Ultimate Wishlist vs. XB Wishlist: An In-Depth Comparison

Introduction

Choosing the right wishlist app is a surprisingly important decision for merchants. Wishlists help capture purchase intent, shorten the path to conversion, and supply data about what customers want next. Yet the Shopify App Store lists dozens of wishlist tools with overlapping features, different pricing approaches, and varying levels of analytics and integrations. That makes the selection process time-consuming and risky: the wrong pick can lead to low adoption, unexpected costs, or tool sprawl.

Short answer: Ultimate Wishlist is a compact, highly customizable wishlist tool with a clear pricing ladder and strong analytics for stores that want guest lists, language support, and email reminders. XB Wishlist is an elegant, simple wishlist focused on seamless integration and account-based access with a near-perfect rating but fewer reviews. For merchants who want a single, well-supported wishlist only, both apps are solid options depending on the priority (email reminders and reporting vs. simple account integration). For brands aiming to scale retention, a unified retention platform that combines wishlist with loyalty, referrals, and reviews often provides better value for money than adding another single-purpose app.

This article provides an in-depth, objective, feature-by-feature comparison of Ultimate Wishlist (Config Studio) and XB Wishlist (XB) so merchants can decide which solution fits their store today — and when it might make sense to consolidate wishlist capability into a broader retention stack.

Ultimate Wishlist vs. XB Wishlist: At a Glance

Deep-Dive Comparison

What each app promises

Ultimate Wishlist — Positioned features and emphasis

Ultimate Wishlist positions itself as a “fully customizable wishlist app” aimed at merchants who want flexible text and appearance, non-English support, and the ability to capture wishlist behavior without forcing account registration. Its notable selling points include guest wishlist support, customizable email templates and reminders, and an analytics dashboard to track wishlist adds, page views, and conversion events. The app’s pricing tiers explicitly tie limits (wishlist items/month and email reminders) to plan level, which makes cost predictable for many stores.

Key advertised strengths:

• Guest and account-based wishlist support
• Customizable UI and multi-language text
• Email reminders and customizable templates
• Dashboard analytics and reporting
• Social sharing options (Facebook, Twitter, Email)

XB Wishlist — Positioned features and emphasis

XB Wishlist emphasizes simplicity and a frictionless customer experience: easy setup, wishlist access inside customer accounts, and a lightweight UI that matches store design. The app markets itself as a tool to convert saved favorites into repeat purchases and to reduce friction for customers returning to purchase saved items. XB highlights account-based wishlist access and built-in tracking for wishlist activity.

Key advertised strengths:

• Simple setup and integration with Shopify
• Wishlist available from customer account
• Design customization for wishlist button
• Shareable wishlists and basic analytics
• Works with Shopify Flow (automation compatibility)

Feature Comparison

Wishlist creation and access

Ultimate Wishlist:

• Supports both guest wishlists and account-linked wishlists.
• Guests can create lists without logging in; registered users can sync across devices.
• Useful for stores with high guest checkout volumes or those that prioritize ease-of-entry for mobile shoppers.

XB Wishlist:

• Emphasizes wishlist access from the customer account.
• Best for stores that prefer to encourage account creation or already have sign-up incentives.
• Simpler model that ensures lists persist for logged-in customers.

Practical takeaway:

• Choose Ultimate Wishlist to avoid friction for first-time visitors and to capture intent even when customers do not register.
• Choose XB Wishlist if the store’s strategy is built around account-based experiences and loyalty that encourages sign-in.

Customization and UI

Ultimate Wishlist:

• Full control over text and colors; designed to match store aesthetics.
• Non-English support for multi-language storefronts.
• Customizable email templates for reminders.
• Provides more controls around look-and-feel across device types.

XB Wishlist:

• Tailorable wishlist button to match store design.
• Focuses on keeping UI minimal and cohesive with the theme.
• Less emphasis in marketing on deep localization or template customization.

Practical takeaway:

• Stores requiring deep localization or extensive email templating get better immediate value from Ultimate Wishlist.
• Stores wanting a design-light, minimal integration can get what they need from XB.

Sharing, Social, and Reminders

Ultimate Wishlist:

• Share via Facebook, Twitter, and Email.
• Email reminders available on paid plans with send limits tied to plan tier.
• Customizable email templates allow branding and targeted messaging for wishlist reminders.

