Ultimate Wishlist vs. Top Advanced Wishlist App: A Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a frequent challenge for Shopify merchants. With dozens of single-purpose apps available, deciding between a focused tool and a broader retention strategy requires careful consideration of features, costs, integrations, and long-term impact on customer retention.

Short answer: Ultimate Wishlist is a feature-rich, well-rated option for stores that need a customizable wishlist with analytics and staged pricing tiers. Top Advanced Wishlist App is an ultra-light, low-cost alternative that emphasizes unlimited items and a tiny monthly fee. For merchants who want a single integrated retention platform that bundles wishlist functionality with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, a unified solution like Growave offers better long-term value and fewer apps to manage.

This post provides an in-depth, feature-by-feature comparison of Ultimate Wishlist (Config Studio) and Top Advanced Wishlist App (Top App Developer). The goal is to help merchants understand which tool fits which context, and to explain why a consolidated retention platform can reduce tool sprawl while improving retention outcomes.

Ultimate Wishlist vs. Top Advanced Wishlist App: At a Glance

Features: What Each App Actually Does

Wishlist Core Capabilities

Ultimate Wishlist provides the expected wishlist basics: add/remove items, guest and logged-in customer support, social sharing, and cross-device login for registered users. It emphasizes customization of text and colors and adds behavior tracking—wishlist adds, page views, and conversion metrics—visible in a built-in dashboard.

Top Advanced Wishlist App focuses on minimal friction: very low monthly cost and no hard limit on the number of items per wishlist. It supports guest wishlists, easy sharing via social or email, and offers a REST API for custom workflows.

Key feature differences:

• Ultimate Wishlist
  • Email reminder system with plan-based caps
  • Dashboard analytics showing adds, conversions, and variant interest
  • Non-English support and more extensive UI customization
  • Social sharing (Facebook, Twitter, Email)
• Top Advanced Wishlist App
  • No item limit on wishlists and low-priced single plan
  • REST API for integrations or custom development
  • Minimalist feature set focused on adding and sharing items

Guest vs. Account-Based Wishlists

Both apps allow wishlists without forcing account creation, a crucial feature for minimizing friction at add-to-wishlist time. Ultimate Wishlist additionally supports logged-in cross-device persistence so customers can access wishlists from multiple devices when they sign in. For stores that want to encourage account creation while maintaining low friction, Ultimate Wishlist’s hybrid approach is more flexible.

Sharing, Social, and Email Actions

Social sharing is standard for both. Ultimate Wishlist also includes customizable email templates and an email reminder system that can be helpful to nudge customers toward purchase. Those reminder capacities scale with plan level: the Free and Basic plans restrict reminders, while Pro and Premium increase both reminder volume and per-user options.

Top Advanced Wishlist App advertises share via email and social plus REST API access to build custom notification workflows, but the app does not highlight built-in reminder automation at the same level as Ultimate Wishlist.

Analytics and Insights

Ultimate Wishlist highlights a built-in dashboard listing wishlist adds, page views, and added-to-cart conversions. This data can be used to spot popular SKUs or variants and prioritize promotion or restocking. Built-in analytics is a significant differentiator because it enables direct product merchandising actions without exporting data to another tool.

Top Advanced Wishlist App relies on the REST API to expose events for external analytics. That makes it flexible for teams that already have analytics infrastructure but adds development overhead for merchants that expect out-of-the-box reporting.

Customization & Store Fit

Appearance and Text Customization

Ultimate Wishlist emphasizes full customization of text and appearance to match store branding and supports non-English languages. This reduces the need for theme edits and allows a consistent brand experience.

Top Advanced Wishlist App focuses on code-free installation and core functionality; detailed UI customization is not a prominent selling point. Stores that need precise design alignment or multiple language support will find Ultimate Wishlist more convenient.

Theme Compatibility and Installation

Both apps advertise code-free or low-code installation. Ultimate Wishlist’s design controls and preset options make it easier to blend into most storefronts without a developer, but some stores may still need minor theme tweaks.

Top Advanced Wishlist App claims fast, code-free setup, which is attractive for small merchants seeking the simplest path to launching wishlist functionality.

Mobile Experience

Both apps advertise responsive experiences. Because wishlists are commonly used from mobile devices, testing on key devices and checkout flows is recommended before committing, particularly for stores with heavy mobile traffic.

Pricing & Value: What Merchants Actually Pay

Pricing is often the decisive factor. A direct comparison of published plans shows different value propositions.

