The whole shopping lifecycle, compared.
Wishlist apps stop when you buy; the trackers only start after. Here's WantHave against both halves — sourced from each app's own docs and audited against our shipped features. Where a rival matches or beats us, we mark it.
| WantHave | Babylist | Amazon | Elfster | Shop | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before you buy | |||||
| Custom, templated public page1 | ✓ | ◐ | — | — | — |
| Build a list together with friends2 | ✓ | ◐ | — | — | — |
| Follow friends, save from their lists3 | ✓ | — | — | ◐ | — |
| Price-drop alerts | ✓ | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Save from any store4 | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | — |
| Public list anyone can open — no account | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | — |
| Reserve a gift with no account | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | — | — |
| Keeps the surprise hidden from you | ✓ | ? | ◐ | ✓ | — |
| Group gifting — chip in together5 | ✓ | ✓ | — | ◐ | — |
| After you buy | |||||
| Return windows & warranties, flagged8 | ✓ | — | ◐ | — | — |
| A digital closet of what you own | ✓ | — | — | — | — |
| Subscriptions in one place | ✓ | — | — | — | — |
| Discount codes auto-saved | ✓ | — | — | — | — |
| Receipts captured from your inbox6 | ✓ | — | ◐ | — | ✓ |
| Live tracking, every carrier7 | ✓ | — | ◐ | — | ◐ |
| Searchable purchase history | ✓ | — | ◐ | — | ◐ |
| Both | |||||
| Free, no ads | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ included · ◐ partly / with caveats · — not offered · ? not confirmed. Compared against each app's own docs, June 2026.
- Custom page: WantHave lets you pick a template plus accent color and type; registries offer a cover photo / preset theme, not template + type control.
- Build together: WantHave invites collaborators to co-edit a list (editor / viewer roles). Babylist supports a partner co-registrant; the others are single-owner.
- Follow: WantHave has a feed of people you follow and one-tap save to your own list. Elfster has gift-exchange circles, not an open feed.
- Universal add (extensions + bookmarklet + paste-scrape) exists; the browser extensions aren't published to the stores yet.
- Group gifting: friends pledge toward a big gift and settle up directly with each other — WantHave coordinates the split and keeps the surprise, but never holds the money. Babylist runs a cash fund and processes the payments itself.
- Receipts: Shop and Route also scan a connected inbox; WantHave's edge is the depth (full cross-store history + closet + codes + subscriptions), not the scan itself.
- Tracking: Shop is reliable for Shopify / Shop-Pay orders; other retailers via the email scan are often manual.
- Return & warranty alerts: WantHave nudges you before a return window or warranty expires, across every store it sees. Amazon shows return eligibility only on its own orders, and doesn't track warranties.