Swish (formerly Wishlist King) vs VTN Power Wishlist: Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right applications for a Shopify store can often feel like navigating a complex maze. With a multitude of tools available, each promising to enhance specific aspects of the customer journey, merchants frequently face the challenge of selecting solutions that not only fit their immediate needs but also integrate seamlessly with their broader operational goals. Wishlists, in particular, represent a crucial feature for capturing customer intent, driving repeat purchases, and informing marketing strategies. Identifying the ideal wishlist app involves a careful evaluation of features, customization options, pricing, and overall value.

Short answer: Swish (formerly Wishlist King) offers a robust, feature-rich experience with extensive customization and dedicated support tailored for growing and larger stores, while VTN Power Wishlist provides a more accessible, budget-friendly option with essential wishlist functionalities, including a free plan, ideal for newer or smaller businesses. Both aim to improve customer engagement, but a more integrated platform can simplify operations and consolidate customer data, moving beyond single-feature solutions. This article provides a feature-by-feature comparison of Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and VTN Power Wishlist to help merchants make an informed and strategic decision.

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

Deep Dive Comparison

Core Features and Workflows

The primary function of any wishlist application is to allow customers to save products they are interested in, providing a personalized shopping experience and a direct line for future engagement. Both Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and VTN Power Wishlist fulfill this core requirement, but they approach the feature set with varying degrees of depth and sophistication.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) positions itself as a feature-rich solution for brands with ambition, emphasizing its ability to unlock additional revenue. Its core offerings include:

• Throughout the Entire Shopping Journey: Customers can add items to their wishlist from various touchpoints, ensuring flexibility and convenience as they browse. This means the wishlist functionality is present and accessible whether the customer is on a product page, collection page, or even search results.
• Personalized & Automated Notifications: A significant differentiator for Swish is its capability to send highly personalized and automated notifications. This could include price drop alerts, low stock warnings, or back-in-stock notifications, directly prompting conversion at opportune moments. These notifications are critical for re-engaging customers who have expressed interest but have not yet purchased.
• Unlimited Wishlists & Saved Items: Across all its paid plans, Swish supports unlimited wishlists and saved items, alongside unlimited sessions. This ensures scalability for stores with large product catalogs and high customer engagement without incurring additional costs based on usage volume.
• Seamless Theme Integration: The app is designed to integrate with all themes, ensuring it matches the store's aesthetic. A key benefit here is the "Free setup & customisation service" which explicitly ensures everything looks and works perfectly, reducing the burden on the merchant's development team.

VTN Power Wishlist, on the other hand, focuses on effortlessness and user convenience, making it an accessible option for a broader range of merchants. Its key features include:

• Easy Item Addition: Customers can easily add desired items to their personalized wishlist from any page, similar to Swish. The emphasis here is on simplicity and a smooth user experience.
• Guest Wishlists: A notable feature for VTN Power Wishlist is the ability for guest users to effortlessly create and manage wishlists. This is crucial for capturing intent from visitors who may not be ready to create an account, potentially reducing friction for first-time shoppers.
• "Save for Later" Functionality: This feature enhances user convenience by allowing items to be moved out of the cart but kept accessible for future purchase considerations, addressing common cart abandonment scenarios.
• Wishlist on Collection Page (Premium): For premium users, the ability to add items to a wishlist directly from the collection page streamlines the browsing experience, reducing clicks and making the process more intuitive.
• Move to Wishlist from Cart (Premium): The premium plan also offers the capability to move items from the cart directly to the wishlist. This is beneficial for customers who are not ready to purchase all items in their cart but wish to save some for a later decision, helping to manage cart bloat while retaining customer interest.

In terms of core workflows, Swish aims for a proactive approach with its notification system and deep integration capabilities, turning wishlists into a conversion engine. VTN Power Wishlist focuses on essential functionality and user experience, making it easy for customers to save items regardless of their login status, providing foundational intent capture.