Ultimate Wishlist Pricing Breakdown

• Free Plan (Free)
  • Up to 500 wishlists/month
  • Guest wishlist
  • Wishlist on collection page
  • Share wishlist
  • Customizable text/color
  • Non-English support
  • Full reports
• Basic ($4.99 / month)
  • Everything in Free
  • Up to 1,000 wishlist items/month
  • Custom email template
  • Up to 500 email reminders/month
• Pro ($9.99 / month)
  • Everything in Basic
  • Send email reminders to individual users
  • 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

Ultimate Wishlist uses tiered caps on wishlist items and email reminders. The pricing remains modest, and upgrading provides a clear route to higher email reminder throughput and larger wishlist volumes.

Top Advanced Wishlist App Pricing

• BASIC ($0.99 / month)
  • No limit on number of items in wishlist
  • No limit on number of customers
  • Guest wishlist
  • REST API
  • Up to 10,000 wishlist items/mo (advertised limit)

Top Advanced Wishlist App’s single low-cost plan is compelling for merchants on tight budgets or those who need simple wishlist storage without advanced automation or analytics.

Which Offers Better Value?

• Ultimate Wishlist offers better value for merchants who will use built-in analytics, email reminders, and deeper customization. The step-up pricing remains affordable while adding functionality that can directly impact conversion and merchandising.
• Top Advanced Wishlist App offers the best value for stores that need only raw wishlist storage and sharing at minimal cost, particularly if a developer will leverage the REST API for custom notification or analytics pipelines.

Avoid thinking of the lowest sticker price as the only measure of value. Consider the time and money required to achieve the same outcomes through integrations or custom development when comparing the two.

Integrations & Ecosystem

Native Integrations

Ultimate Wishlist offers a Facebook Pixel integration on its Premium plan, which is useful for remarketing and audience build-out based on wishlist behavior. The app also supports non-English stores and offers data-driven reporting natively.

Top Advanced Wishlist App exposes a REST API, so integration is possible but requires development. This enables custom workflows, such as syncing wishlist events to external analytics or CRM systems, but increases implementation cost.

Third-Party Compatibility

• Ultimate Wishlist benefits merchants who prefer built-in reporting and minimal integration work. It is designed to be usable without an external analytics or email automation platform.
• Top Advanced Wishlist App integrates well into an existing tech stack via its REST API, making it suitable for more technically mature shops that already run centralized analytics or automation platforms.

Checkout, POS, and Headless Considerations

Top Advanced Wishlist App lists checkout compatibility, suggesting it can interact with the purchase flow. Ultimate Wishlist’s data can be used to prioritize merchandising and remarketing but may not provide deep checkout extension behavior without additional integration.

If a store is on Shopify Plus or running headless setups, choosing a tool that plays well with existing integrations is crucial. Both apps have pathways for integration, but Top Advanced Wishlist App’s REST API provides more raw building blocks while Ultimate Wishlist prioritizes ready-to-use features.

Analytics, Reporting & Using Wishlist Data

Direct Reporting (Ultimate Wishlist)

Ultimate Wishlist includes a dashboard that tracks wishlist adds, views, and adds-to-cart. That visibility lets merchants identify which products and variants are consistently favorited and which wishlist items convert. Those insights can inform promotion strategy, prioritize restocking, and shape email campaigns.

Event Streams and API (Top Advanced Wishlist App)

Top Advanced Wishlist App relies on its API to export wishlist events. For merchants with existing analytics platforms or custom dashboards, this approach is flexible and powerful. The trade-off is the time and development cost required to translate raw events into actionable insights.

How Analytics Translate to Revenue

• Merchants with limited analytics resources benefit from built-in dashboards that surface high-impact signals quickly.
• Merchants with engineering capacity may prefer raw event streams and API-first systems to tailor insights to unique business rules.

Support, Reviews & Trust Signals

Ratings and Review Counts

• Ultimate Wishlist: Rating 4.9 across 34 reviews. This combination of a high rating and a moderate number of reviews suggests consistent customer satisfaction and a track record across multiple stores.
• Top Advanced Wishlist App: Rating 5.0 across 1 review. A perfect score is strong but the single review makes it difficult to assess reliability, response time, and support quality at scale.

Review counts matter. An app with many high-quality reviews gives more confidence in its stability, support responsiveness, and real-world performance across varied stores.

Support Channels and Response Expectations

Ultimate Wishlist advertises analytics and customization—which often implies active development and support demands. The app’s multiple pricing tiers and feature set imply a need for support for onboarding and troubleshooting.

Top Advanced Wishlist App advertises fast and responsive customer support and provides a REST API for developers. Expect a developer-forward support experience: helpful for technical shops, less so for merchants that want guided setup.

Security, Privacy & Data Ownership

Wishlist data can contain customer behavior signals that are valuable for remarketing and personalization. Both apps support guest and registered wishlists; the presence of guest wishlists means careful handling of email reminders and personal data is necessary.

