Stow is the iPhone wishlist app built around following friends and discovering brands. Here is how it stacks up against WishApp on devices, sharing, and the gift coordination that decides which one you keep.
Last updated: June 2026
Looking for a Stow alternative? Stow is a polished, iPhone-only app built for browsing friends' saves and discovering brands, with no gift reservations and no Android or web version. WishApp is free forever, works on phones, desktops and five browsers, and hides reservations so nobody buys duplicates. Among Stow alternatives, WishApp is the one we'd pick.
Every row reflects what each app actually does today. Stow genuinely wins a couple, so we marked those too.
| Feature | Stow | WishApp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & value | ||
| Free forever, no subscription | Free | Free |
| Unlimited lists and items | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| No ads, no data selling | Unclear | Guaranteed |
| Platforms & devices | ||
| iPhone app | Yes | Yes |
| Android app | None | Phone + tablet |
| Web app | No | Yes |
| Browser extensions | None | Five browsers |
| iPad layout | iPhone only | Yes |
| Sharing & privacy | ||
| Share a list with friends | Yes | Yes |
| Friends view without the app | Unconfirmed | Link only |
| More than one language | English only | 26 languages |
| Gifting features | ||
| Hidden reservations (owner cannot see) | None | Yes |
| Duplicate-gift prevention | No | Yes |
| Secret Santa / gift exchange | No | Yes |
| Reserved and received tracking | No | Yes |
| Discovery & ease of use | ||
| Social discovery feed | Yes | Curated only |
| Follow friends' lists | Yes | Yes |
| Friend-sourced reviews | Yes | Not offered |
| Save from any store by link | Share sheet | Auto-fills |
Both apps are free, with no subscription and no in-app purchases. That part is a tie. The difference is what sits behind the price. WishApp tells you exactly how it makes money: affiliate links, no ads, no data selling. Stow's App Store privacy card lists contact info, identifiers and usage data, and the app has no stated business model yet. Free today, but it's not clear how it stays that way.
This one's lopsided. Stow runs on the iPhone and nowhere else. No Android app, no real web app, no browser extension, and it isn't built for iPad. There's a Mac version, but it's the iPhone app running through Catalyst on M1 chips, not a desktop app. WishApp goes the other way: iPhone, iPad, Android phone and tablet, macOS, plus extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari, and a Raycast add-on.
This is the decisive gap. Stow has no hidden reservation feature. Nothing in its App Store listing, its reviews, or its homepage mentions reserving, claiming, or preventing duplicate gifts. So if two relatives both like the same thing on your Stow list, they can both buy it. WishApp's whole reason for existing is the opposite: friends reserve in secret, the owner never sees who claimed what, and nobody ends up with three of the same gift.
Here's where Stow earns its keep. It's built around a social feed: follow friends, see what they're saving, and browse a community of curated lists. One reviewer called it 'way better than Pinterest.' It even surfaces reviews from friends who actually bought the item, not sponsored ones. WishApp has a curated Discover feed and lets you follow lists, but it doesn't try to be a social shopping network. If browsing taste is your main goal, Stow does it better.
Stow's interface is genuinely well liked. Early reviewers call it 'gorgeous,' 'clean,' and 'easy to use,' and adding an item means sharing a link from the iOS share sheet. The catch is there's no other way in. No extension, so every save runs through the phone. One reviewer is already asking for a Chrome or Safari extension. WishApp grabs any product link and fills in the title, image and price, or saves it in one click from the browser while you shop on a laptop.
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