Swish (formerly Wishlist King) vs. Ultimate Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a common decision point for merchants who want to increase customer engagement, reduce friction in the buying journey, and capture signals about product demand. Both Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and Ultimate Wishlist are focused on helping stores add wishlist functionality, but they approach the problem with different emphases: Swish leans toward white-glove setup, analytics, and enterprise-friendly integrations, while Ultimate Wishlist targets straightforward customization and a lightweight free-to-paid upgrade path.

Short answer: Swish (formerly Wishlist King) is a solid choice for merchants that want a fully supported, high-touch wishlist solution with built-in analytics and headless support, while Ultimate Wishlist is better for stores that need a low-cost, easy-to-install wishlist with guest support and strong basic reporting. For merchants looking to reduce tool sprawl and gain broader retention capabilities—loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists—an integrated platform such as Growave deserves consideration as a higher-value alternative.

This article provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and Ultimate Wishlist to help merchants choose the right option based on business model, scale, and desired outcomes.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) vs. Ultimate Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

This section compares Swish and Ultimate Wishlist across the most important merchant-facing criteria: core features, customization and theming, analytics and segmentation, integrations, pricing and value, onboarding and support, performance and compatibility, privacy and data, and ideal use cases.

Core Features

Wishlist Creation & Persistence

Swish: Offers unlimited wishlists and saved items across plans, with persistent customer accounts and session continuity. Swish supports customer accounts and saved states across devices where accounts are used, and includes headless/patch-compatible flows for Hydrogen and other modern storefronts.

Ultimate Wishlist: Provides wishlist creation with and without registration, allowing guest wishlists. Guest wishlists are a strength for stores that want low friction for first-time visitors. Registered users can sync wishlists across devices.

Key takeaway: Ultimate Wishlist has an advantage for stores that prioritize zero-friction guest experiences; Swish is built for persistent, account-driven experiences and for brands that expect logged-in users and long-term lifecycle messaging.

Sharing & Social

Swish: Supports sharing, but its primary focus is on integrating wishlist signals into marketing workflows (Klaviyo, Meta) and using automated reminders rather than social-first sharing.

Ultimate Wishlist: Includes share via Facebook, Twitter, and email out of the box, which helps customers promote items and potentially drive referral traffic.

Key takeaway: Ultimate Wishlist is slightly stronger on direct social sharing; Swish is stronger at tying wishlist actions to marketing automation.

Email Reminders & Automation

Swish: Emphasizes “highly personalised + automated Wishlist notifications” and offers out-of-the-box integrations (Klaviyo) for triggered flows. Free setup includes assistance with automation design.

Ultimate Wishlist: Provides customizable email templates and tiered plans that increase email reminder quotas and allow user-level reminders in higher tiers.

Key takeaway: Both apps support wishlist reminders, but Swish is oriented to marketers who rely on automated workflows and platform integrations, while Ultimate Wishlist focuses on in-app email reminder features and quota management.

Analytics & Product Demand Signals

Swish: Highlights advanced analytics, wishlist curation, and actionable insights intended to inform merchandising and reactivation campaigns.

Ultimate Wishlist: Advertises a “powerful dashboard” with stats such as wishlist adds, page views, and added-to-cart metrics. The free plan also includes full reports, albeit with volume limits.

Key takeaway: Both provide analytics; Swish positions analytics for enterprise decision-making and integration with GA4, while Ultimate Wishlist covers the essentials in an accessible dashboard.

Customization & Theming

Visual Integration & UX

Swish: Promises integrations with all themes and a fully customizable experience that matches store aesthetics. Free setup and customization service across plans help ensure a polished front-end experience.

Ultimate Wishlist: Offers customizable text and appearance, non-English support, and options to place wishlist buttons on collection pages. The app focuses on easy configuration for merchants without heavy developer involvement.

Key takeaway: Swish’s white-glove setup may yield tighter visual fidelity out-of-the-box; Ultimate Wishlist gives merchants quick control over text and colors without a paid setup.