XB Wishlist:

• Allows wishlist sharing and mentions tracking of wishlist activity.
• No public mention of advanced email reminder templates; emphasis stays on saving and sharing.

Practical takeaway:

• If email reminders are a core tactic for reclaiming wishlist abandoners, Ultimate Wishlist provides built-in tools for this out of the box.
• If social sharing and account persistence are enough, XB’s sharing + account model may suffice.

Analytics and Reporting

Ultimate Wishlist:

• Highlights a “powerful dashboard” that reports wishlist adds, page views, and added-to-cart events.
• Clear emphasis on using wishlist analytics to focus promotions on desired products and variants.
• Paid tiers do not appear to expand analytics but may unlock pixel integration.

XB Wishlist:

• Mentions “track wishlist activity with built-in analytics.”
• Lacks the same level of detail in public documentation about variant-level metrics or exportable reports.

Practical takeaway:

• Ultimate Wishlist advertises a stronger analytics story for merchants who want to act on wishlist data.
• XB Wishlist provides baseline tracking that may be adequate for small stores but might require supplementary analytics for deep segmentation.

Integrations and automation

Ultimate Wishlist:

• Premium plan includes Facebook Pixel integration, which helps connect wishlist events to ad platforms.
• Public documentation does not list wide integrations with email or CRM tools; data exports appear limited to app dashboard for reporting.

XB Wishlist:

• States compatibility with Shopify Flow, which enables automation based on wishlist events.
• Compatibility with Shopify Flow can be powerful for merchants on Shopify Plus or who use automation to trigger flows (e.g., tagging customers who add expensive items to wishlist).

Practical takeaway:

• Stores running paid ads and wanting pixel-based retargeting get a benefit from Ultimate Wishlist’s pixel integration.
• Stores invested in Shopify Flow or automation can leverage XB Wishlist’s Flow compatibility to build custom triggers and workflows.

Performance and store speed

Neither developer publishes independent benchmark scores in the app descriptions. Practical considerations:

• Both apps are built to embed wishlist buttons and modal experiences into storefronts; poorly implemented scripts can impact front-end performance.
• Ultimate Wishlist’s extra features (guest storage, email reminders) may introduce slightly more complexity on install, but mature apps mitigate speed impact through asynchronous loading and best practice code.
• XB Wishlist’s simpler feature set suggests smaller script footprint, which can be marginally better for speed-sensitive storefronts.

Practical takeaway:

• Test either app on a staging theme to evaluate any perceived page load impact, especially on mobile. A fast UX is critical to maintaining conversion rates.

Pricing & Value

Ultimate Wishlist pricing (explicit)

Ultimate Wishlist publishes four plans with clear usage caps and feature tiers:

• 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 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.

Value assessment:

• Clear tiers map to usage-driven growth, making it predictable for merchants to choose a plan aligned with wishlist volume and reminder needs.
• Free tier provides a no-cost testing environment; upgrading unlocks higher reminder capacity and pixel integration.

XB Wishlist pricing (not publicly listed)

XB Wishlist does not list pricing in the provided data. That can mean several things:

• Pricing may be reactive or offered via app store listing only once installed.
• The developer may tailor pricing by store size or provide a free/paid tier but not publish it clearly.
• Lack of transparent pricing complicates budgeting and can slow evaluation for cost-sensitive stores.

Value assessment:

• For merchants who prefer immediate price clarity, the absence of public pricing is a drawback.
• For stores that value a quick install and small feature set, XB may still be a low-cost option — but the unknown requires follow-up.

Comparing value for money

When evaluating value, consider:

• Feature needs (guest lists, email reminders, analytics, pixel)
• Projected wishlist volume and required email reminder volume
• The cost of maintaining separate single-purpose apps vs. the incremental cost of an integrated platform later

Ultimate Wishlist offers transparent, predictable pricing geared toward merchants who will use reminders and reporting. That makes it easier to forecast ROI. XB Wishlist may still be better value for stores that need a lightweight wishlist and whose costs remain low, but the lack of published pricing increases friction during evaluation.

Integrations & Ecosystem Fit

Ultimate Wishlist ecosystem fit

• Facebook Pixel available on Premium plan for ad tracking and retargeting.
• No extensive public list of integrations to email providers or CRMs, which means merchants may need to rely on manual exports or custom work to connect wishlist data to a marketing platform.

