Ultimate Wishlist vs. ESC Wishlist + Save for Later: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist or "save for later" app is one of the small decisions that can shape customer experience and conversion on a Shopify store. With hundreds of single-purpose apps available, merchants often weigh ease of use, customization, analytics, and long-term value. This article compares two popular wishlist-focused apps—Ultimate Wishlist (Config Studio) and ESC Wishlist + Save for Later (Eastside Co®)—on features, pricing, integrations, support, and strategic fit. The goal is an objective, actionable assessment so merchants can select the best tool for their immediate needs or understand why a broader retention platform might be a smarter long-term choice.

Short answer: Ultimate Wishlist is a focused, well-rated choice for stores that want a customizable, analytics-enabled wishlist with tiered pricing and a usable free plan. ESC Wishlist + Save for Later offers a simple save-for-later cart integration and unlimited wishlists but currently shows minimal social proof and low ratings, which raises caution for merchants who need reliable support. For merchants seeking a single solution that handles wishlists plus loyalty, reviews, referrals, and VIP tiers, an integrated platform like Growave often delivers better long-term value and reduces the app sprawl that hurts retention.

This post provides a feature-by-feature comparison of Ultimate Wishlist and ESC Wishlist + Save for Later and then explains when a merchant should choose a single-purpose wishlist app versus an integrated retention suite.

Ultimate Wishlist vs. ESC Wishlist + Save for Later: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

Feature Set

Wishlist Functionality

Ultimate Wishlist focuses on a flexible wishlist experience. It supports both guest and registered user wishlists, syncing for logged-in customers across devices. The app provides sharing options (Facebook, Twitter, Email) and multiple UI customization options (text and color). For teams that want to track wishlist behavior, Ultimate Wishlist offers a dashboard that records wishlist adds, page views, and adds-to-cart—metrics that help merchandising and promotion planning.

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later is positioned as a hybrid wishlist and cart save-for-later tool. The standout feature is that it places the saved items under the cart, making them visible at checkout, which can reduce friction when customers return. ESC advertises unlimited wishlists so customers can categorize items. Visual customization is available, and social sharing is supported.

Key differences:

• Ultimate Wishlist: Multi-device sync for logged-in users, analytics dashboard, email reminders.
• ESC Wishlist: Cart-focused "save for later" placement and unlimited lists for categorization.

Both apps cover the basic wishlist expectations—save, categorize (ESC), and share—but Ultimate Wishlist emphasizes analytics and lifecycle re-engagement via email reminders.

Cart & Checkout Experience

ESC’s distinct claim is the save-for-later section under the cart, which is a tactical placement to surface saved items at checkout. This reduces the steps between intent (saved item) and conversion (purchase). That implementation is especially useful for stores where impulse or repeat conversion is common and the saved items are often bought within a session or two.

Ultimate Wishlist centers wishlist functions away from the cart experience; it focuses on cross-device access and follow-up communication. For stores that expect customers to curate lists over time and want to retarget those customers, Ultimate’s reminders and analytics are more strategic than the in-cart nudges ESC provides.

Sharing & Social Reach

Both apps allow social sharing of wishlists, which can extend product reach. Ultimate Wishlist supports Facebook, Twitter, and Email, and also exposes wishlist analytics useful for promotion strategy. ESC provides free social sharing too, but with a smaller install base and lower ratings, the effectiveness of the implementation and post-install support may be less predictable.

Email Reminders & Re-Engagement

A defining area where Ultimate Wishlist is stronger: tiered plans include customizable email templates and a controlled number of automated reminders per month. The Pro and Premium tiers expand reminder capacity and add the ability to send reminders to individual users.

ESC’s product description does not emphasize automated wishlist reminders. That absence suggests that merchants who want wishlist-to-email automation will likely prefer Ultimate Wishlist or will need to connect ESC’s data to a separate email tool—adding complexity and potential cost.

Analytics & Reporting

Ultimate Wishlist explicitly includes a dashboard with metrics like wishlist adds, page views, and added-to-cart events. These insights are valuable for merchandising decisions: identify underperforming but highly-saved SKUs or variants, then convert intent into demand via promotions or emails.

