Merchant prioritizes a theme-native look and a quick setup.
- Guest wishlist functionality is a must to reduce friction and improve adoption.
- The store owner wants minimal discovery friction and immediate visible changes with limited configuration.
When neither single-purpose app is ideal:
- Merchant wants wishlists to feed loyalty or email programs automatically.
- Merchant is trying to consolidate retention features (loyalty, referrals, reviews) to reduce app sprawl and unified customer data.
- The long-term strategy includes increasing customer lifetime value and reducing total app maintenance.
Migration & Exit Considerations
Any wishlist app adoption should include a clear migration and exit plan:
- Confirm data export: can wishlists be exported as CSV or via API?
- Confirm whether wishlist icons/snippets must be manually removed from themes on uninstall.
- Ask whether any app-generated pages or resources persist after uninstall and how to clean them.
- Test uninstall on a non-production theme first to ensure no residual code.
Because neither app shows extensive documentation publicly, merchants should request these exit details before installation.
Pros & Cons — Quick Bulleted Summaries
Stensiled Wishlist — Pros
- Free Basic Plan available for low-cost testing.
- Built-in analytics and time-range activity tracking.
- Visual customization with icon selection.
- “Save For Later” behavior useful for cart recovery flows.
Stensiled Wishlist — Cons
- Public listing shows 0 reviews and 0 rating; lack of social proof.
- Limited public information about integrations and support SLAs.
- Potential ambiguity between free and paid plan feature differences.
Pro Wishlist — Pros
- Fast, theme-native setup and minimal friction.
- Guest wishlist reduces account-creation friction.
- Tracks most-saved products for merchandising insight.
- Claimed responsive support.
Pro Wishlist — Cons
- Public listing shows 0 reviews and 0 rating; no social proof.
- No public pricing available in provided data.
- Limited information on integrations and analytics depth.
Final Feature Comparison Notes
- Both apps address the core need to let customers save products for later. Beyond that shared function, they differ mostly on analytics depth (Stensiled) versus frictionless UX and guest support (Pro Wishlist).
- Neither app appears to be designed as a hub for marketing automation, which is a significant limitation for merchants who want wishlist events to trigger emails or loyalty points.
- Merchant decisions should depend on priorities: analytics and low cost versus guest UX and theme fidelity.
The Alternative: Solving App Fatigue with an All-in-One Platform
Single-purpose apps can be effective short-term fixes, but adding multiple specialized apps to cover every retention-related need creates app fatigue. App fatigue arises when:
- Each app duplicates overlapping functionality (e.g., two different apps tracking the same customers).
- Multiple scripts slow site performance and complicate troubleshooting.
- Customer data becomes siloed in separate dashboards, making it hard to measure true impact on LTV.
- Maintenance and billing multiply administrative cost and time.
A single platform that bundles wishlist capability with loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers reduces this overhead. Growave’s philosophy, described as “More Growth, Less Stack,” is built to address those exact problems. Rather than stitching together multiple single-point apps, merchants can use one platform to centralize retention activities, data, and reporting.
Key advantages of consolidating retention features into one platform:
- Unified customer profiles: wishlist behavior, rewards earned, referrals made, and reviews left all live in the same profile.
- Fewer scripts and less maintenance: one vetted integration typically has lower performance impact than many small apps.
- Cross-channel automation: wishlist events can trigger loyalty points, automated review requests, or email flows without custom middleware.
- Single billing and support relationship with clear SLAs and onboarding.
Growave includes wishlist functionality as part of a broader retention suite and is designed to work with popular platforms and marketing tools. Merchants looking to consolidate retention features can compare the trade-offs of the two wishlist apps above against the bundled capabilities offered by a single retention platform.
To see plan options and compare costs against multiple single-purpose apps, merchants can review how to consolidate retention features into fewer billable tools.
Growave’s product set includes loyalty and rewards, referrals, reviews & UGC, wishlist, and VIP tiers. Combining wishlist events with loyalty creates direct, measurable paths from wish to purchase — for example, a merchant can award a micro-reward for adding an item to a wishlist or automatically send a targeted incentive when a high-value item hits a wishlist threshold.
For merchants who want to strengthen retention through reward mechanics, Growave offers configurable loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and integrates wishlist behaviors as part of the same program. This makes it easier to tie wishlist activity to points, tier progress, and campaign incentives.
Growave also helps merchants collect more social proof by making it simple to collect and showcase authentic reviews while linking those reviews to loyalty incentives. Encouraging reviewers with points increases review submission rates and strengthens merchandising decisions based on verified UGC.
Aside from feature advantages, there are tactical benefits to consolidation:
- Faster setup for multi-channel campaigns, since one system handles triggers and rewards.
- A single data export that can feed analytics or BI tools, rather than stitching CSVs from multiple vendors.
- Consistent customer-facing UX: wishlist, rewards widgets, and referral pop-ups can share design language when provided by the same vendor.