XB Wishlist ecosystem fit

• Works with Shopify Flow, which is a powerful automation engine available on certain Shopify plans or via add-ons. Shopify Flow support gives XB Wishlist the ability to plug into automation triggers without custom code.
• Limited publicly available integrational claims beyond Shopify core.

Practical takeaway:

• Stores using advanced automation and already invested in Shopify Flow may find XB Wishlist fits better into existing automation strategies.
• Stores relying on ad retargeting or wanting pixel-based remarketing may prefer Ultimate Wishlist’s pixel support.

Support, Reviews, and Trust Signals

Ratings and review volume

• Ultimate Wishlist: 34 reviews, 4.9 rating.
• XB Wishlist: 19 reviews, 5.0 rating.
• Growave (for context as an alternative): 1,197 reviews, 4.8 rating.

Interpretation:

• Both wishlist apps have excellent ratings, indicating strong satisfaction among the stores that left reviews.
• Ultimate Wishlist has nearly double the review volume of XB (34 vs. 19), which provides slightly more social proof and data points about real-world usage.
• High ratings alone do not capture response time, issue complexity, or support quality at scale; merchant diligence is still required.

Support expectations

• Smaller apps often offer quick, hands-on support, but response time varies.
• Public review text (not provided here) should be checked for common threads: install ease, bug frequency, responsiveness to bugs, and update cadence.

Practical takeaway:

• Read recent reviews and look for trends in support responsiveness and feature requests being implemented.
• If post-install support and ongoing improvements are critical, choose the vendor with a review history that shows active maintenance and responsive developers.

Security, Data Ownership, and Compliance

Both apps operate within the Shopify ecosystem and are therefore constrained by Shopify’s platform security and data handling rules. Still, merchants should consider:

• How wishlist data is stored for guests vs. logged-in users.
• If email reminders are sent from the app’s infrastructure, review any data processing or third-party email provider relationships.
• Pixel integration and analytics events should comply with the merchant’s privacy policy and any applicable regulations.

Practical takeaway:

• Review each app’s privacy policy and data processing addenda before installing if GDPR or other privacy compliance is a concern.
• Confirm whether email unsubscribe handling and opt-in flows meet legal requirements.

Real-World Use Cases — Which App Fits Which Merchant

• Merchants that want to capture wishlist intent without forcing account creation:
  • Ultimate Wishlist: guest wishlist feature, cross-device sync for registered users, email reminders.
• Merchants who prioritize a frictionless account-based wishlist with minimal UI overhead:
  • XB Wishlist: account-centric access, simple integration and Flow support.
• Merchants needing pixel-based retargeting and email reminder automation without a larger retention suite:
  • Ultimate Wishlist (Premium plan) for pixel integration and built-in reminders.
• Merchants with automation-driven lifecycle marketing that depend on Shopify Flow triggers:
  • XB Wishlist: explicit Shopify Flow compatibility enables event-driven workflows.
• Large brands who want to consolidate retention and loyalty tools later:
  • Both apps work for narrow wishlist needs, but merchants should evaluate whether adding multiple single-purpose apps will increase long-term maintenance and integration costs.

Strengths and Weaknesses — Condensed

• Ultimate Wishlist
  • Strengths:
    • Clear pricing tiers and free plan
    • Guest wishlist support and cross-device sync
    • Email reminders with customizable templates
    • Analytics dashboard and premium pixel integration
    • High rating (4.9) with 34 reviews
  • Weaknesses:
    • Limited public integrations beyond pixel
    • Potentially heavier feature set for stores that only need a simple wishlist
• XB Wishlist
  • Strengths:
    • Clean, account-based wishlist UX
    • Simple setup and design integration
    • Shopify Flow compatibility for automation
    • Perfect rating (5.0) with 19 reviews
  • Weaknesses:
    • Pricing not publicly listed (adds evaluation friction)
    • Less public detail on advanced analytics or email reminder capabilities

Decision Guide: How to Choose Between Them

Consider the following when choosing:

• If email reminders, non-English support, and turnkey analytics are essential, Ultimate Wishlist offers immediate value and clear pricing.
• If the store’s strategy relies on incentivizing accounts, using Shopify Flow-based automations, and keeping UI minimal, XB Wishlist is a solid, focused choice.
• If pricing transparency is a priority before install, Ultimate Wishlist’s published plans remove guesswork.
• If the wishlist is one small piece of a larger retention strategy (loyalty, referrals, reviews), evaluate whether adding another single-purpose app increases long-term complexity and cost.

