Swish (formerly Wishlist King) vs. Ask to Buy create & share cart: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right app for wishlist management, shared carts, or social shopping is a small decision that can have outsized effects on conversion, average order value, and long-term retention. Merchants face hundreds of niche tools in the Shopify ecosystem. Narrowing those options to tools that actually move the needle requires clear, practical comparison across features, integrations, pricing, and operational fit.

Short answer: Swish (formerly Wishlist King) is a strong, purpose-built wishlist platform with deep wishlist analytics, unlimited saved items, and high customer satisfaction (272 reviews at a 5.0 rating). Ask to Buy create & share cart is a focused cart-sharing tool (7 reviews, 4.4 rating) that addresses specific use cases like gift registries, teen-to-parent checkout flows, and sales-driven cart creation. For merchants who want one reliable wishlist tool, Swish is an excellent pick; for stores that need shared-cart flows and pre-filled checkout experiences, Ask to Buy provides that capability. For teams aiming to reduce tool sprawl and improve retention across loyalty, referrals, and reviews, a consolidated option like Growave may provide better value for money than stacking multiple single-purpose apps.

This article compares Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and Ask to Buy create & share cart across features, pricing, integrations, support, and strategic fit. The goal is to help merchants decide which app aligns with their current priorities and to highlight when a single integrated retention platform is a preferable alternative.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) vs. Ask to Buy create & share cart: At a Glance

Product Backgrounds and Positioning

Swish (formerly Wishlist King): Focus and positioning

Swish positions itself as a full-featured wishlist solution aimed at brands with ambition. The app sells the idea that customer journeys are rarely linear; wishlists capture intent and provide a conversion opportunity through personalized, automated notifications. Core positioning points:

• Feature-rich wishlist with unlimited saved items and sessions.
• Free setup and customization across all plans to match store aesthetics.
• Advanced analytics for wishlist curation and product-level insights.
• Native integrations with Klaviyo, GA4, and Meta for remarketing and reporting.
• Tiered plans aligned to Shopify plan levels, with Plus-specific services such as priority support and dedicated account management.

The data provided shows strong social proof: 272 reviews with a perfect 5.0 rating. That level of positive feedback suggests consistent execution on both tech and customer support for the app’s target use cases.

Ask to Buy create & share cart: Focus and positioning

Ask to Buy addresses a narrower set of ecommerce behaviors centered on cart creation and sharing. It targets scenarios where one person constructs a cart and a different person pays—think teens sending carts to parents, gift registries, sales reps building customer carts. Key elements:

• Create-and-share cart button that sends a link or email with pre-filled checkout details.
• Invitees land directly in checkout and only need to pay, reducing friction.
• Group share support and revenue tracking for shared carts.
• Customizable button designs and a simplified metric set for tracking shares and conversions.

Ask to Buy is clearly specialized. The lower review count (7) and 4.4 rating imply a smaller user base and less social proof than Swish, but the app’s niche may match merchants with explicit shared-payment or sales-assisted commerce use cases.

Deep Dive Comparison

Features

Wishlist functionality and saved items

Swish

• Unlimited wishlists and saved items across all plans.
• Visible wishlist CTA throughout the shopping journey.
• Wishlist curation and analytics: product-level wishlist counts, conversion from wishlist to purchase, and segmentation potential.
• Automated, personalized wishlist notifications to drive conversion at opportune moments.

Ask to Buy

• Not a wishlist-first app. It’s designed for creating and sharing carts rather than persistent wishlists.
• Can be repurposed as a basic wishlisting flow by creating carts that act like wishlists, but lacks wishlist analytics, multi-session persistence, and rich personalization.

Verdict (wishlist): Swish is the clear choice for merchants whose priority is tracking and acting on saved-product intent. Ask to Buy does not replace a dedicated wishlist solution.

Shared carts, pre-filled checkout, and payment handoff

Ask to Buy

• Built specifically for handoff scenarios: pre-fill shipping and contact details, send invitees directly to checkout with a custom welcome.
• Useful for gift registries, teens-to-parents flows, and B2B or sales rep workflows where a cart is built on behalf of another person.
• Group share is supported, and the app includes basic tracking of shares and revenue.

Swish

• Can enable some sharing flows through notifications and links, but not optimized for pre-filled checkout handoffs or group purchases.
• Focused more on reminding users and re-engaging them than on handing payment responsibility to a different person.