Customization and Control

The ability to customize the wishlist experience to align with a brand's specific aesthetic and operational requirements is paramount for maintaining a consistent customer experience.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) excels in customization, explicitly stating it is "fully customisable." The developer provides a "Free setup & customisation service" across all plans, which removes a significant burden from merchants. This service ensures:

• Aesthetic Matching: The wishlist seamlessly integrates with the store's existing design and branding, eliminating visual discrepancies that can detract from the user experience.
• Functional Alignment: The setup ensures the wishlist works perfectly with the store's specific theme and product configurations. This level of hands-on support is particularly valuable for stores with unique design elements or complex product variants.
• Hydrogen & Headless Stacks: For Shopify Plus merchants, Swish offers compatibility with Hydrogen & headless stacks, providing advanced control for highly customized storefronts that detach the frontend from Shopify's backend. This is a critical capability for enterprise-level brands requiring maximum flexibility.

VTN Power Wishlist also emphasizes customization, though with a different approach. Its description mentions:

• Expert Guidance for Setup: The free plan description notes "Easy and NoCode setup," implying a simpler, template-driven customization. The premium plan offers "Installation Support," and the overall app description states "Receive expert guidance for customizing the setup to match your unique needs." This suggests guided assistance rather than a full-service customization similar to Swish.
• Personalization Focus: Merchants can "customize your wishlist to reflect aspirations and personal style," which refers to the customer's ability to personalize their own wishlist, rather than the merchant's ability to customize the app's appearance or functionality. While this empowers the end-user, it differs from the merchant-side customization provided by Swish.

For stores prioritizing deep brand alignment and specialized technical requirements, Swish provides a higher degree of merchant-side control and direct support for implementation. For those needing a functional wishlist that integrates cleanly but doesn't require extensive custom development, VTN Power Wishlist offers a simpler path with setup guidance.

Pricing Structure and Value for Money

Analyzing the pricing plans is essential for merchants to understand the total cost of ownership and the value derived from each app. Both apps structure their pricing based on different tiers, catering to varying store sizes and feature needs.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) offers four distinct plans, directly aligning with Shopify's own subscription tiers, which can simplify the decision process for merchants by clearly linking app cost to their Shopify plan.

• Basic Shopify Plan ($19 / month): Tailored for stores on Shopify Basic, this plan includes all features available within the app, free setup and onboarding, unlimited wishlists, saved items, and sessions.
• Shopify Plan ($29 / month): Designed for stores on the standard Shopify plan, it offers the same comprehensive feature set as the Basic Shopify plan, including free setup and unlimited usage.
• Advanced Shopify Plan ($49 / month): For stores on Shopify's Advanced plan, this tier maintains the full feature set, free setup, and unlimited usage.
• Shopify Plus Plan ($99 / month): This premium tier is specifically for Shopify Plus merchants and includes additional exclusives: free white glove onboarding, priority support, and a dedicated account manager. Crucially, it also supports Hydrogen & headless stacks, catering to the specific needs of enterprise-level operations.

The value proposition for Swish lies in its consistent feature set across all non-Plus plans, offering unlimited usage and a complimentary setup service. The tiered pricing scales with the Shopify platform, ensuring that as a store grows and upgrades its Shopify plan, the wishlist app's cost adjusts proportionately without sudden feature limitations. The Plus plan adds significant value through dedicated support and advanced technical compatibility, which is crucial for high-volume, complex operations. When considering a clearer view of total retention-stack costs, understanding these fixed, tiered expenses is beneficial.

VTN Power Wishlist adopts a different pricing strategy, offering a free plan and a single, low-cost premium plan.

• Free Plan (Free Forever): This plan includes easy and no-code setup, a personal wishlist page with an "Add to Cart" button, guest wishlist functionality, basic reports, and email support. This is a significant advantage for new businesses or those on tight budgets, allowing them to implement a fundamental wishlist without any monthly expenditure.
• PREMIUM Plan ($2.99 / month): Building on the free plan, the premium tier adds wishlist functionality on the collection page, the ability to move items from the cart to the wishlist, advanced reports, priority support, and installation support.

VTN Power Wishlist’s value proposition is its accessibility and affordability. The free plan provides essential features, making it an excellent starting point. The premium plan, at a very competitive price point, unlocks key convenience features and enhanced support. This structure makes it an appealing option for merchants evaluating feature coverage across plans and looking for a low total cost of ownership, especially if their primary need is a functional, easy-to-manage wishlist. However, merchants comparing plan fit against retention goals might find that while VTN Power Wishlist offers good value for wishlist functionality, it doesn't extend to the broader retention ecosystem like loyalty or reviews.