Headless & Advanced Storefronts

Swish: Explicitly supports Hydrogen and headless stacks and provides a Shopify Plus plan with Hydrogen/headless features and a dedicated account manager.

Ultimate Wishlist: Does not advertise advanced headless support in the same way; it is more commonly used with theme-based storefronts.

Key takeaway: For headless or Hydrogen projects, Swish is the safer choice.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Marketing & Attribution

Swish: Integrates out-of-the-box with Klaviyo, GA4, and Meta—this simplifies the flow of wishlist signals into email and ad channels for remarketing.

Ultimate Wishlist: Focuses on in-app reminder emails and sharing, with Facebook pixel integration available on higher tiers. It is less focused on programmatic integration into marketing platforms.

Key takeaway: Swish is stronger for teams that already run segmented email flows and ad retargeting and want wishlist data to feed those systems.

Checkout, POS, and Other Tools

Swish: Works with Checkout, Hydrogen, Markets, Klaviyo, Customer Accounts, Search, and Recommendations — making it more compatible with expanded storefront ecosystems.

Ultimate Wishlist: Works primarily as an on-store wishlist tool with common sharing and reporting features; fewer explicit integrations are listed.

Key takeaway: Swish provides broader enterprise-focused integrations.

Pricing & Value

Pricing Models

Swish: Monthly plans aligned with Shopify plan tiers. Starting at $19/month for Basic Shopify, $29 for Shopify, $49 for Advanced, and $99 for Shopify Plus with added white-glove onboarding, priority support, and headless stack features.

Ultimate Wishlist: Freemium model with multiple paid tiers. Free plan with up to 500 wishlists/month, Basic at $4.99/month, Pro at $9.99/month, and Premium at $14.99/month with higher limits and Facebook pixel integration.

Value Considerations

Swish: Pricing includes free setup and onboarding across all plans. The value proposition is tight for merchants that need hands-on onboarding, integrations into marketing stacks, and enterprise capabilities. The $99/month Plus tier is explicitly built for Shopify Plus merchants requiring dedicated service.

Ultimate Wishlist: Strong value for smaller merchants thanks to the free tier and low-cost upgrade path. For stores with low wishlist volume or limited budgets, the basic tiers provide meaningful capability at a low monthly cost.

Key takeaway: Ultimate Wishlist offers better value for smaller budgets and lower volume use cases; Swish delivers better value for stores where enterprise integrations, white-glove onboarding, and headless compatibility are required.

Onboarding & Support

Swish: Emphasizes free setup and customization across plans and white-glove onboarding for Plus customers, along with priority support options. A 272-review base with a 5.0 rating signals consistently high satisfaction among users who engage with support.

Ultimate Wishlist: Support is oriented toward self-service setup with customization options accessible to merchants. The smaller review base (34 reviews at 4.9) suggests a positive experience but with fewer published data points.

Key takeaway: Merchants that need guided implementation will likely prefer Swish’s included onboarding. Stores that want to install quickly and maintain the app themselves might favor Ultimate Wishlist.

Performance, Compatibility & Reliability

Swish: Designed to integrate with modern storefronts and includes enterprise-grade compatibility. The stated support for Hydrogen and headless architectures and a Plus plan with dedicated resources indicate attention to performance in complex setups.

Ultimate Wishlist: Light-weight footprint suitable for typical Shopify themes. The free plan makes it easy to test without committing, and the app works well for classic theme-based storefronts.

Key takeaway: Swish is designed for high-performance and flexible storefront architectures; Ultimate Wishlist is lean and optimized for traditional themes.

Data, Privacy & Ownership

Both apps operate within Shopify’s app framework and handle wishlist data in ways that support export and integration with marketing tools. Merchants should review each vendor’s data export capabilities and retention policies, especially if wishlist signals will be used for CRM segmentation or ad personalization. Swish’s direct integrations with GA4 and Klaviyo make it easier to centralize data flows, while Ultimate Wishlist aggregates basic reporting within the app.