Verdict (shared carts): Ask to Buy is purpose-built for shared-cart flows and pre-filled checkout experiences; Swish is not a substitute.

Personalization and automation

Swish

• Personalizes wishlist notifications and can integrate with Klaviyo for more advanced flows.
• Free customization services help ensure the wishlist UI matches store design, which improves conversion.
• Advanced analytics enable more targeted retargeting based on wishlist behavior.

Ask to Buy

• Provides a customizable button and some custom messaging for invitees.
• Less emphasis on multi-channel automation; integrations for email automation and advanced personalization are limited compared to Swish.

Verdict (personalization): Swish offers stronger automation and personalization options, particularly for merchants using Klaviyo or GA4.

Analytics and reporting

Swish

• Built-in wishlist analytics and curation dashboards.
• Tracks wishlist counts, conversion events related to wishlists, and product-level insights.
• Supports integration with GA4 for broader lifecycle analytics.

Ask to Buy

• Tracks cart shares, conversions, and generated revenue from shares.
• Reporting center is focused on share-to-conversion metrics rather than long-term saved-item behavior.

Verdict (analytics): Each app tracks what matters to its core promise. Swish provides richer analytics for saved-item behavior; Ask to Buy reports on the effectiveness of shared-cart flows.

Integrations and technical compatibility

Swish

• Lists Klaviyo, GA4, and Meta as out-of-the-box integrations.
• Works with Customer Accounts, Checkout, Hydrogen, and headless stacks (Shopify Plus features available).
• Offers free setup and customization, lowering friction for theme compatibility.

Ask to Buy

• Limited integrations documented in the provided data.
• Works via links that integrate into the checkout flow, but deeper connections to email platforms or analytics tools are not as clearly advertised.

Verdict (integrations): Swish has a clear advantage for merchants who rely on marketing and analytics platforms and for stores using headless or Plus architectures.

Customization and on-boarding

Swish

• Free setup and customization across plans; Plus plan adds white glove onboarding and dedicated account management.
• That onboarding support typically helps merchants implement the wishlist in a manner that aligns with UX and conversion goals.

Ask to Buy

• Basic plan pricing shown; onboarding level is not detailed in the provided data.
• Customization appears primarily limited to the AskToBuy button and messaging.

Verdict (onboarding): Swish offers stronger onboarding and customization support, particularly valuable for merchants without in-house developers.

Pricing & Value

A pricing comparison should consider both absolute cost and value for money—what capabilities each dollar unlocks.

Swish pricing (as provided)

• Basic Shopify: $19 / month — includes all features, free setup, unlimited wishlists.
• Shopify: $29 / month — same inclusions.
• Advanced Shopify: $49 / month — same inclusions.
• Shopify Plus: $99 / month — adds white-glove onboarding, priority support, dedicated account manager, Hydrogen & headless support.

Ask to Buy pricing (as provided)

• Basic: $15 / month — limited public plan data.

Value assessment

• Swish offers a clearly tiered plan structure with increasing operational support at higher tiers. The inclusion of free setup and customization across all plans is a strong value-add, and the Plus tier provides enterprise support desirable for high-growth brands.
• Ask to Buy lists a lower headline price, making it attractive for merchants who only need the share-cart capability. However, the limited scope and lack of documented integrations mean additional tools may still be necessary (e.g., a wishlist app or loyalty provider), which increases total cost of ownership.

Recommendation on pricing: For merchants requiring only a single shared-cart capability and willing to accept limited integrations, Ask to Buy may be better value for money. For merchants who want wishlist analytics, personalization, and expert onboarding—especially those on Plus or headless stacks—Swish provides stronger overall value.

Use Cases and Merchant Fit

When to choose Swish

• The merchant wants to capture product intent across sessions and devices with unlimited wishlists.
• The goal is to re-engage shoppers using personalized notifications tied to wishlists.
• The store is using Klaviyo, GA4, or Meta and wants native integrations.
• The brand needs assistance with implementation and UI matching across themes.
• The merchant intends to analyze wishlist behavior to inform merchandising and inventory decisions.

Practical outcomes for Swish: Improved conversion from saved-product intent, higher average order value when wishlists convert, and clearer product-level demand signals.

When to choose Ask to Buy

• The merchant needs to enable a payment handoff: teen-to-parent, gift registry, or sales-rep assisted purchase flows.
• The priority is converting group-shared carts or enabling invite-only checkout experiences.
• The store requires a simple, low-cost solution for shareable cart links and direct checkout landing.
• The merchant is less concerned with long-term saved-product analytics and more focused on immediate cart completion by a designated payer.

