Wishlist.com has been around since 1998, the same year Google launched, and it owns one of the best domains on the web. So how does it do against WishApp on ads, hidden reservations, the apps you can use, and coordinating gifts?
Last updated: June 2026
Looking for a Wishlist.com alternative? Wishlist.com is one of the oldest universal wishlists. It's free, has a famous domain and supports PayPal cash gifts, but it shows ads and doesn't hide reservations, so the surprise leaks to the list owner. WishApp is free with no ads, hides reservations, and has Secret Santa. Of the Wishlist.com alternatives, WishApp is our pick.
The rows cover what each app does now. Wishlist.com wins some of them, and we've marked where.
| Feature | Wishlist.com | WishApp |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & value | ||
| Free forever, no subscription | Free | Free forever |
| Unlimited lists and items | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| No ads | AdSense + targeting | No ads |
| PayPal cash contributions | Yes | Not offered |
| Platforms & devices | ||
| iPhone and Android apps | Both, freshly rebuilt | Both |
| macOS desktop app | Not verified | Yes |
| Browser extensions | Chrome, Firefox, Safari | Five browsers |
| Raycast quick-add | No | Yes |
| Actively maintained extensions | Safari stale since 2022 | All current |
| Sharing & privacy | ||
| Share with one link | Yes | Yes |
| Friends view without an account | Yes | Yes |
| Hidden reservations (owner cannot see) | Owner can see | Hidden |
| QR code sharing | No | Yes |
| Gifting & group features | ||
| Secret Santa / gift exchange | No | Yes |
| Group gifting / chip-in | PayPal cash only | Yes |
| Collaborative lists | No co-owners | Yes |
| Public list discovery | Browse and follow | Not offered |
| Ease of use | ||
| Add from any store by pasting a link | Auto-fills | Auto-fills |
| Save a product in one click while browsing | Yes | Yes |
| Modern, polished interface | Web feels dated | Modern |
Both apps are free, so the question is what pays for them. Wishlist.com runs Google AdSense and, according to its own privacy policy, uses targeted advertising and tracking cookies. WishApp earns only from affiliate links and has no ads, tracking pixels or data selling. Wishlist.com does have one thing WishApp lacks: PayPal cash contributions, so friends can chip in money toward a pricey gift.
Wishlist.com rebuilt its mobile apps in late 2025 and now has iPhone and Android versions, plus Chrome, Firefox and Safari extensions. That's real coverage. The new apps are early and have open bug reports, though, the Safari extension hasn't been touched since January 2022, and there's no verified macOS app. WishApp covers iPhone, iPad, Android, macOS, five maintained browser extensions and Raycast, so your list is the same wherever you open it.
Here's the biggest gap. In both apps, friends open a shared link without an account. But Wishlist.com marks items as reserved or purchased so other buyers can see what's taken, and nothing in its listings says the list owner is kept from seeing that, so the surprise leaks. WishApp hides reservations completely, and the owner never sees who claimed what. WishApp also has QR codes and collects no ad data, while Wishlist.com uses AdSense and targeting cookies.
WishApp does more for group coordination. It runs Secret Santa with name pairing, lets several people co-manage one list, and supports group gifting where buyers split a single item. Wishlist.com has none of that. There's no name draw and no co-owners, and its only chip-in option is a PayPal cash contribution that also shows everyone's name. Wishlist.com comes out ahead on public discovery, with browsable lists you can follow, which is handy for influencers.
Both apps are good at adding items. Paste a URL and either one pulls in the title, image and price, and both have a one-click browser extension. Wishlist.com even has its own internal search across 300M products. Where they differ is polish. Reviewers call the Wishlist.com web interface dated, and the new mobile app had a cross-account login bug in early 2026. WishApp's apps are modern native builds with no reported login security issues.
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