Best wishlist apps: what to look for
"Best" depends entirely on what you're trying to do. Here's what each of the main options actually offers, so you can match the app to the job.
9 min readUpdated September 1, 2026
In short
- No single app is objectively best — match the app to what you're actually organising
- Twish, Giftster, MyRegistry, Babylist, GoWish, Wisher and Things To Get Me all work with any store
- Amazon Lists only supports Amazon products
- Twish and GoWish hide reservations from the list owner with no reveal option
- MyRegistry and Babylist are built for registries, not everyday personal wishlists
There's no single best wishlist app — a baby registry, a family Christmas list, and a personal birthday wishlist all want different things. What follows is what each major option actually does, checked against their own public information rather than assumed, so you can pick based on what you actually need.
What makes a good wishlist app
A handful of dimensions separate these apps more than anything else:
- Whether it supports products from any store, or only one retailer.
- How it's shared — a link, an invite, a group.
- Whether guests need an account to view the list or reserve something.
- Whether there's a reservation step at all, separate from an actual purchase.
- Whether reservations stay hidden from the list owner, and for how long.
- Whether it supports multiple separate lists per person.
- Whether it's built around families or groups, not just individuals.
- Whether it's specialised for a particular event, like a wedding or baby registry.
- Whether it can import an existing list from elsewhere.
Twish
Twish is a universal wishlist app — save products from any online store by pasting a link, or add items manually. Each person can keep multiple wishlists (one per occasion or recipient), share each with a single link, and let guests reserve a gift with just an email — no account needed on either side. Reservations stay hidden from the wishlist owner by design, with no option to reveal them later; a delivery address can optionally be shared, but only with someone who's reserved a gift. Free during its current MVP stage.
Suits: everyday personal and family wishlists — birthdays, holidays, general "what do you want" occasions — where keeping the surprise fully intact matters more than tracking who gave what.
Amazon Lists
Amazon's own wish lists (rebranded from "Wish List" to "Lists") support Private, Shared, and Public visibility, with Public lists searchable on Amazon. Since a March 2023 change, Lists no longer support adding items from outside Amazon. When someone buys a listed item, other visitors can see it's purchased; the list owner can turn on "Don't spoil my surprises," which is enabled by default and hides purchases from them for a period of time.
Suits: anyone whose gifting genuinely centres on Amazon and doesn't need products from other retailers.
Giftster
Giftster is a free, group-based wish-list app built around family and friend circles. Purchases are hidden from the list owner but visible to other members of the group. A public list can be viewed, and items marked as purchased, by a guest without a Giftster account. Its "Fetch" tool adds items from a product link on any site, and it includes child accounts for managing kids' lists and a built-in Secret Santa draw.
Suits: extended families or friend groups who want one shared space for everyone's lists, plus built-in Secret Santa organising.
Elfster
Elfster is primarily a Secret Santa and gift-exchange coordinator, with wishlists built to support that — automated name drawing, group messaging, and support for large groups. It's free, ad-supported, and lets participants add items from many retailers, though it's centred on the exchange rather than functioning as a standalone personal wishlist.
Suits: organising an office or friend-group Secret Santa exchange specifically, more than an everyday personal wishlist.
MyRegistry
MyRegistry is a universal gift-registry platform, mainly for weddings, baby showers and similar major events. A browser extension adds items from virtually any retailer with one click, and it can also sync with registries you've already started at major stores. It's free to use.
Suits: registry-style occasions — a wedding or baby shower — more than a recurring personal or family wishlist.
Babylist
Babylist is a free, baby-registry-specific app that lets you add products from any store, compares prices for the same item across sellers, and supports cash funds paid out via PayPal or Venmo rather than converted to store credit. It also supports non-product requests, like meal deliveries or a newborn photography session.
Suits: expecting parents building a baby registry specifically, especially if cash funds or non-product gifts matter.
GoWish
GoWish is a mobile-first digital wishlist with no restriction on which store an item comes from, sharing via SMS, WhatsApp, email and similar apps, and reservations that stay visible to other guests but hidden from the list owner. It also has a built-in discovery feed for browsing gift ideas, and has grown quickly — past 13.6 million registered users.
Suits: individuals who want a personal wishlist plus a way to discover gift ideas inside the same app.
Wisher (also known as Wishr)
Wisher is a free wishlist app with a Chrome/Edge browser extension for saving items from any store, an AI-based gift-finder feature, and price tracking that alerts you when a saved item drops in price. Reservations stay hidden from the person whose list it is until after the occasion, and guests can reserve a gift without creating an account.
Suits: anyone who wants price-drop tracking built into the same tool as their wishlist.
Things To Get Me
Things To Get Me is a free, privacy-first wishlist maker that doesn't require signing up at all — lists work via unique, unguessable links, with no personal information collected unless you choose to create an account for managing multiple lists. Guests can tick off items they're getting; by default the owner can't see who ticked what until they open a separate "Reveal" section after the occasion, which can also be disabled entirely for a permanent surprise. A browser plugin supports adding items from any site.
Suits: anyone who wants the lowest possible friction for guests — including the option to see who gave what afterward, for thank-you notes, without losing the surprise beforehand.
See how Twish compares in practice
Frequently asked questions
More gift ideas
Amazon Wishlist alternatives for gifts from more than one store
For when what you actually want isn't all sold by one retailer.
7 min read
Giftster alternatives for sharing wishlists
Different sharing models and interfaces worth knowing about, fairly compared.
7 min read
How to make one wishlist from different stores
One list, every store you actually shop — instead of five separate registries.
6 min read