Practical outcomes for Ask to Buy: Reduced friction in shared-pay scenarios, higher conversion of carts where the payer differs from the cart creator, and smoother B2B or assisted-sales workflows.

Limitations and Risks

Swish limitations

• Focused solely on wishlists; merchants needing shared-cart or registry functions will need an additional app.
• Monthly cost adds to the app stack; although setup is free, redundancy can occur if other retention tools are already in use.

Ask to Buy limitations

• Narrow feature set—primarily sharing and checkout pre-fill—so other retention needs require more apps.
• Limited social proof and smaller review base (7 reviews), which raises questions for larger merchants about long-term reliability and roadmap.

Operational risk for both

• Using single-function apps increases app sprawl: each app brings its own UI, billing, and potential overlap with other tools, which increases maintenance and integration friction over time.

Support and Reliability

Swish

• Free setup and customization suggests proactive implementation support.
• Plus-level accounts include a dedicated manager and priority support—useful for mission-critical implementations.
• High rating (5.0) across 272 reviews indicates reliable performance and good customer satisfaction.

Ask to Buy

• Support scope is less documented. The lower review count (7) and 4.4 rating indicate reasonable satisfaction among early adopters, but fewer testimonials to validate scale or long-term stability.

Merchant takeaway: Swish’s larger review base and structured onboarding make it a safer bet for merchants that need consistent implementation and ongoing support.

Integration and Technical Considerations

Headless and Shopify Plus readiness

Swish

• Explicitly lists support for Hydrogen and headless stacks; Plus plan specifically adds headless capabilities.
• Dedicated account manager and white-glove onboarding for Plus customers indicate readiness for enterprise setups.

Ask to Buy

• Does not advertise headless or Plus-specific functionality in the provided data.
• Merchants on headless stacks may need to validate compatibility before committing.

Recommendation: For those on Shopify Plus or using headless architectures, Swish offers clearer support.

Email and marketing platform integration

Swish

• Out-of-the-box Klaviyo support: simplifies building personalized wishlist remarketing flows.
• GA4 integration helps track wishlist-driven conversions across channels.

Ask to Buy

• Integration details are not explicit in the provided data. Shared-cart links likely produce UTM-friendly behavior but may not connect directly into marketing automations without additional work.

Recommendation: If email automation and lifecycle marketing are a priority, Swish’s native integrations reduce implementation time and improve ROI.

Checkout and payment flow implications

Ask to Buy

• Pre-filling checkout reduces friction when the payer is different from the cart creator—this is Ask to Buy’s core advantage.
• Stores using certain checkout apps or heavy checkout customization should test compatibility.

Swish

• Primarily interacts with the storefront and customer accounts; it nudges users back to checkout via notifications rather than pre-filling another person’s checkout.

Merchant tip: Test both apps on staging to ensure checkout behavior aligns with payment flow, particularly when custom payment gateways or specialized checkout flows exist.

Operational Impact and KPIs to Measure

Choosing the right app should be driven by expected KPI outcomes.

For Swish, track:

• Wishlist-to-purchase conversion rate.
• Increase in average order value among wishlist converters.
• Email open & click rates on wishlist notifications (if integrated with Klaviyo).
• Product-level demand via wishlist counts.

For Ask to Buy, track:

• Share-to-purchase conversion rate.
• Time-to-completion after share sent.
• Revenue generated from shared carts.
• Number of group purchases and average order value of shared-cart purchases.

Operational note: Both apps can move specific KPIs, but neither replaces the strategic lift delivered by a coordinated retention program—loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists working together tend to increase lifetime value more sustainably.

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

Many merchants adopt single-purpose apps to address an immediate problem: wishlists, referral links, product reviews, or cart sharing. Over time, the number of apps grows, creating "app fatigue"—a mix of rising monthly costs, overlapping features, inconsistent user experiences, and greater complexity in data governance and reporting.

App fatigue manifests as:

• Increasing monthly spend with marginal incremental value.
• Fragmented customer journeys where tools don’t share data or context.
• Multiple integration points to maintain (email flows, webhooks, theme customizations).
• Longer time-to-value as each tool requires setup and staff attention.