• Ultimate Wishlist includes email reminder capabilities and integrations like Facebook Pixel. Merchants should verify that consent and privacy practices align with store policies and local regulations before enabling automated reminders or pixel-based tracking.
• Top Advanced Wishlist App’s REST API approach provides flexibility to store and process wishlist events in in-house systems, which can be an advantage for merchants with strict data governance needs.

Merchants should verify data retention, deletion, and export policies with either developer if privacy compliance is a priority.

Performance & Implementation Considerations

Page Load and Front-End Impact

Wishlist widgets often add scripts to storefronts. Both apps advertise code-free setup, but the real-world performance impact will depend on script efficiency and how the app is embedded. Merchants with performance-sensitive sites should:

• Test Core Web Vitals before and after installation
• Use staging stores to check conflicts with themes and other scripts
• Monitor any third-party calls that could slow page loads

Developer Overhead

• Ultimate Wishlist minimizes developer time with built-in customization and dashboard reporting.
• Top Advanced Wishlist App is friendly to developers via REST API but requires technical work to create advanced automations or analytics.

Migration, Portability & Exit Strategy

Wishlist data can be valuable when moving between apps. Neither app advertises a standardized export format in the public descriptions, but Top Advanced Wishlist App’s REST API suggests programmatic export is possible. Ultimate Wishlist’s emphasis on reports hints at data export features, but merchants should confirm the specifics before installation.

A robust exit strategy should ask both developers about:

• Exportable data formats (CSV, JSON)
• Retention windows for wishlists after uninstall
• Assistance with data migration if moving to another tool

Use Cases & Merchant Profiles: Which App Fits Which Merchant

When Ultimate Wishlist Makes Sense

• Merchants who want quick wins with limited engineering support
• Stores that need built-in analytics to prioritize promotions
• Brands that require localization or non-English support
• Merchants that will use email reminders to re-engage wishlist customers
• Stores that value a moderate price with clear upgrade steps as usage grows

When Top Advanced Wishlist App Makes Sense

• Small merchants on tight budgets who need basic wishlist features for under $1/month
• Stores with developer resources that plan to use the REST API for bespoke workflows
• Merchants who want unlimited wishlist items without moving to higher tiers
• Teams that already centralize analytics and prefer raw event streams

Situations Where Neither Single-Purpose App Is Optimal

• Brands looking to improve retention across multiple touchpoints (loyalty programs, referrals, reviews) without adding more apps
• Stores that need a unified reporting view combining wishlist behavior with loyalty and referral data
• High-growth or enterprise stores that prefer a single vendor for retention features and support

Pros and Cons: Quick Summaries

Ultimate Wishlist — Pros

• Strong rating (4.9) across 34 reviews
• Built-in analytics and email reminders
• Good customization and non-English support
• Reasonable, tiered pricing aligned to usage

Ultimate Wishlist — Cons

• Wishlist item and email caps by plan
• May require upgrading as usage scales
• Fewer developer-first integration options compared to API-first apps

Top Advanced Wishlist App — Pros

• Extremely low monthly price ($0.99)
• No strict item limits advertised
• REST API for custom workflows
• Simple, code-free installation for basic use

Top Advanced Wishlist App — Cons

• Only one public review makes assessing long-term reliability difficult
• Limited built-in analytics and automation
• Less UI customization and localization emphasis
• Potential need for developer resources for advanced functionality

Practical Recommendations

• For stores that want a ready-to-run wishlist with analytics, email reminders, and good storefront fit, Ultimate Wishlist is the safer choice.
• For lean stores that only need wishlist storage and a developer-ready API, Top Advanced Wishlist App provides excellent upfront value.
• For merchants whose retention strategy relies on multiple tools (loyalty, reviews, referrals, and wishlist), consolidating those functions within an integrated platform reduces friction, improves insight, and often delivers better ROI than stitching single-purpose apps together.

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

App fatigue is a growing problem for merchants. Adding single-purpose tools for each retention tactic creates maintenance overhead, inconsistent customer experiences, and fragmented data. Each extra app increases the risk of theme conflicts, performance degradation, and higher cumulative costs.

Growave’s "More Growth, Less Stack" approach addresses these challenges by combining wishlist, loyalty, referrals, and reviews into one integrated retention platform. Instead of managing separate scripts, dashboards, and billing lines, merchants can manage retention programs from a single control plane.

Why a Unified Platform Matters

• Consolidated data: Wishlist adds, referral sources, and loyalty actions live in one system, enabling cross-feature campaigns and more accurate lifetime value calculations.
• Reduced friction: A single integration reduces the number of scripts and potential storefront conflicts.
• Centralized customer experience: Rewards, review requests, and wishlist reminders can be coordinated to align with lifecycle stages.

For merchants evaluating consolidation, comparing the cumulative cost and operational burden of multiple single-purpose apps against an integrated solution is essential. To evaluate the total cost of ownership, consider subscription fees, development time for integrations, and the operational tasks of maintaining multiple vendors.