When choosing a plan built for long-term value, merchants should weigh their budget against the scope of features, level of support, and scalability. Swish offers a more comprehensive, managed solution at a higher price, while VTN Power Wishlist provides a highly cost-effective and essential wishlist service.

Integrations and "Works With" Fit

The ability of a wishlist app to integrate with other tools in a merchant's tech stack is vital for creating a cohesive customer journey and avoiding data silos.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) demonstrates a strong focus on integration, particularly with key marketing and analytics platforms. Its "Works With" list includes:

• Checkout: Seamless integration with the Shopify checkout process.
• Hydrogen: Support for Shopify's headless commerce framework, offering advanced customization capabilities for modern storefronts.
• Markets: Compatibility with Shopify Markets, enabling multi-currency and international selling.
• Klaviyo: A critical integration for email marketing automation, allowing merchants to leverage wishlist data for highly targeted campaigns (e.g., reminding customers about saved items, offering discounts on wishlisted products).
• Customer Accounts: Works with existing customer account systems to ensure wishlists are personalized and persistent.
• Search & Recommendations: Likely allows for wishlist data to inform search results or product recommendation engines, though specifics are not detailed.
• GA4 and Meta Integrations: Explicitly mentioned as being available "out of the box," these integrations are crucial for advanced analytics and retargeting on platforms like Google Analytics 4 and Facebook/Instagram, allowing merchants to understand customer behavior and run effective ad campaigns based on wishlist interest.

Swish's integrations are geared towards sophisticated marketing and analytics strategies, making it a powerful tool for brands that already leverage or plan to leverage a comprehensive marketing stack. These integrations allow for robust data flow and coordinated customer engagement across different channels.

VTN Power Wishlist provides less specific detail regarding its integrations beyond the core Shopify platform.

• Its "Works With" section is not explicitly detailed in the provided data beyond its native Shopify environment. This suggests a more focused approach, where the app primarily serves its core wishlist function within the Shopify ecosystem.

For merchants who require their wishlist data to seamlessly flow into email marketing platforms like Klaviyo, or to be used for advanced retargeting and analytics via GA4 and Meta, Swish offers a clear advantage. Merchants with simpler tech stacks or those who manage their marketing efforts directly within Shopify may find VTN Power Wishlist sufficient. The decision often hinges on the complexity of a merchant's existing or planned marketing automation and analytics infrastructure.

Analytics and Reporting

Understanding customer behavior derived from wishlist data is invaluable for inventory management, product development, and targeted marketing. Both apps provide some level of analytics and reporting, though with differing levels of detail.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) emphasizes "meaningful insights with advanced analytics and wishlist curation." While specific report types are not itemized, the mention of "advanced analytics" in conjunction with its integrations (GA4, Meta) suggests:

• Behavioral Data: The ability to track which products are being wishlisted most frequently, by whom, and at what points in the customer journey.
• Conversion Insights: Data on how wishlists contribute to sales, such as the conversion rate of wishlisted items or the value of purchases made from wishlists.
• Product Performance: Insights into product popularity that can inform merchandising and inventory decisions.
• Klaviyo Integration: This integration allows merchants to segment customers based on their wishlist activity and trigger automated emails, which itself is a form of actionable reporting.

The emphasis on "wishlist curation" might also imply features that allow merchants to group or analyze wishlisted items to identify trends or top-performing products, giving them an informed perspective on planning retention spend without app sprawl surprises.

VTN Power Wishlist specifies its reporting capabilities based on its plans:

• Basic Reports (Free Plan): The free plan includes "Basic Reports," which would likely cover fundamental metrics such as the number of wishlists created, total wishlisted items, and perhaps popular wishlisted products.
• Advanced Reports (Premium Plan): The premium plan upgrades to "Advance Reports," which suggests more detailed analytics. This could include insights into customer preferences, the value of wishlisted items, or trends over time. The description explicitly mentions using "wishlist data for targeted marketing," indicating that these reports provide actionable insights for re-engagement.