Use Cases and Merchant Profiles

Best Fit: Swish

• Mid-market and enterprise brands that need a supported implementation and sophisticated analytics.
• Teams that rely on Klaviyo and GA4 and want wishlist events routed into those systems.
• Shopify Plus merchants with headless storefronts or Hydrogen implementations.
• Merchants that prefer vendor-managed onboarding and tuning.

Best Fit: Ultimate Wishlist

• Small to medium stores seeking a no-cost entry point or low monthly commitment.
• Merchants who prioritize guest wishlists and social sharing on product pages.
• Stores that want to test wishlist impact on conversion without significant onboarding effort.
• Brands that prefer to self-manage app configuration and keep operational costs low.

Pros and Cons — Quick Summary

Swish

• Pros: High-touch onboarding, unlimited wishlists, enterprise integrations, headless support, robust analytics, 5.0 rating from 272 reviews.
• Cons: Adds another single-purpose tool to the stack; monthly cost scales for Plus-level services.

Ultimate Wishlist

• Pros: Generous free tier, very affordable paid plans, guest wishlist and social sharing, easy customization, strong core features for price.
• Cons: Feature caps on free/basic plans, fewer enterprise integrations, smaller review base.

Implementation Considerations

Tracking Wishlist Events

• Swish makes it relatively straightforward to forward wishlist events into analytics and marketing suites (Klaviyo, GA4, Meta) which helps with lifecycle segmentation and retargeting.
• Ultimate Wishlist presents wishlist activity within its dashboard and supports pixel-based tracking on higher tiers; exporting data into a broader analytics stack often requires extra steps.

Recommendation: If wishlist events will be a core input for lifecycle marketing, choose the app that minimizes manual integration effort.

Email & Automation Flow Design

• Swish supports tailored notifications and is intended to be paired with marketing automation tools. Expect to design flows that leverage wishlist abandonments to drive conversion with urgency and personalized content.
• Ultimate Wishlist supplies built-in reminder emails with quota-based tiers; this can be simpler for merchants that want an in-app solution without building external flows.

Recommendation: Match the solution to the marketing stack and in-house technical capacity.

Cross-Device Reliability

• For logged-in customers, both apps preserve wishlist items across devices. Swish focuses on account-driven persistence and integrates with Customer Accounts features.
• Ultimate Wishlist’s guest wishlist functionality is convenient but can be limited across devices unless the user registers.

Recommendation: Encourage account creation if cross-device persistence is essential to retention strategy.

Merchandising & Inventory Signals

• Wishlist data can be a powerful merchandising signal: products with high wishlist rates should be prioritized in promotions and replenishment. Swish’s analytics are positioned to support product curation and merchandising decisions.
• Ultimate Wishlist includes reporting useful for identifying demand but may require manual export for deeper analysis.

Recommendation: Use wishlist reporting to inform product prioritization and restock decisions regardless of the app.

Pricing & ROI Scenarios

Evaluating which app delivers ROI depends on conversion lift, average order value changes from wishlist-driven purchases, and the value of retained customers. Some scenario-based guidelines:

• Low-volume, budget-sensitive stores: Start with Ultimate Wishlist’s free plan to test wishlist uplift. If wishlist-driven purchases occur, upgrade to paid tiers to expand reminder capacity and tracking.
• Growing stores with marketing automation: Swish likely provides faster path to value because its integrations reduce time-to-purchase by connecting wishlist events to email and ad flows.
• Shopify Plus and headless storefronts: Swish’s Plus plan and Hydrogen support justify its higher monthly price through reduced development overhead and dedicated support.

Always measure uplift by tracking wishlist-to-cart and wishlist-to-order conversion rates and by monitoring whether wishlists increase repeat purchase rates or average order value.

Support & Trust Signals

• Swish has 272 reviews with a perfect 5.0 rating on the Shopify App Store. That volume and rating indicate consistent customer satisfaction and reliability at scale.
• Ultimate Wishlist has 34 reviews at 4.9, which is also a strong signal but with a smaller sample.

Merchants should read reviews for specifics about onboarding, responsiveness, reliability, and real-world setup experiences.

