Best Giftster Alternatives

Giftster is a family wishlist registry built around private groups. It works well for a closed family circle that exchanges gifts together every year, with tools for child accounts and Secret Santa draws. If that arrangement matches what you need, it may be the right option.

Other people want to share a list using a web link, without asking relatives to join a group. It helps when visitors can search the list directly and filter items by price to suit their budget. This comparison looks at Giftster alongside Things To Have across ten practical areas, as well as several alternative tools.

What Giftster does well

• Private family groups with accounts for children and pets. Members can coordinate within a closed circle.
• A built-in Secret Santa generator for group gift exchanges.
• Over three million members and continuous operation since 2008.
• Apps for iOS and Android, plus a website that syncs across devices.

Why people look for an alternative to Giftster

It is built around groups. Public lists open without an account, but group lists require each member to join. That extra step can turn away relatives who shop least online.

Long lists are hard to shop. Giftster sorts a list by details like price, but offers no search or price filter.

There is no export. Giftster offers no way to print or export a list. It can generate a QR code for sharing, but that does not provide a downloadable backup.

Setup is heavier than the job. A wishlist is used a few times a year. Setting up a group with invitations is a lot of ceremony when a shared link would do.

Giftster vs Things To Have

View without an account

A gift list works best when anyone who might buy from it can open it straight away. An account step turns away relatives who shop online less often.

Things To Have. Anyone with the link can open a shared list in a web browser. Visitors need no account and no app to view the items. A visitor only signs in if they decide to reserve a gift.

Giftster. People without an account can view a public list and mark items as reserved. Group lists still need every member to join with a Giftster account.

Verdict: Even for public lists. Private groups on Giftster still require every member to register.

Reservations

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

Things To Have. You can choose to turn reservations on for any list. Visitors then sign in to reserve an item so others see it is taken.

Giftster. Visitors can reserve items on public lists, and group members can mark items as purchased.

Verdict: Even, as both platforms let shoppers reserve items.

Free, no paywall

A wishlist is used a handful of times a year. A subscription is hard to justify for an occasional tool.

Things To Have. Everything is free, with no paywall. There are no limits on the number of lists or items you can add.

Giftster. The Giftster apps and website are free to use.

Verdict: Even. Neither charges for the core features.

No ads

Recommendations inside a list pull attention away from what the owner asked for. A list without them stays focused on the person.

Things To Have. There are no ads, sponsored products or product recommendations. The site does not use an algorithmic feed. It only displays the items you add.

Giftster. Giftster's listings state that there are no ads or sponsored products in the list itself.

Verdict: Even. Neither puts ads in your list.

Any store

Good gift ideas come from small shops and independent websites as well as big retailers, so a list should accept items from anywhere.

Things To Have. A list accepts a link from any online shop.

Giftster. Giftster accepts items from any shop on the web.

Verdict: Even, as both platforms accept items from any shop.

Autofill

Typing a title, price and photo by hand for each item is slow. It is often the reason people stop adding gifts to a list.

Things To Have. Pasting a link fills in the title, photo and price in your browser with no extension needed. There is also a bookmarklet, an iOS Shortcut and an embeddable save button for shop owners.

Giftster. Its Fetch feature automatically fills in product details from a link from any shop on the web. You can also add items using browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.

Verdict: Even, as both tools automatically fill in item details from a link.

Works on any device

Relatives and friends use a mixture of phones, tablets and computers. A wishlist that runs on only one platform leaves someone out.

Things To Have. It runs as a website and an installable web app. Anyone can view or manage lists in a browser on any device without installing software.

Giftster. Giftster provides apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It also has a website that works in standard web browsers, and updates sync across all of them.

Verdict: Even. Both run on every common device.

Sort & filter

When a list gets long, shoppers need to search for items or narrow them by price. Sorting reorders the items, but people still have to scroll past everything. A filter lets family members view only what fits their budget.

Things To Have. Any visitor, signed in or not, can search a list, set a maximum price, and sort by price either way. When items use different currencies, the values are converted so they compare.

Giftster. Giftster sorts by price, name, store, availability, date added, or star ranking. It offers no search tool to locate items on a list. It also has no filter to hide gifts above a given price.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, since Giftster sorts but cannot filter.

Export your data

Online services can shut down, as Carted did in 2025 and Kit.co did in 2026. A proper export means you keep a personal copy of your gift ideas if an app stops working.

Things To Have. You can export all of your lists at any time under Settings → Data as a JSON file. The platform also has an import tool that accepts pasted links, text files, Markdown files or JSON files. It shows a preview of those items before anything is saved to your account.

Giftster. Giftster provides no tool to export or print a list. You can generate a QR code for sharing lists with other people. That code is not a copy of your data.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, because Giftster has no export.

MCP

The Model Context Protocol lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT read and update your lists. This allows you to 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 your lists and plan gifts. You choose which permissions the assistant receives, and you can revoke access at any time.

Giftster. Giftster publishes no MCP server, ChatGPT app or Claude connector. Its website and help documentation do not mention one.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as Giftster has no MCP support.

Final verdict

• You want a free list with search, a price filter and a data export: Things To Have lets visitors search and filter by price without needing an account. You can also export your lists to a JSON file whenever you want.
• You want what Giftster is best at (a closed family circle that gifts together every year): stay with Giftster. It supports private family groups with child accounts and includes a Secret Santa generator.

Giftster, Things To Have and the runners-up

Frequently asked questions

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