For merchants who need foundational data to understand product interest and inform basic marketing efforts, VTN Power Wishlist’s reporting capabilities, especially at the premium tier, will likely suffice. For those who require deep, integrated analytics that feed into a broader marketing and sales strategy, leveraging platforms like GA4 and Meta, Swish offers a more sophisticated solution for mapping costs to retention outcomes over time.

Customer Support Expectations and Reliability Cues

The quality and availability of customer support can significantly impact a merchant's operational efficiency and overall satisfaction with an app. Review counts and ratings offer valuable, albeit directional, cues about reliability.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) has a strong reputation, boasting 272 reviews with a perfect 5-star rating. This high volume of positive feedback is a significant reliability signal, indicating consistent customer satisfaction and effective functionality. Its support structure is also tiered:

• Free Setup & Onboarding: Available across all plans, this service reduces initial setup complexities.
• Priority Support & Dedicated Account Manager (Shopify Plus): For Shopify Plus merchants, Swish offers enhanced support, including priority response times and a dedicated contact person. This level of service is crucial for high-stakes, high-volume operations where downtime or technical issues can have a substantial impact.

The consistent 5-star rating across a large number of reviews suggests that Swish delivers on its promises, providing reliable performance and effective support when needed. The developer, Swish, clearly prioritizes customer success, especially with its free setup and Plus-level concierge service.

VTN Power Wishlist, being a newer entrant or perhaps serving a smaller niche, has 9 reviews with a 4.8-star rating. While positive, the lower volume of reviews means there is less historical data to draw conclusions about long-term reliability and support consistency under various conditions.

• Email Support (Free Plan): Standard email support is offered for free users.
• Priority Support & Installation Support (Premium Plan): Premium users receive priority support, which typically means faster response times. The "Installation Support" is particularly valuable for ensuring the app is set up correctly and smoothly, even if it's advertised as "no-code."

The 4.8-star rating for VTN Power Wishlist indicates positive initial experiences. Merchants considering this app might place more emphasis on the installation support for a smooth start, especially given its focus on ease of use. However, the sheer volume of positive feedback for Swish provides a higher degree of confidence in its sustained performance and support quality over time. For businesses where support is a critical factor, the proven track record and dedicated support options of Swish may present a more reassuring choice.

Performance, Compatibility, and Operational Overhead

The choice of a Shopify app inevitably influences storefront performance, compatibility with other tools, and the overall operational overhead for a merchant's team.

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) addresses these concerns with several key attributes:

• Compatibility: Its claim to integrate "with all themes" and offer a "free setup & customisation service" suggests a focus on broad compatibility and ensuring smooth operation regardless of a store's specific design. The support for Hydrogen & headless stacks for Shopify Plus further underscores its readiness for modern, high-performance storefront architectures.
• Operational Overhead: By offering free setup and onboarding, Swish significantly reduces the initial operational burden on merchants. For Shopify Plus users, a dedicated account manager and priority support minimize ongoing management overhead. The robust Klaviyo, GA4, and Meta integrations simplify data flow and reduce the need for manual data reconciliation between systems, which contributes to lower total cost of ownership by selecting plans that reduce stacked tooling costs.
• Performance: While direct performance metrics are not specified, good integration practices and compatibility with headless setups often correlate with optimized site speed and responsiveness, which are crucial for conversion.

VTN Power Wishlist focuses on ease of implementation and minimal ongoing management for its core function:

• Compatibility: The "Easy and NoCode setup" for the free plan implies broad compatibility with standard Shopify themes without requiring technical expertise. "Installation Support" for the premium plan reinforces this, ensuring the app works as intended out of the box.
• Operational Overhead: The app's simplicity and no-code approach inherently lower the technical overhead for merchants, making it easy to manage without dedicated development resources. The free plan and low-cost premium plan also represent a lower financial overhead.
• Performance: Given its focus on essential wishlist features, it is likely designed to be lightweight and minimize impact on page load times, though specific benchmarks are not available.

