Best Amazon Wish List Alternatives

Amazon Wish List is the default wishlist many people already have. It works well for Amazon-only shopping within a family that already uses the shop. If that matches your situation, it covers what you need.

This page looks at options for people who want a list without ads or product recommendations. It compares Amazon Wish List with Things To Have across ten practical areas that decide whether a wishlist gets used. It also covers other alternatives worth considering alongside them.

What Amazon Wish List does well

• Most people already have an Amazon account.
• Adding an item takes a single click while you shop on Amazon.
• Amazon tracks saved items and can alert you when a price drops.
• Dedicated registry options are available for occasions like weddings and birthdays.

Why people look for an alternative to Amazon Wish List

Amazon only. Items must be sold on Amazon to be included on your list. A handmade mug from a small shop, a local store, a concert ticket or a second-hand record cannot go on it.

Amazon restricted adding external links and notes to lists. This restriction led many long-time users to move away.

The list sits inside a shop. Recommendations and sponsored products surround the page. Gift givers see store suggestions alongside the items you picked.

Address privacy needs care. Gift givers see part of your shipping address depending on your settings.

Amazon Wish List vs Things To Have

View without an account

Some relatives do not shop on Amazon or want to create another account just to view what you asked for. Extra sign-in screens discourage people from checking your suggestions.

Things To Have. Anyone with the link can open a shared list directly in their browser. Visitors do not need an account or an app to read the items.

Amazon Wish List. A public or shared list can also be viewed in a web browser without an account. Certain features, such as warnings about items already bought, only appear for shoppers who sign in.

Verdict: Even, since both open without an account.

Reservations

Marking an item as reserved prevents duplicate gifts. People buying from a list can see what is already taken.

Things To Have. Visitors can reserve an item when you turn reservations on for that list. Guests sign in to make a reservation.

Amazon Wish List. Shoppers can see which items have already been bought through Amazon.

Verdict: Even, as both show shoppers which items are already taken.

Free, no paywall

Most people use a wishlist a handful of times a year for birthdays or holidays. A monthly subscription rarely makes sense for something used so occasionally.

Things To Have. The entire service is free to use. There is no paywall, and there are no limits on the number of lists or items you can add.

Amazon Wish List. Lists are free to create for anyone with an Amazon account. Amazon earns from the purchases made through them.

Verdict: Even, as neither charges for the list.

No ads

A list that displays extra product suggestions serves the shop. Gift givers can get distracted by commercial suggestions. The list works best when viewers only see the items you chose.

Things To Have. The site has no advertisements and no product recommendations. There is no algorithmic feed pushing other goods to visitors. The page displays the items the author added and nothing else.

Amazon Wish List. The list sits directly inside the Amazon store. It is surrounded by sponsored placements and automated product suggestions.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead.

Any store

Good gift ideas come from small shops and independent websites as well as large retailers. A wishlist should accept items from anywhere so you can collect ideas across the web.

Things To Have. A list accepts links from any online shop. You can paste a link from any website to save the item.

Amazon Wish List. Lists only support items sold on Amazon. Amazon restricted external links and notes, so items from other websites cannot be added.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as Amazon lists only hold Amazon products.

Autofill

Typing a title, price and photo by hand for each item is slow. That manual work is often why people stop adding items to their list.

Things To Have. Pasting a link fills in the title, photo and price without a browser extension. There is also a bookmarklet, an iOS Shortcut and an embeddable save button for shop owners.

Amazon Wish List. Adding an Amazon product fills in its details directly from the store. The list only holds Amazon products, as there has been no link-paste option for other shops since the universal list ended in March 2023.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as it fills in details from any shop link.

Works on any device

A list is shared with family and friends, and not everyone uses the same phone or computer. Any platform an app skips leaves those people out.

Things To Have. It is a website and an installable web app. You can view and manage lists on any phone or computer without installing anything.

Amazon Wish List. Lists work on the Amazon website through standard desktop and mobile browsers. Amazon also provides dedicated apps for both iOS and Android.

Verdict: Even, with both working on phones and computers.

Sort & filter

Long lists get hard to shop from without a way to narrow them down. Sorting by price helps givers stay within a budget. A search option also helps visitors find a specific item quickly.

Things To Have. Any visitor can search a list, set a maximum price and sort by price in either direction without signing in. Prices in different currencies are converted so they compare.

Amazon Wish List. Lists can be sorted by options such as date added, price and priority, and purchased items can be filtered out. Users report that Amazon has changed or trimmed some of these options over the years.

Verdict: Even, since both let viewers sort a list.

Export your data

A list you have built over years should be yours to take elsewhere. Without a direct export option, moving to another service means retyping every item by hand.

Things To Have. You can go to Settings → Data to download a JSON file of your lists at any time. The import tool accepts pasted links as well as .txt, .md or JSON files. It also displays a preview of your items before saving them.

Amazon Wish List. Amazon provides no way to export your lists directly. You can print a copy, but that leaves out the product links. The other route is to request your account data from Amazon.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead.

MCP

The Model Context Protocol, known as MCP, lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT read and update your lists. You can add items or plan gifts by talking to your assistant.

Things To Have. You can connect Claude, ChatGPT or your own agent over MCP to add items, tidy lists and choose gifts for friends you follow. You approve the permissions the assistant receives and can revoke the connection at any time.

Amazon Wish List. Amazon publishes no MCP server, ChatGPT app or Claude connector. Its own help pages and site do not mention one.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as Amazon offers no MCP support for AI assistants.

Final verdict

• You want a free list to send to family who will not sign up: Things To Have lets anyone open your list in a browser without an account. It also allows you to add items from any shop.
• You want what Amazon Wish List is best at (Amazon-only shopping within a family that already uses it): stay with Amazon Wish List. It works well if your relatives already shop there and you only save items from Amazon.

Amazon Wish List, Things To Have and the runners-up

Frequently asked questions

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