ESC’s description does not highlight a comparable analytics dashboard. Without built-in reporting, merchants must rely on other analytics sources or custom tracking to understand wishlist behavior.

Pricing & Value

Pricing differences are meaningful because wishlist apps are often evaluated on recurring cost and how much value they return through conversions.

Ultimate Wishlist pricing overview:

• Free plan: Up to 500 wishlist items/month, guest wishlist, share, customizable text/colors, non-English support, full reports.
• Basic: $4.99/month — everything in Free + 1,000 wishlist items/month, custom email template, up to 500 email reminders/month.
• Pro: $9.99/month — everything in Basic + send reminder to individual user, up to 5,000 wishlist items/month, up to 2,000 email reminders/month.
• Premium: $14.99/month — everything in Pro + up to 10,000 wishlist items/month, up to 5,000 email reminders/month, Facebook pixel integration.

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later pricing:

• Monthly plan: $5/month.
• No public tiering beyond the $5/month plan in the provided data.

Comparative analysis:

• Ultimate Wishlist offers tiered scalability and a free entry plan—useful for testing and small stores.
• Ultimate’s email reminder quotas and analytics are explicit value-adds at low monthly prices (Pro and Premium remain under $15/month).
• ESC’s $5/month flat rate is straightforward and competitive for stores only seeking a save-for-later UX. However, limited transparency about advanced features or higher-volume support introduces risk for scaling stores.

Value-for-money assessment:

• For merchants who expect to leverage wishlist analytics and automated re-engagement to increase LTV, Ultimate Wishlist’s incremental pricing provides clear utility at modest cost.
• ESC provides better short-term price simplicity for stores focused on cart-level conversion nudges, but the low review count and rating raise concerns about ongoing value and support.

Integrations & Technical Compatibility

Integrations matter when a wishlist needs to interact with email platforms, analytics tools, or conversion pixels.

Ultimate Wishlist highlights:

• Non-English support and Facebook Pixel integration (Premium). The app’s reporting and ability to send reminders imply it can be used alongside common marketing workflows.

ESC Wishlist:

• Focused on front-end placement of saved items under the cart. The description does not list integrations or native connections to email or analytics platforms.

Technical compatibility considerations:

• Ultimate Wishlist’s more explicit analytics and pixel support make it easier to connect wishlist behavior to broader marketing automation flows.
• ESC will likely require more manual integration work if merchants want to centralize wishlist data in a marketing platform.

If a store already uses marketing automation (e.g., Klaviyo) and needs wishlist-triggered campaigns, Ultimate Wishlist’s email reminder capabilities and pixel integration reduce friction.

User Experience & Customization

Admin Experience

Ultimate Wishlist provides admin customization of text and appearance, customizable email templates, and a dashboard for tracking wishlist metrics. These controls allow non-technical merchants to tailor the feature to brand voice and gain actionable data without developer overhead.

ESC emphasizes a broad range of visual customization options. The app’s strength is making the saved items prominent during checkout, but the lack of published metrics about admin tools and reporting suggests a simpler admin UX.

Customer-Facing Experience

From a buyer’s perspective:

• Ultimate Wishlist allows both guest and registered wishlist creation, with cross-device access for logged-in customers. This supports shoppers who browse on multiple devices or save items to buy later.
• ESC lets customers create unlimited wishlists and categorizes items. Its in-cart save-for-later placement reduces friction to conversion at checkout.

Considerations:

• If the priority is an elegant, branded wishlist experience that persists across devices, Ultimate Wishlist is superior.
• If the goal is a frictionless path to purchase when the customer returns, ESC’s cart integration is compelling.

Analytics, Tracking & Data Ownership

Ultimate Wishlist provides in-app analytics (wishlist adds, page views, added-to-cart stats) and offers a Facebook Pixel integration at the Premium tier. These capabilities allow merchants to convert wishlist behavior into audience building and retargeting, which is crucial for effective ad spend and lifecycle campaigns.