Merchants who are evaluating the total cost of ownership should compare the combined monthly fees and operational overhead of Stensiled + separate loyalty/review tools against a single platform. To explore available plans and estimate ROI, merchants can review Growave pricing to understand how many features are bundled versus paid separately; this helps evaluate which option delivers better value for money. See options to consolidate retention features.
Standalone wishlist tools have advantages: minimal initial spend, a focused feature set, and limited learning curve. But for merchants with medium to high volume, or stores planning to scale retention programs, the long-term operational advantages of a single, integrated platform often outweigh the short-term simplicity of single-purpose tools.
Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth.
Practical integration notes:
- For enterprise or high-growth stores on Shopify Plus, merchants can get access to extra capabilities and prioritized onboarding designed for enterprise needs; Growave offers dedicated solutions and resources for such stores, described as solutions for high-growth Plus brands.
- For merchants ready to test consolidation, the Shopify App Store listing provides a quick way to install from the Shopify App Store and begin trialing the unified approach.
Growave’s customer roster and case studies can help merchants visualize how consolidation impacts retention and LTV. For real-world examples and inspiration, review customer stories from brands scaling retention.
Growave’s platform also supports common integrations found in merchants’ stacks — CRM and email platforms, helpdesks, and subscription tools — so wishlist activity can inform lifecycle campaigns. Merchants can explore how to consolidate retention features and measure the difference in time saved and value generated.
Additional reading recommended:
- Compare how wishlist events can trigger loyalty actions and review requests through the loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases module.
- Review how combining review collection with incentives increases submission rates by learning to collect and showcase authentic reviews.
For merchants that want to explore an enterprise-level onboarding and integration plan, the option to install from the Shopify App Store or book onboarding support is available.
Decision Checklist: Which Path to Choose?
Use the checklist below to match store needs to the right option. Instead of a scored matrix, consider each bullet as a yes/no filter to determine fit.
- Is a free or low-cost experiment the top priority?
- If yes → Stensiled’s free Basic Plan is attractive.
- Is fastest possible, theme-native UX with guest wishlist required?
- If yes → Pro Wishlist emphasizes quick, theme-integrated setup.
- Are wishlist events required to trigger loyalty points, review invites, or automated emails?
- If yes → Consider an integrated platform to avoid custom middleware.
- Is consolidating multiple retention tools into a single bill and dashboard important?
- If yes → Explore consolidation options and compare costs on how to consolidate retention features.
- Does the store plan to scale loyalty and VIP tiers alongside wishlist engagement?
- If yes → A multi-module retention platform with loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases may be a better strategic fit.
- Does the merchant want to boost review collection in parallel with wishlist and loyalty efforts?
- If yes → Integrating review incentives with a tool to collect and showcase authentic reviews can multiply returns.
Each merchant must weigh short-term cost and speed against long-term retention strategy and data consolidation. The right answer depends on business goals, traffic volume, and the desire to centralize customer data.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between Stensiled Wishlist and Pro Wishlist, the decision comes down to two main trade-offs: analytics and low-cost testing (Stensiled) versus theme-native UX and guest wishlist functionality (Pro Wishlist). Stensiled is best for stores that want a lightweight, cost-effective way to test wishlist analytics and simple Save For Later behaviors. Pro Wishlist is best for stores that prioritize an integrated look and a frictionless visitor experience with guest support.
For merchants who want to go beyond a single wishlist and build a repeatable retention engine — combining wishlist, loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers — a single integrated platform reduces complexity, consolidates data, and often delivers better value for money than stitching together multiple single-purpose apps. Merchants who want to evaluate how consolidation affects costs and time to value can review options to consolidate retention features or install from the Shopify App Store.
Start a 14-day free trial of Growave to see how consolidating wishlist, loyalty, and reviews into one platform can reduce tool sprawl and increase customer lifetime value.
FAQ
What are the critical differences between Stensiled Wishlist and Pro Wishlist?
- Stensiled emphasizes analytics, time-range tracking, and visual customization with a free tier available. Pro Wishlist emphasizes fast, theme-native setup, guest wishlist capability, and tracking most-saved products. Choose Stensiled for merchant-side analytics and low-risk testing; choose Pro Wishlist for UX-first, quick deployment.
Both apps show zero public reviews and zero ratings in the provided data. How should merchants interpret that?
- Zero public reviews may indicate new listings or limited adoption. Merchants should request references, trial the app on a staging theme, and confirm support SLA and data export policies before committing.
Can wishlist apps trigger marketing automation like cart recovery emails or loyalty points?
- Not automatically in most single-purpose wishlist apps unless they provide integrations or webhooks. Merchants who want wishlist events to trigger loyalty points, emails, or SMS should consider a platform that combines these features or verify integration options before installation.
How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps?
- An all-in-one platform centralizes customer data, reduces app sprawl, and enables cross-feature automation (for example, awarding points for wishlist actions or sending review requests after a wishlist converts). While specialized apps can be simpler and cheaper initially, an integrated platform often offers better long-term value for money by increasing retention and reducing operational overhead. Merchants can learn more about combining wishlist behavior with rewards by exploring the loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and how to collect and showcase authentic reviews.