Migration & Exit Strategy

Both apps offer standard data export options. Before committing, merchants should verify:

• How wishlist data (user IDs, product handles, timestamps) can be exported.
• Whether the app supports seamless migration of wishlist events into a new system.
• How long historical data is retained after app removal.

A documented exit strategy preserves customer trust and analytics continuity should the store later consolidate tools.

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

Single-function apps can solve immediate needs quickly, but the cumulative cost and complexity of multiple tools create a different set of problems—often called "app fatigue." App fatigue shows up as higher monthly costs, duplicated features, fragmented data, and increased maintenance overhead. Many merchants end up with a collection of point solutions where each app stores user data separately, requiring integration work to create a coherent customer view.

What App Fatigue Costs Merchants

• Hidden monthly cost accumulation and management overhead.
• Fragmented customer profiles that make segmentation and personalization harder.
• Slower experimentation because each new feature requires installing and configuring another app.
• Greater technical complexity with theme compatibility, versioning, and performance implications.

A Different Route: Consolidate Retention Features

Consolidation reduces friction and enables connected experiences. An integrated retention platform combines loyalty, referrals, reviews, wishlists, and VIP tiers so wishlist signals can immediately influence loyalty rewards, referral incentives, and product review requests without building custom integrations.

Growave follows a “More Growth, Less Stack” approach that aims to reduce tool sprawl by offering a suite of retention features in a single platform. Merchants can consolidate retention features and simplify data flows by choosing a platform that includes wishlist capability alongside loyalty and reviews.

• For merchants that want to consolidate retention features, Growave’s pricing page explains how plans compare and what’s included. Consolidate retention features by moving from multiple point apps to a unified suite.
• The Growave Shopify App Store listing makes installation straightforward; merchants can add Growave to a Shopify store.

Growave: How an Integrated Suite Changes Outcomes

Growave bundles loyalty and rewards, referrals, review collection, and wishlist functionality—so wishlist actions can feed loyalty points or trigger review requests without separate integrations. This reduces time to value and gives marketers a unified dataset for segmentation.

• To support loyalty-driven repeat purchases, merchants can build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases using a single platform.
• To amplify social proof, merchants can collect and showcase authentic reviews in the same environment that tracks wishlist behavior.

Both the loyalty and review capabilities are designed to work together: wishlist signals can surface at checkout, trigger reward opportunities, or inform which products receive review requests.

Integration and Scale

Growave supports Shopify Plus and has functionality tailored for larger merchants. For brands planning enterprise growth, Growave offers resources and capabilities for high-volume storefronts and headless architectures. See how Growave supports larger merchants and growth-focused teams by exploring solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Examples of Cross-Feature Use (Actionable Ideas)

• Use wishlist adds as a trigger to award small loyalty points for engagement, increasing the chance the customer revisits and converts.
• When an item reaches a wishlist threshold, automatically surface it in a VIP email campaign with an exclusive offer.
• Combine wishlist data with review requests: after an item moves from wishlist to purchase, send a targeted review request encouraging user-generated content.
• Use wishlist interest signals to fuel paid campaigns in ad platforms without manual exports.

For merchants interested in seeing the platform in action, consider scheduling a tailored walkthrough. Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack improves retention. Book a personalized demo

Practical Advantages of Consolidation

• Unified customer data: Points, wishlists, referrals, and reviews live in one place.
• Fewer compatibility issues with themes and checkout because integrations are maintained centrally.
• Lower total cost of ownership once multiple single-purpose apps are replaced.
• Simplified vendor management and consolidated support.

Growave’s app listing on the Shopify App Store provides a quick way to install and test the experience in a store environment. Merchants can add Growave to a Shopify store to evaluate fit.

Pricing Transparency and Trial

Growave offers tiered plans that align with different growth stages and order volumes, starting with an entry-level plan and scaling to enterprise-focused Plus plans. Merchants can review plan features and compare options to determine whether consolidation provides better value. The pricing page outlines plan limits and feature availability to help merchants make a cost-driven decision. Consolidate retention features with transparent options for trial and scale.