An alternative approach is to consolidate retention features into a single platform. Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy aims to reduce the number of third-party apps by combining loyalty programs, referrals, reviews, wishlists, and VIP tiers into one integrated suite. For merchants facing app fatigue, consolidation offers several practical benefits:

• Unified customer data: loyalty points, wishlist activity, review submissions, and referral events live in one place for easier segmentation and automation.
• Fewer touchpoints to implement and maintain, lowering the developer and operations burden.
• Centralized reporting across retention activities, making it easier to attribute long-term LTV improvements to specific programs.
• Better value for money by replacing multiple point solutions with a single platform.

Growave’s product mix is designed to cover the gaps left by single-purpose apps. Examples of feature alignment with the problems identified earlier:

• Loyalty and Rewards: Use loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to increase retention and create repeat revenue streams without adding a separate loyalty app.
• Reviews & UGC: Merchants can collect and showcase authentic reviews to build social proof, an important complement to wishlisting and referral flows.
• Wishlists: Built-in wishlists remove the need for a separate wishlist provider when the merchant also wants loyalty, referrals, and reviews in one place.
• Customer stories and best practices: Reference customer stories from brands scaling retention to understand how a unified approach impacts KPIs.

Repetition of these links and ideas underscores how consolidation reduces operational overhead. Multiple Growave pages include clear pricing and support information for merchants evaluating consolidation. To assess fit, merchants can view plans and cost comparisons on the pricing page and find the app on the Shopify App Store to confirm compatibility.

Key operational advantages of this approach:

• Fewer vendor relationships and bills to manage.
• Unified implementation: one integration path into Klaviyo or GA4 rather than many.
• Combined rewards and wishlist behavior that can be used to design meaningful incentives (e.g., reward points for adding items to wishlist or leaving a review).
• Enterprise readiness with headless and Plus support if needed.

If a merchant wants to see how consolidation would work in their environment, they can book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth. That demonstration can be useful before committing to replacing multiple specialized apps.

How Growave compares functionally to Swish and Ask to Buy

• Wishlist: Growave includes wishlist functionality, meaning it can replace Swish if a merchant also values loyalty, referrals, and reviews in the same package.
• Shared-cart flows: Growave does not primarily advertise an Ask-to-Buy style pre-filled checkout handoff. Merchants whose core need is cart sharing should validate that requirement; however, many shared-cart scenarios can be addressed by combining wishlist and share features with referral or email workflows.
• Loyalty & Rewards: An integrated loyalty program can encourage wishlist conversion by awarding points for actions, powered by the same customer profile that tracks wishlist items.
• Reviews & UGC: Growave automates review requests and showcases UGC—something neither Swish nor AskToBuy provides directly.
• Enterprise readiness: Growave lists support for Shopfiy Plus and headless setups and offers plans tailored to varying order volumes.

Repeated contextual links to Growave resources are provided for merchants who want to evaluate consolidation further. Review the pricing page for plan-level comparisons and check compatibility on the Shopify App Store. Explore how to collect and showcase authentic reviews and implement loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases within a single platform. Learn from customer stories from brands scaling retention to see how peers consolidated similar stacks.

Operational note: Merchants comparing a specialist wishlist or a shared-cart tool against an integrated solution should map current app costs, engineering time for integrations, and the value of consolidated reporting before deciding. Consolidation often reduces friction and improves lifetime value, but tactical exceptions exist—some merchants will still need a specialist shared-cart capability that an integrated suite may not fully replicate.

If a merchant prefers a guided evaluation, book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth. Demos can clarify migration steps and illuminate immediate KPI opportunities.

Migration and Implementation Considerations

For merchants considering a switch or consolidation, implementation planning matters.

Migrating from Swish or Ask to Buy to an integrated platform

• Audit current app functionality: list every active feature being used (e.g., wishlist notifications, share-to-checkout links, referral rewards).
• Map data: export wishlist items, saved-item metadata, share links, and any referral or rewards data that must persist.
• Identify gaps: confirm the integrated platform supports the most mission-critical flows (e.g., pre-filled checkout handoff if that’s business-critical).
• Staging and testing: deploy in a staging environment to validate checkout behaviors, email automations, and visual elements across devices and themes.
• Phase rollout: consider running the old and new solutions in parallel for a defined period to validate analytics and ensure no revenue leakage.

API, headless, and Plus considerations

• Confirm API coverage: for headless or custom storefronts, validate that the platform exposes the necessary APIs or SDKs.
• Verify checkout compatibility: any extension that interacts with checkout should be tested with existing checkout scripts and third-party payment gateways.
• Plan for Plus-level support: enterprise merchants benefit from dedicated onboarding and support; ensure SLAs match business needs.