ESC’s materials do not highlight built-in analytics or pixel support. Merchants who rely on data-driven merchandising or want to build audiences from wishlist interactions will find Ultimate Wishlist delivers more immediate utility.

Data ownership note:

• Both apps operate within Shopify’s ecosystem, but merchants should confirm how wishlist data is stored and whether it can be exported or integrated with CRM and email platforms. Ultimate’s reporting suggests easier data access, while ESC’s lack of explicit reporting raises questions about exportability.

Performance & Scalability

Ultimate Wishlist offers tiered item and email reminder limits that map to store scale: from 500 wishlist items/month on the free plan to 10,000 on Premium. The pricing signals a roadmap for stores to scale wishlist usage predictably.

ESC advertises unlimited wishlists for customers but only lists a single $5/month plan. Unlimited customer lists are attractive, but performance and support at scale depend on the app’s backend and the developer’s support responsiveness—areas where the low number of reviews and a 1.0 rating warrant caution.

For stores expecting high wishlist volume or enterprise-level needs, the lack of clear performance SLAs for ESC is a risk. Ultimate presents clearer scaling boundaries.

Support & Trust Signals

Support, review quantity, and rating reflect real merchant experience.

• Ultimate Wishlist: 34 reviews with an average rating of 4.9 is a strong trust signal for stability, functionality, and developer responsiveness at the time of assessment.
• ESC Wishlist + Save for Later: 2 reviews with a 1.0 rating. Such low review count and a poor average rating indicate either serious recent issues or mismatch between expectations and delivery. Merchants should evaluate updated reviews and test the app before full reliance.

Support responsiveness and quality:

• Ultimate’s feature set and tiered plans suggest focused ongoing development and support. The presence of analytics and email templates usually implies the developer maintains integrations.
• ESC shows fewer public signals of active development or robust support infrastructure.

Implementation, Setup & Maintenance

Ultimate Wishlist setup is aimed at merchants who want low-friction deployment with configurable text, colors, and email templates. The free plan enables trialing without cost; higher tiers add reminders and pixel support that require minimal setup.

ESC’s setup emphasizes front-end customization and cart placement. For merchants comfortable editing their cart templates or wanting immediate visibility at checkout, the app can be attractive. However, because ESC lacks detailed documentation in its public listing, merchants may need to test implementation carefully.

Maintenance:

• Ultimate’s in-app analytics reduce the need for external maintenance to measure wishlist impact.
• ESC may necessitate extra work to connect wishlist signals to marketing systems.

Security & Compliance

Both apps operate within Shopify’s app model. Merchants should review the app privacy policies and data processing agreements and confirm that wishlist email reminder processes comply with local email and privacy regulations. For apps sending automated emails, confirmation of unsubscribe management and compliance with anti-spam laws is essential. Ultimate’s explicit email reminder functionality suggests these features are in place; merchants should confirm details before enabling automated campaigns.

Use Cases: Which App Fits Which Merchant?

• Stores that want an analytics-driven wishlist plus automated reminders:
  • Ultimate Wishlist is suitable. Its analytics and email reminder tiers let merchants convert saved intent into purchases and learn which SKUs are most wished for.
• Merchants prioritizing an immediate checkout nudge to recover saved items:
  • ESC Wishlist + Save for Later may be useful if the priority is surface-level cart conversions. The in-cart placement reduces friction between saved items and purchase.
• Small stores or those testing wishlists at no cost:
  • Ultimate Wishlist’s free plan is valuable because it provides reporting and guest wishlist support without a monthly bill.
• Merchants who want a single, long-term platform handling loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlists:
  • A broader retention platform is generally better value than stacking specialized apps over time. This topic is covered in the next major section.

Pros & Cons (Concise)

Ultimate Wishlist (Config Studio)

• Pros:
  • High rating (4.9) across 34 reviews.
  • Tiered pricing with a free plan.
  • Guest and logged-in wishlist support with cross-device sync.
  • Dashboard analytics and email reminders.
  • Non-English support and customizable UI.
• Cons:
  • Still focused on a single use case (wishlist), so additional retention features require other apps.