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

The problem of app fatigue

Merchants often face “app fatigue”: the cumulative complexity, cost, and maintenance burden of installing many single-purpose apps to achieve basic retention capabilities. Common pain points include:

• Multiple billing lines for features that overlap across apps.
• Data siloing — wishlist events live in one app, loyalty points in another, and reviews in a third, making cross-channel segmentation harder.
• Integration overhead and the need for custom connectors to surface aggregated customer insights.
• Increased theme and storefront performance risks from many embedded scripts and widgets.

When the goal is to increase retention, customer lifetime value (LTV), and repeat purchases, relying on a single-purpose wishlist app can be an efficient short-term decision but a limit to scaling an integrated retention strategy.

Growave’s “More Growth, Less Stack” proposition

Growave positions itself as a multi-function retention platform that combines wishlist, loyalty and rewards, referrals, reviews & UGC, and VIP tiers into a single suite. The idea is to reduce tool sprawl so merchants can focus on growing repeat purchase behavior rather than integrating point solutions.

Core benefits to evaluate:

• Consolidate retention features into one platform to reduce monthly app count and integration complexity. Merchants can consider the cost and complexity of multiple apps versus a single platform that includes a wishlist alongside loyalty and reviews.
• Centralized customer profiles that combine wishlist signals with reward behavior and review activity, enabling richer segmentation for targeted campaigns.
• Native integrations with popular marketing and support tools to ensure wishlist events tie directly into email flows and automated experiences.

For merchants investigating consolidation, review the pricing and install options carefully. Growave’s pricing pages explain plan tiers and included features; for a clear understanding of which tier aligns with order volume and growth plans, see the Growave pricing information at consolidate retention features.

How an integrated approach changes outcomes

An integrated stack changes the growth playbook in three practical ways:

• Better orchestration of incentives:
  • Wishlist data can be used to trigger personalized reward offers or to promote VIP status for customers who frequently add high-value items.
  • For example, a merchant can reward customers who convert a wishlist into a purchase with discretionary points rather than running a separate loyalty import flow.
• Stronger attribution and lifecycle automation:
  • When wishlist adds are native events in the same platform, it’s easier to combine them with referral conversions and review activity to build lifetime value models.
  • That reduces manual customer segmentation work and improves the ROI of retention campaigns.
• Lower overhead for maintenance and compliance:
  • Fewer vendor relationships to manage, simpler consent and data governance, and a single centralized support path for issues across loyalty, reviews, and wishlist.

For merchants evaluating consolidation, a good starting point is to compare the combined monthly cost and operational effort of the current toolset against a single platform that includes wishlist plus loyalty and reviews. More details on the feature set and how it supports loyalty initiatives can be found by exploring how Growave supports loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases.

Growave feature highlights relevant to wishlist users

• Integrated wishlist functionality that ties wishlist activity to customer profiles, enabling reward triggers and cross-channel campaigns.
• Native loyalty and referral programs to convert saved interest into repeat purchases.
• Review collection and display tools that turn wishlist converts and satisfied customers into social proof.
• Support for multi-language stores and Shopify Plus capabilities for larger brands.
• Links to the reviews solution and examples of social proof management are available to evaluate how reviews and wishlists work together to increase conversions — see how merchants collect and showcase authentic reviews.

Practical notes on switching to an integrated platform:

• Migration: wishlist data and customer preferences should be exportable from single-purpose apps. Check export options before uninstalling.
• Incremental rollout: enable wishlist and test loyalty features in a staging environment before flipping live changes.
• Measurement: compare baseline wishlist conversion rates and repeat-purchase rates before and after consolidation to quantify impact.

Integrations and enterprise fit

Growave offers a broad set of integrations with common marketing and support tools, lowering the need for custom connections. Examples include Klaviyo and Omnisend for email flows and Recharge for subscription businesses. For merchants on Shopify Plus, Growave exposes capabilities that help scale reward logic and checkout extensions; see examples of solutions targeted at larger stores by exploring details for solutions for high-growth Plus brands.

