Stow is an iPhone wishlist app built around following friends and discovering brands. This page compares it with 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 for browsing friends' saves and discovering brands. It has 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 where we'd land.
The table reflects what each app does right now. Stow is ahead on a couple of rows, and those are marked.
| 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, so on price it's a tie. What differs is how each one pays for itself. WishApp spells out how it makes money: affiliate links, with no ads and 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. It's free today, and it's not clear how it stays that way.
On devices it's one-sided. Stow runs on the iPhone and nowhere else. There's no Android app, no real web app and no browser extension, and it isn't built for iPad. There is a Mac version, but it's the iPhone app running through Catalyst on M1 chips rather than a desktop app. WishApp covers iPhone, iPad, Android phone and tablet and macOS, with extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and Safari and a Raycast add-on.
Reservations settle it. Stow has no hidden reservation feature. Its App Store listing, its reviews and its homepage say nothing about reserving, claiming or preventing duplicate gifts, so if two relatives like the same thing on your Stow list, they can both buy it. WishApp exists to prevent exactly that. Friends reserve in secret, the owner never sees who claimed what, and nobody ends up with three of the same gift.
Stow is at its best as a social feed. You follow friends, see what they're saving and browse a community of curated lists, and one reviewer called it 'way better than Pinterest.' It even shows reviews from friends who bought the item, rather than 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 other people's taste is your main goal, Stow does it better.
People like Stow's interface. Early reviewers call it 'gorgeous,' 'clean' and 'easy to use,' and you add an item by sharing a link from the iOS share sheet. That's the only way in, though. With no extension, every save goes through the phone, and one reviewer is already asking for a Chrome or Safari extension. WishApp takes 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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