ESC Wishlist + Save for Later (Eastside Co®)

• Pros:
  • $5/month simplicity.
  • Unlimited wishlists and categorization.
  • Save-for-later placement under cart for checkout nudging.
  • Visual customization for front-end placement.
• Cons:
  • Low review count and poor average rating (1.0 across 2 reviews) — a trust concern.
  • Limited public detail on analytics, integrations, or email reminders.
  • Potential hidden costs for integrations or custom work.

Migration Considerations

If moving between wishlist solutions or consolidating features:

• Export wishlist data (if available) and map fields to the new app.
• Confirm how guest vs. registered user lists are handled.
• Test email reminder flows to avoid double sends during transition.
• For stores using wishlists in marketing automation, ensure the new app exposes webhooks, events, or pixel-data to rebuild audience segments.

Ultimate Wishlist’s reporting implies a smoother migration path and data access; ESC may require more manual export/import work.

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

Merchants frequently reach a point of "app fatigue": too many single-purpose tools, fragmented customer data, overlapping fees, and inconsistent user experiences. Each new app adds a maintenance burden and increases the chance of integration conflicts or inconsistent branding. A common outcome is a higher total cost of ownership and lower operational efficiency compared to a unified solution.

A consolidated approach removes redundant touchpoints and centralizes retention strategy: loyalty programs, reviews, referrals, wishlists, and VIP tiers all feed a single customer profile. That unified data makes it easier to design campaigns that improve retention, increase customer lifetime value, and simplify analytics.

Growave’s philosophy—More Growth, Less Stack—targets precisely that problem. By combining wishlist features with loyalty & rewards, referrals, reviews & UGC, and VIP tiers, the platform reduces tool sprawl while enabling coordinated retention tactics. For merchants considering consolidation, it is useful to compare the costs and trade-offs of stacking single-purpose apps versus a single integrated platform.

Key advantages of an integrated platform:

• Unified customer profiles that combine wishlists, rewards, referral activity, and review history.
• Fewer duplicate event tracking setups and lower maintenance overhead.
• Native interactions between features—for example, using wishlist events to trigger loyalty points or to invite referrals when a saved item goes on sale.
• Centralized analytics and reporting that reflect combined impact on retention and LTV.

Explore how a unified solution can consolidate retention features and replace multiple apps by reviewing Growave’s plans and capabilities. See how an integrated approach reduces complexity and centralizes user data by checking the options for merchants who prefer a single suite of retention tools: consolidate retention features.

Growave includes a full Wishlist module, but it also links wishlist behavior to reward rules, referral actions, and review requests. For merchants who want to build loyalty programs that react directly to wishlist events, review how to create loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases. These tight connections let merchants run campaigns such as awarding points for adding items to a wishlist or giving VIP members early access to products their wishlist activity has flagged as desirable.

Collecting social proof is another common retention tactic. Instead of using an isolated review app and a separate wishlist app, a unified platform can automate review collection after purchase and highlight user-generated content alongside wishlist items. Learn how to collect and showcase authentic reviews as part of the same retention workflow that handles wishlists and loyalty.

For proof that consolidation can work for real stores, review customer stories from brands scaling retention. These case studies show how syncing wishlist data with loyalty and referral campaigns increases repeat purchases and reduces churn.

If the decision is production-ready and the merchant wants a demo to discuss migration, integration, and expected ROI, a focused sales conversation helps. Book a personalized demo to see how an integrated retention stack accelerates growth. (This is a hard CTA.)

How integrated features change merchant workflows

• Campaign orchestration: When wishlist adds are treated as events in the same system that manages rewards and referral incentives, it is simple to design campaigns that nudge purchase intent. For example, award points for wishlist adds, then trigger an automated email offering discount points when a wished-for item falls below a price threshold.
• Single source of truth: Customer behavior across channels is stored in one place, simplifying segmentation—loyal customers who also have wishlists and referrals are easily recognized and targeted.
• Reduced redundancy: One billing relationship, one consent management flow, and fewer integration points reduce friction and total cost.