Growave’s Capabilities and Where Wishlist Fits

Growave combines multiple retention features into one product suite:

• Loyalty and rewards programs, enabling points, discounts, and VIP tiers
• Referral campaigns to drive acquisition from existing customers
• Reviews and user-generated content (UGC) tools to collect and display authentic feedback
• Wishlist functionality that ties into loyalty and remarketing workflows

Merchants can explore how Growave structures its plans and compare features to single-purpose apps by choosing to compare Growave plans. For stores seeking a one-stop retention platform that reduces app sprawl, installing Growave from the Shopify App Store provides a direct path to consolidation.

How Wishlist Works Better When Combined with Loyalty and Reviews

• Rewarding wishlist actions with points or small incentives encourages users to engage and return, directly boosting retention. Learn how to build loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.
• Using wishlist signals to prioritize review requests or targeted referral outreach increases conversion likelihood because the store already knows which products a customer values.
• Collecting and showcasing product feedback alongside wishlist popularity helps merchandising teams identify which SKUs to promote. Explore how to collect and showcase authentic reviews.

Integration and Support for Growing Merchants

Growave is built for merchants scaling retention efforts, including Shopify Plus stores. For retailers that require enterprise-grade features—checkout extensions, headless APIs, and dedicated launch plans—Growave provides tailored support and integrations. Merchants evaluating high-growth options can review solutions for high-growth Plus brands and read customer stories from brands scaling retention.

Pricing and Getting Started

Growave offers a free plan and tiered plans that include wishlist alongside loyalty, referrals, and reviews. To assess whether an integrated platform reduces total costs compared to multiple single-purpose apps, merchants can consolidate retention features and evaluate the packages.

For larger teams or stores with specific implementation needs, booking a demo can provide a tailored assessment and ROI estimation. Merchants interested in seeing how an integrated retention stack reduces tool count and coordinates acquisition, conversion, and retention can book a personalized demo.

Examples of How an Integrated Approach Reduces Work

• Automated flows: Reward customers for wishlist adds with points without building a separate automation pipeline.
• Coordinated campaigns: Send a review request to customers who purchased items that appeared on their wishlist, increasing review conversion rates.
• Unified analytics: Combine wishlist behavior with loyalty and referral metrics to better understand how wishlist activity contributes to lifetime value.

Final Recommendation: Which App is Best For Which Merchant?

For merchants choosing between Ultimate Wishlist and Top Advanced Wishlist App, the decision comes down to use case:

• Best for customization, analytics, and built-in re-engagement: Ultimate Wishlist. Its high rating (4.9 from 34 reviews), built-in dashboard, and email reminder tiers make it suitable for merchants that want immediate, usable insights and marketing actions without building custom integrations.
• Best for minimal cost and developer-driven stores: Top Advanced Wishlist App. The $0.99 price point and REST API are compelling where cost and developer customization are the top priorities.
• Best for merchants wanting long-term retention strategy and fewer apps: Growave. For stores that want wishlist functionality tied directly to loyalty, referrals, and reviews, adopting an integrated retention platform reduces app sprawl and improves the ability to measure and increase LTV. Merchants can compare Growave plans or install Growave from the Shopify App Store to evaluate fit.

Start a 14-day free trial to test how a single retention platform replaces multiple apps and consolidates wishlist, loyalty, reviews, and referrals into one growth engine. Compare Growave plans

FAQ

Q: Which app is easier to set up without developer help? A: Ultimate Wishlist emphasizes UI customization and built-in reporting, making it easier for non-technical merchants to tailor the wishlist experience. Top Advanced Wishlist App also claims code-free installation but leans on its REST API for more advanced setups.

Q: Which app provides better analytics out of the box? A: Ultimate Wishlist includes a dashboard for wishlist adds, page views, and add-to-cart events. Top Advanced Wishlist App exposes data via a REST API, which is powerful but requires engineering to convert into actionable reports.

Q: How does an all-in-one platform compare to specialized apps? A: An integrated platform reduces the number of installed apps, centralizes analytics and customer data, and enables coordinated retention tactics (e.g., rewarding wishlist actions). Consolidation can lower cumulative costs and reduce maintenance time, though it requires evaluating whether an integrated vendor’s feature set matches specialized app capabilities.

Q: If budget is the primary constraint, which should be chosen? A: For the lowest monthly outlay and simple wishlist storage, Top Advanced Wishlist App ($0.99/month) is attractive. If the merchant values analytics, reminders, and localization at modest incremental cost, Ultimate Wishlist offers better immediate value. For a broader strategic investment in retention, comparing the total cost of multiple single-purpose apps to a unified platform is recommended; merchants can consolidate retention features to see price and scope trade-offs.