For merchants prioritizing a hands-off approach to implementation and day-to-day management of their wishlist feature, VTN Power Wishlist's simplicity is a strong advantage. For those with complex, high-traffic stores, or those leveraging advanced storefront technologies, Swish offers the robust compatibility and dedicated support necessary to maintain performance and reduce specialized operational overhead, while also evaluating feature coverage across plans.

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

Merchants frequently face a phenomenon known as "app fatigue" or "tool sprawl." This occurs when a growing store accumulates numerous single-function apps, each designed to address a specific need—such as wishlists, loyalty programs, reviews, or referrals. While each app may be excellent in its niche, the cumulative effect can lead to several challenges:

• Fragmented Data: Customer data becomes siloed across different applications, making it difficult to gain a holistic view of the customer journey and preferences. This complicates personalized marketing and strategic decision-making.
• Integration Overhead: Each new app requires integration, which can be time-consuming, prone to errors, and difficult to maintain. Ensuring seamless communication between various tools adds complexity.
• Inconsistent Customer Experience: Different apps often have varying user interfaces and design philosophies, leading to a disjointed brand experience for customers as they interact with different features on a store.
• Scaling Complexity: As a business grows, managing a large number of individual apps becomes increasingly cumbersome, impacting team productivity and potentially hindering agility.
• Stacked Costs: While individual app prices might seem reasonable, the total monthly expenditure for a collection of single-purpose tools can quickly escalate, affecting the bottom line without necessarily delivering proportional value.

This is where the "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy, championed by integrated platforms, offers a compelling alternative. Instead of piecing together disparate solutions, an all-in-one platform consolidates critical retention and engagement functionalities into a single, cohesive suite. This approach can simplify operations, improve data integrity, and provide a consistent customer experience. When considering a pricing structure that scales as order volume grows, an integrated solution can often provide better value.

Growave, for instance, is designed to be a comprehensive retention platform for Shopify merchants. It combines multiple tools, including Loyalty and Rewards, Referrals, Reviews & UGC, and Wishlist, all within one integrated suite. This means merchants can manage various aspects of customer engagement from a single dashboard, rather than juggling multiple apps. For businesses focused on long-term customer relationships, an integrated platform supports loyalty programs that keep customers coming back. These tools work in concert to lift customer lifetime value and reduce reliance on a fragmented app stack.

By integrating features like loyalty programs, customer reviews, and wishlists, Growave helps merchants build stronger communities and foster repeat purchases. For example, a customer's wishlisted items can be directly linked to their loyalty points and rewards designed to lift repeat purchases, enabling personalized offers based on demonstrated interest. Similarly, collecting and showcasing authentic customer reviews alongside a loyalty program creates a powerful feedback loop that builds trust and encourages engagement. Brands can look at customer stories that show how teams reduce app sprawl and see how integrated solutions simplify operations.

An integrated platform streamlines operations by providing:

• Centralized Data: All customer engagement data, from wishlist activity to loyalty points and reviews, resides in one place. This allows for a 360-degree view of the customer and enables more precise targeting.
• Seamless User Experience: All features are designed to work together, presenting a unified and branded experience to the customer, from wishlisting a product to earning loyalty points for a purchase, and then leaving a review. This consistency enhances brand perception and reduces friction.
• Reduced Integration Headaches: With fewer apps, there are fewer integration points to manage, reducing the likelihood of conflicts or data inconsistencies. This frees up technical resources and allows teams to focus on strategy rather than maintenance. For enterprise-level stores, especially those on Shopify Plus, an integrated approach can offer capabilities designed for Shopify Plus scaling needs.
• Better Value: Consolidating multiple tools into one often results in a lower total cost of ownership compared to subscribing to several individual apps that collectively perform the same functions. Merchants can find a clearer view of total retention-stack costs. An integrated solution supports VIP tiers and incentives for high-intent customers, which can be directly influenced by a customer's review history or engagement with the wishlist.
• Unified Support: Dealing with a single vendor for multiple features simplifies support requests and ensures more cohesive problem-solving. This makes managing post-purchase review requests that feel consistent.