Pricing Comparison Revisited

When evaluating which option yields better value for money, consider total cost of ownership.

• Swish: $19–$99 per month depending on Shopify plan. Includes free setup and customization. Strong fit if wishlist is the primary goal and if Klaviyo/analytics integration is important.
• Ask to Buy: $15 per month for basic plan. Lower monthly cost but narrower functionality. Good fit for specific shared-cart workflows.
• Growave: Entry plan begins at $49/month and includes loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlist, and basic integrations. For merchants who would otherwise install more than one app (wishlist + reviews + loyalty), Growave often delivers better value for money through consolidation. See the pricing page for current plan limits and comparisons. Merchants can also find and install the app through the Shopify App Store.

Practical exercise: Merchants should calculate current monthly spend on wishlist, reviews, loyalty, and referrals. Compare that sum to a consolidated plan. Factor in the value of centralized reporting, reduced developer time, and improved customer experience.

Support & Roadmap Considerations

Merchants selecting an app should evaluate vendor responsiveness and product roadmap:

• Swish: High review count and perfect rating indicate a consistent product and supportive team. Free setup suggests onboarding is a priority.
• Ask to Buy: Small review base; merchants should ask the vendor about roadmap items, expected improvements, and SLAs.
• Growave: Large review base and feature breadth indicate ongoing investment in retention capabilities. For enterprise customers, Growave offers Plus-level services with dedicated support; see solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Practical Decision Framework

Use the following non-numbered checklist to decide:

• If the merchant’s primary objective is capturing saved-product intent and acting on it with automated, personalized flows, prioritize Swish.
• If the merchant needs handoff flows where the cart creator and payer differ, prioritize Ask to Buy.
• If the merchant already uses multiple apps for reviews, loyalty, referrals, and wishlists—or plans to implement several of these features—evaluate a consolidated platform like Growave to reduce app fatigue and improve retention capabilities.

For merchants considering consolidation, review the pricing page, explore how to collect and showcase authentic reviews, and see examples from customer stories from brands scaling retention.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and Ask to Buy create & share cart, the decision comes down to function and scale. Swish is best for brands that need a robust wishlist experience with deep analytics, Klaviyo/GA4 integrations, and strong onboarding support—evidenced by its 272 reviews and 5.0 rating. Ask to Buy is better for stores that require a simple, cost-effective way to build and share carts where another party completes payment—its 4.4 rating across 7 reviews reflects a narrower but useful feature set.

Beyond picking between these two single-purpose apps, merchants should consider the overhead of maintaining multiple tools. Consolidation into a single retention platform can reduce app fatigue, centralize customer profiles, and unlock combined strategies that increase lifetime value. Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" approach bundles loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlist, and VIP tiers into one platform, helping merchants consolidate retention features while keeping flexibility for Plus and headless setups. Review the pricing page to compare plan-level value and check compatibility on the Shopify App Store.

Start a 14-day free trial to see how an integrated retention stack reduces tool sprawl and improves retention across loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlist: Start a 14-day free trial.

If merchants prefer a walkthrough before starting a trial, book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth.

FAQ

Q: Which app is better for increasing wishlist conversions? A: Swish is designed specifically for wishlist capture and conversion, including automated wishlist notifications and advanced analytics. Ask to Buy is focused on shared carts and does not provide the same wishlist analytics or personalization.

Q: Which app should a merchant choose for gift registries and pre-filled checkouts? A: Ask to Buy is purpose-built for scenarios where one person prepares a cart and another pays, offering pre-filled checkout details and direct links to checkout. Swish can collect saved products but does not offer a first-class pre-filled checkout handoff.

Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps? A: An all-in-one platform consolidates loyalty, reviews, referrals, wishlist, and VIP tiers, which reduces app sprawl and centralizes customer data. That can lower operational overhead and improve long-term retention, though specialized apps may still be preferable for mission-critical single flows that the integrated platform does not fully replicate.

Q: If a merchant already uses Klaviyo and GA4, which option offers the smoothest integration? A: Swish advertises out-of-the-box Klaviyo and GA4 integrations, which simplifies building lifecycle automations. An integrated platform like Growave also supports major integrations and adds loyalty and reviews to the same customer profile, which can improve automated lifecycle strategies.