If immediate hands-on support and strategic onboarding are required, Growave also highlights customer success resources and dedicated launch plans at higher-tier plans. Merchants curious about how the platform could replace or complement existing tools can view customer stories for inspiration at customer stories from brands scaling retention.

Comparing total cost of ownership (TCO)

When estimating TCO, consider:

• Monthly subscription fees for each single-purpose app (for example: wishlist app + loyalty app + reviews app).
• Time and development effort required to integrate events across apps and ensure data flows into email and ad platforms.
• The incremental revenue gained by combining signals (e.g., wishlist + reviews + loyalty) into higher LTV.

For many mid-market merchants, consolidating into a single platform becomes both a financial and operational win once the store reaches consistent monthly order volumes. Evaluate cost side-by-side by using the vendor pricing pages and matching them to expected monthly order volumes and required features. The Growave pricing page provides the plan breakdown merchants need to compare against a multi-app stack: consolidate retention features.

Two contextual examples of how wishlist + loyalty + reviews work together

• Converting saved items into purchases:
  • An integrated platform can trigger a targeted reward (percentage discount or points) when a merchant detects a high-intent wishlist event combined with price drops. That leverages wishlist data, loyalty incentives, and email automation without cross-app friction.
• Using reviews to nudge wishlist conversions:
  • A merchant can surface recent positive reviews on product pages where wishlist activity is high, improving social proof precisely where customers have expressed interest.

Both scenarios demonstrate why a merchant might prefer one integrated tool over multiple single-purpose apps: the outcomes are achieved faster, with fewer moving parts and clearer attribution.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Ultimate Wishlist and XB Wishlist, the decision comes down to specific priorities:

• Ultimate Wishlist is a strong choice for stores that need guest wishlist support, clear pricing with predictable usage caps, built-in email reminders, and a dashboard for wishlist analytics. Its published plans ($0 to $14.99/month) make budgeting straightforward, and features like non-English support and pixel integration on the premium tier address common merchandising and marketing needs.
• XB Wishlist suits merchants who prioritize a lightweight, account-based wishlist that integrates directly with Shopify Flow and emphasizes ease of setup and a tidy UX. Its perfect rating signals satisfied users, but the lack of publicly posted pricing adds friction to the evaluation process.

Both apps are credible options for stores with relatively focused wishlist needs. However, merchants whose primary objective is to increase retention and lifetime value across multiple channels should consider an integrated retention platform instead of adding yet another single-purpose app.

Growave offers a single platform that bundles wishlist with loyalty, referrals, and reviews, reducing the number of apps to manage while enabling coordinated retention strategies. For merchants looking to replace multiple point solutions and reduce operational overhead, explore how to consolidate retention features and build integrated programs like loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases. See how wishlist signals combine with reviews and rewards to boost LTV and repeat orders by learning how to collect and showcase authentic reviews.

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

FAQ

How do Ultimate Wishlist and XB Wishlist differ in handling guest users?

Ultimate Wishlist supports guest wishlists, allowing customers to save items without registering and giving merchants a way to capture intent from anonymous sessions. XB Wishlist focuses on account-based wishlist access, which ensures persistence for logged-in customers but requires registration for cross-device syncing.

Which app provides better analytics for merchandising decisions?

Ultimate Wishlist emphasizes a “powerful dashboard” with metrics such as wishlist adds, page views, and added-to-cart events — useful for deciding which products to promote. XB Wishlist includes built-in analytics for tracking wishlist activity but provides less public detail about variant-level or exportable reporting.

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

An all-in-one platform reduces tool sprawl and centralizes customer data so wishlist signals can directly trigger loyalty, referral, and review workflows. That integrated approach can improve targeting, lower monthly overhead, and make measurement simpler. Merchants interested in this consolidation can evaluate combined features like loyalty and rewards that drive repeat purchases and integrated review management to see how wishlist events feed broader retention programs; for more detail on review capabilities see collect and showcase authentic reviews.

If pricing transparency matters, which app is easier to evaluate?

Ultimate Wishlist publishes a clear pricing ladder and usage limits, making it straightforward to forecast costs. XB Wishlist does not have pricing included in the provided data, which means merchants should consult the app listing or developer to get precise costs before committing. For an alternative that lists plans and included features across order volumes, review the Growave plan options to compare total cost of ownership and feature coverage: consolidate retention features.