Both loyalty and reviews features are central to the platform:

• Use loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases to convert wishlist engagement into lifetime value.
• Use collect and showcase authentic reviews to increase conversion and provide social proof.

Growave encourages merchants to review customer stories and see how other brands reduced app sprawl and improved retention by consolidating tools. Explore customer examples and inspiration to understand practical outcomes. Customer stories from brands scaling retention

Technical and Support Considerations

Growave offers multiple plans that include levels of customization, integration support, and account management, which reduces the need to juggle separate vendors. For larger brands on Shopify Plus, Growave offers tailored support and a launch plan to ensure a smooth rollout. Learn more about offerings for enterprise merchants and headless support for high-growth Plus brands.

How to Decide: Practical Evaluation Checklist

Merchants can use the following checklist (non-numbered) to match choice with goals:

• If a white-glove onboarding, Klaviyo/GA4 integration, and headless compatibility are essential, favor Swish.
• If a free tier, guest wishlist, and low cost are the top priorities, start with Ultimate Wishlist.
• If reducing app sprawl, consolidating data, and enabling loyalty/referral flows from wishlist events are strategic priorities, evaluate an integrated platform such as Growave.
• Consider current marketing stack: if heavy use of Klaviyo and targeted ad campaigns is present, weigh how easily wishlist events will integrate.
• Determine SLA and support needs: for mission-critical onboarding and priority support, favor vendors that include setup or dedicated account management.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and Ultimate Wishlist, the decision comes down to scale and strategic priorities. Swish is best for merchants that need enterprise-friendly integrations, white-glove onboarding, and headless storefront support; the app’s 272 reviews and 5.0 rating reinforce its position as a trusted solution for brands that want hands-on setup and analytics. Ultimate Wishlist is best for small to medium stores seeking a low-cost, easy-to-install wishlist with guest functionality and sharing features; its free tier and affordable paid plans make it an efficient test-and-learn option.

Beyond the single-purpose trade-offs of either app, many merchants will benefit from a consolidated retention approach. An integrated suite such as Growave reduces the number of apps required to manage loyalty, referrals, reviews, and wishlists—allowing wishlist signals to directly inform loyalty mechanics and review solicitations, and removing the need for brittle, manual integrations. Merchants interested in a consolidated retention solution can compare plans and start exploring how consolidation impacts cost and outcomes on the Growave pricing page. Consolidate retention features

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

If a hands-on walkthrough is preferred prior to trialing, a demo is available to show integrated feature sets and migration options. Add Growave to a Shopify store

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Swish and Ultimate Wishlist differ in terms of onboarding and implementation?

Swish includes free setup and customization across plans and offers white-glove onboarding for Plus customers, which reduces implementation time and risk—especially for merchants integrating wishlist events with Klaviyo or GA4. Ultimate Wishlist favors a self-serve approach with easy customization settings in the app; it’s faster to install but may require manual setup for complex automation.

Which app is better for stores using headless or Hydrogen storefronts?

Swish explicitly supports Hydrogen and headless stacks and includes Plus-tier features for headless implementations. Ultimate Wishlist is optimized for traditional Shopify themes and does not advertise the same level of headless support. Merchants on modern, headless architectures will find Swish better suited.

Can wishlist data be used to drive loyalty or referral programs?

Wishlist data is valuable for loyalty and referral mechanics, but using it effectively depends on integration capabilities. Swish’s direct integrations make it simpler to push wishlist events into marketing tools. For merchants wanting built-in cross-feature behavior—where wishlist actions can trigger loyalty points or referral incentives—an integrated platform like Growave eliminates the need for separate connectors and centralizes rules and rewards. Explore how to build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and how wishlist data can inform review requests with tools to collect and showcase authentic reviews.

How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps like Swish or Ultimate Wishlist?

An all-in-one platform reduces tool sprawl, centralizes customer data, and enables cross-feature automation without custom integrations. Specialized apps can be best-in-class for a single problem and often cheaper initially, but consolidation often provides better long-term value and faster time to sophisticated retention workflows. Merchants should weigh the immediate benefits of a point solution against the lifetime costs of maintaining multiple apps and integrations.