For merchants seeking to enhance their customer retention strategies holistically, an integrated platform like Growave offers not just a wishlist, but a comprehensive ecosystem of tools that work together. This approach supports reward mechanics that support customer lifetime value by tying together loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists into a single, powerful strategy. It allows businesses to focus on sustainable growth by fostering deeper customer relationships without the operational burden of tool sprawl. To understand how these integrated solutions can apply to specific store needs, consider a tailored walkthrough based on store goals and constraints. This can provide insights into managing UGC workflows that keep product pages credible and integrating them with other retention efforts.

If consolidating tools is a priority, start by choosing a plan built for long-term value. A focused demo that maps tools to retention outcomes can provide a clear understanding of the benefits. An integrated solution can help by offering social proof that supports conversion and AOV through reviews and UGC, while simultaneously driving repeat purchases through loyalty programs and strategic wishlist engagement.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Swish (formerly Wishlist King) and VTN Power Wishlist, the decision comes down to the scale of their operation, budget constraints, and the desired depth of features and support. Swish (formerly Wishlist King) stands out as a robust solution for established and growing brands, especially those on Shopify Plus, offering extensive customization, advanced integrations, and dedicated white-glove service. Its comprehensive approach to turning wishlists into a conversion engine, coupled with its proven reliability, makes it suitable for businesses seeking a high degree of control and sophisticated marketing capabilities. Merchants reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from can see Swish's strong track record.

VTN Power Wishlist, conversely, provides an excellent entry point for newer or smaller stores with its free plan and highly affordable premium tier. It delivers essential wishlist functionalities, including critical guest wishlist support and straightforward setup, making it a pragmatic choice for merchants prioritizing budget-friendliness and ease of use. While its feature set is more foundational, it effectively addresses the core need for customer intent capture. For businesses seeking to understand customer preferences without significant investment, the VTN Power Wishlist offers a solid foundation, especially for those checking merchant feedback and app-store performance signals.

However, the strategic landscape of e-commerce is increasingly favoring platforms that offer an integrated approach to customer retention. The challenges of app fatigue—fragmented data, integration complexities, inconsistent customer experiences, and escalating costs—underscore the value of a unified solution. Platforms like Growave address these issues by combining loyalty programs, reviews, referrals, and wishlists into a single, cohesive suite. This integrated model provides a holistic view of the customer, streamlines operations, reduces overhead, and offers a more consistent brand experience. For merchants planning retention spend without app sprawl surprises, evaluating an integrated platform is a smart move.

To reduce app fatigue and run retention from one place, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

How do wishlist apps contribute to customer retention and sales?

Wishlist apps play a crucial role in retention by allowing customers to save products they are interested in, even if they're not ready to purchase immediately. This captures intent and provides merchants with valuable data for retargeting. When integrated with email marketing, wishlists can trigger personalized notifications about price drops, low stock, or back-in-stock items, prompting customers to return and complete their purchase, thereby driving sales and repeat visits.

Is a free wishlist app sufficient for a new Shopify store?

A free wishlist app, such as VTN Power Wishlist's free plan, can be an excellent starting point for a new Shopify store. It provides essential functionality like customer and guest wishlists, allowing merchants to gauge customer interest and gather basic data without an upfront financial commitment. As the store grows and its needs become more complex, a paid plan or a more comprehensive solution might be required to unlock advanced features like automated notifications, deeper analytics, or broader marketing integrations.

What are the main benefits of an all-in-one platform compared to specialized wishlist apps?

An all-in-one platform integrates multiple customer retention tools (like loyalty programs, reviews, referrals, and wishlists) into a single solution. This approach offers several benefits over specialized apps, including a centralized view of customer data, reduced integration complexities, a more consistent customer experience across various touchpoints, and often a lower total cost of ownership. It simplifies management for merchants, allowing them to focus on strategic growth rather than managing a fragmented app stack.

How does Swish (formerly Wishlist King) cater to Shopify Plus stores specifically?

Swish (formerly Wishlist King) offers a dedicated Shopify Plus plan that includes exclusive benefits tailored for enterprise-level operations. These include free white-glove onboarding, priority support, and a dedicated account manager, ensuring personalized service and rapid issue resolution. Crucially, it also supports Hydrogen and headless stacks, which are vital for Shopify Plus merchants who require the highest level of customization and performance for their storefronts. This focus ensures the app meets the sophisticated needs of high-volume, complex e-commerce environments.