When to still consider a single-purpose wishlist app

• If budget is constrained and the immediate priority is a single UX element (e.g., “saved for later” under the cart), a lightweight $5/month solution may be defensible in the short term.
• For stores that want to evaluate wishlist behavior before investing in a full retention suite, trialing a focused app can be a stepping stone. Ultimate Wishlist’s free plan is an example of a low-risk starting point.

However, merchants should plan for the trade-off: short-term savings on subscription cost can turn into higher operational overhead when integrating multiple apps or when important features like loyalty or review automation are needed later.

Pricing transparency and where to start

For merchants ready to evaluate a consolidated retention platform, comparing the combined cost of separate wishlist, loyalty, reviews, and referral apps against a single integrated plan clarifies ROI. Growave’s pricing tiers show where a unified approach becomes cost-efficient compared to app-by-app subscriptions: compare plans and pricing. For merchants on Shopify who prefer installing from the app marketplace, the platform is also available through the official store listing for seamless installation: install Growave from the Shopify App Store.

Enterprise & Plus considerations

Large merchants and stores on Shopify Plus benefit from enterprise-level features like checkout extensions, headless API/SDK, and dedicated support. Growave provides solutions tailored for these high-volume needs; merchants can inspect options for high-growth brands when thinking about scaling retention: solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

Repeatable outcomes

Using wishlist data to inform loyalty rewards, and combining that with review automation, creates predictable uplift in repeat purchase rates. Merchants that move beyond single-purpose tools can more easily run experiments—A/B test reward thresholds or review incentives—and measure cross-feature impacts in one dashboard.

Final Comparison Summary

For merchants choosing between Ultimate Wishlist and ESC Wishlist + Save for Later, the decision comes down to functional priorities and risk tolerance. Ultimate Wishlist is best for stores that need a robust wishlist with analytics, multi-device support, and automated email reminders—especially attractive because it offers a free entry point and low-cost upgrades. ESC Wishlist is suitable if the immediate objective is to surface saved items in the cart to reduce checkout friction, but its minimal review history and low rating suggest merchants should test carefully before relying on it for scale.

If the business objective is broader—raising retention, increasing lifetime value, and reducing tool sprawl—an integrated platform that combines wishlists with loyalty, referrals, reviews, and VIP tiers provides better long-term value. Consolidation improves data cohesion, simplifies campaigns, and reduces maintenance overhead. For a clear picture of integrated plans and pricing that can replace multiple single-purpose apps, review Growave’s plan options and how consolidation can save time and increase retention: consolidate retention features. If the priority is seeing use cases and customer outcomes, explore customer stories from brands scaling retention and how loyalty mechanics interact with wishlists to increase repeat purchases: loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.

Start a 14-day free trial to explore how a unified retention stack replaces fragmented apps and accelerates growth. (This is a hard CTA.)

FAQ

Q: Which app is better for small stores just testing wishlists?

• Ultimate Wishlist is better suited for testing because it offers a free plan with reporting and essential wishlist features. ESC’s $5/month plan is simple, but the low review count means less public feedback about reliability.

Q: Which app gives better tools to turn wishlist activity into sales?

• Ultimate Wishlist includes email reminder functionality and a dashboard for wishlist analytics, which helps convert intent into purchases. ESC’s cart save-for-later placement helps in-session and near-term conversions but lacks explicit automated reminder capabilities in its public listing.

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

• An integrated platform centralizes wishlist events with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, enabling coordinated campaigns and single-source analytics. For stores focused solely on one UX tweak, a single-purpose app can suffice short-term; for growing merchants aiming to raise LTV and reduce operational overhead, integration typically offers better long-term ROI.

Q: If a store starts with a wishlist app, how hard is it to move to a unified solution later?

• Migration difficulty depends on data access and the new platform’s import tools. Choose a wishlist app that exposes reporting and export options to simplify transition. Planning for eventual consolidation reduces rework—look for apps that provide clear export or webhook access.