Giftster has run family gift exchanges since 2008 and counts millions of members. We compared its group model, Secret Santa and child accounts with WishApp on price, devices and ads, and on the sign-up step, which is what decides whether your family sticks with an app.
Last updated: June 2026
Looking for a Giftster alternative? Giftster is a mature, free family-group app with Secret Santa, child accounts and a birthday calendar, but it shows Google ads and makes every relative sign up to view a list. WishApp is free and has no ads. Friends open your list from one link without downloading anything, and reserve gifts in secret. Among Giftster alternatives, WishApp is our pick.
Each row shows what the apps do today. Giftster comes out ahead on a few, and we marked those as well.
| Feature | Giftster | WishApp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & value | ||
| Free, no paid tier | Free | Free forever |
| No ads | Google ads | No ads |
| Unlimited lists and items | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Platforms & devices | ||
| iPhone, iPad and Android apps | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
| macOS desktop app | iOS app on Mac | Yes |
| Browser extensions | Four browsers | Six browsers |
| Raycast quick-add | No | Yes |
| Sharing & privacy | ||
| View a shared list without an account | Public lists only | Yes |
| QR code for a list | No | Yes |
| Multiple currencies | USD-centric | All currencies |
| More than one language | English only | 26 languages |
| Gifting & group features | ||
| Hidden reservations (owner cannot see) | Yes | Yes |
| Secret Santa name draw | Built in | Yes |
| Birthday calendar | Yes | Not offered |
| Child and pet accounts | Yes | Not offered |
| Collaborative adult lists | Child lists only | Yes |
| Ease of use | ||
| Add from any store by pasting a link | Fetch is flaky | Auto-fills |
| Save a product in one click while browsing | Yes | Yes |
| Received tracking with personal notes | Basic archive | With notes |
Both apps are free, with no paid tier and unlimited lists. The difference is ads. WishApp makes its money only from affiliate links and never shows ads. Giftster takes affiliate commissions too, but journalists at WRDW and ABC 6 News confirmed Google display ads inside the app over the 2024 holidays. Neither costs you money. Giftster just takes some of your attention in return.
Close call. Giftster has solid iPhone, iPad and Android apps, plus extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge that all arrived in 2024. WishApp has the same apps and two more browsers, Brave and Opera, along with a real macOS app and a Raycast add-on. Giftster's iOS app does run on Apple Silicon Macs, but there's no purpose-built desktop version and no Raycast.
This is Giftster's biggest drawback. The app is built around a closed family group, and you need a Giftster account to view a list shared in a group. Reviews mention less tech-savvy relatives getting stuck at sign-up. With WishApp you open a link, see the whole list and reserve a gift in seconds. WishApp also has QR codes, every currency and 26 languages, while Giftster is English-only and US-centric. Its App Store privacy labels say data may be collected.
Giftster earns its keep here. The family-group model works well: everyone keeps a list in one shared space, with a birthday calendar, child and pet accounts, secret item suggestions and a Secret Santa draw that even the organizer can't see. WishApp has Secret Santa and hidden reservations as well, plus collaborative adult lists, which Giftster lacks. It has no birthday calendar or child accounts, though. For a big family spanning several generations, Giftster does more.
Giftster feels familiar and works well once the group is set up, and its iOS app holds 4.8 stars from 18,000 ratings. Reliability is the weak spot. Fetch auto-fill and photo upload get repeated complaints (one Dec 2024 review: 'I can't even get it to pull up the upload photo option'), and users report being logged out at random. WishApp uses a dedicated server-side scraper to pull the title, image and price from any link, and the extension saves a product in one click.
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