Best Chestr Alternatives
Chestr is a universal shopping wishlist that notifies you about price drops. It works well if you want to save products from different websites and track discounts for yourself. If that is all you need, it is a straightforward option.
This guide is for people who want to share gift lists with family and friends. Those lists work best when relatives can reserve items, so two people do not buy the same gift. This page compares Chestr with Things To Have across ten practical criteria, alongside other alternatives worth considering.
What Chestr does well
- You can save items from any website in a single click using the Chrome extension or iPhone app.
- It tracks prices and sends notifications about discounts.
- Wishlists synchronise between mobile devices and the web.
- It is entirely free to use, with no paywall.
Why people look for an alternative to Chestr
It is a personal tracker. Chestr is built for items you want to buy yourself. Its site does not mention shared gift coordination or reserving items.
Discounts are the point, with alerts for price drops and restocks. This serves a different purpose from a list shared with family.
Narrow around gifting. Its documentation does not describe any tools to prevent duplicate presents.
Chestr vs Things To Have
View without an account
A wishlist is only useful to family members if they can open it straight away. A signup screen stops the people least likely to push through one.
Things To Have. Anyone with the link can open a list directly in a web browser. Visitors do not need an account or an app to view what is on it.
Chestr. Chestr allows users to share wishlists and set privacy options on them. Its public documentation does not state whether a visitor must register to view a shared list.
Verdict: Unclear, because Chestr does not document it.
Reservations
Reserving an item stops two people from buying the same gift. Anyone shopping from the list can see what is already taken.
Things To Have. You can turn reservations on for any list. Visitors sign in to reserve an item so others see that it is taken.
Chestr. Chestr lets you share wishlists with other people. Its website and store listings do not mention reserving or claiming items.
Verdict: Unclear, because Chestr's documentation does not say.
Free, no paywall
A wishlist earns its place a few times a year, around birthdays and holidays. A regular subscription for occasional use is hard to justify.
Things To Have. The service is completely free to use. There is no paywall, and there are no limits on the number of lists or items you can add.
Chestr. Chestr is also free. Its website describes the app and the Chrome extension as 100% free.
Verdict: Even, with both free to use.
No ads
A gift list should show only what someone asked for. Promoted items serve the shop as much as the person who made the list. Extra commercial clutter makes a list harder to read.
Things To Have. There are no ads, sponsored products or algorithmic feeds anywhere on a list. The service also does not add product recommendations. Visitors see only the items the author chose to save.
Chestr. Chestr's website does not state whether the app displays ads. Its documented features focus on discount and restock alerts for the products you track.
Verdict: Unclear, because Chestr does not document it.
Any store
Good gift ideas come from small shops and independent websites as well as big retailers. A shared list works best when it can accept items from anywhere on the web.
Things To Have. You can add a link from any online shop directly to a list.
Chestr. Chestr saves products from any website using its Chrome extension or the iPhone share sheet.
Verdict: Even, as both let you add items from any shop.
Autofill
Typing out a title, photo and price by hand for each item is slow. It is often the reason people stop adding items to a wishlist.
Things To Have. Pasting a link fills in the title, photo and price automatically without a browser extension. A bookmarklet, an iOS Shortcut and an embeddable button for shops provide other ways to save items.
Chestr. Chestr brings in product information directly from the shop page. You can save items using its Chrome extension or through the iOS share sheet.
Verdict: Even, as both services automatically import item details from online shops.
Works on any device
Family members use a mix of phones, tablets and computers. An app that works on only certain platforms leaves out the people who use other devices.
Things To Have. It functions in any standard web browser on any device and can be installed as a web app. List owners and visitors do not need to download software to view or manage a list.
Chestr. Chestr provides an iPhone application alongside a Chrome extension for desktop computers. Wishlists synchronise between your mobile phone and the web.
Verdict: Even, with both usable on a phone and a computer.
Sort & filter
Long wishlists quickly become difficult to browse without basic tools. Family and friends usually shop with a specific budget in mind. A search bar and price sorting help them find suitable gifts quickly.
Things To Have. Any visitor can search a list and set a maximum price without signing in. Visitors can sort items by price in either direction. Prices in different currencies are converted so they compare.
Chestr. Chestr lets you organise saved items into folders and subfolders. We found no search, price filter or sort for a list.
Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, because it gives visitors ways to search and sort gifts by price.
Export your data
Wishlist services can shut down, and lists without an export disappear with them. People spend months gathering gift ideas and links across many shops. A plain file export lets you take that work somewhere else.
Things To Have. You can export all your lists as a JSON file under Settings → Data. The import tool also accepts pasted links or files in .txt, .md or JSON format, with a preview before saving.
Chestr. Its documentation does not mention an export option.
Verdict: Unclear, because Chestr does not document an export.
MCP
The Model Context Protocol, known as MCP, lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT read and update your wishlists. This allows you to add items or plan presents 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 control which permissions the assistant receives and can disconnect it at any time.
Chestr. Chestr does not provide an MCP server, ChatGPT app or Claude connector. Its website and help documentation do not mention one.
Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, because it lets you connect an AI assistant to manage your lists.
Final verdict
- You want a free list to send to family who will not sign up: Things To Have opens in any browser without an account. When you turn reservations on, signed-in visitors can reserve items without you seeing who took what. The service is free, has no ads and sets no item limits.
- You want what Chestr is best at (saving products and watching for discounts): stay with Chestr. It saves items from any shop in a single click and alerts you to price drops. It is built as a personal tracker for items you plan to buy yourself.
Chestr, Things To Have and the runners-up
| App | View without an account | Reservations | Free, no paywall | No ads | Any store | Autofill | Works on any device | Sort & filter | Export your data | MCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Things To Have | Yes | Yes — anonymous even to the owner | Yes — everything free | Yes | Yes | Yes — no extension needed | Yes — web/PWA, nothing to install | Yes | Yes — JSON | Yes — Claude, ChatGPT and more |
| Chestr | — | — | Yes | — | Yes | Yes — Chrome extension, iOS share | Yes | No | — | No — none published |
| Moonsift | Yes | Yes — guests mark bought | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes — browser extension | Yes | No — manual reorder only | No — on request | No — none published |
| Picky Me | — | — | Yes | No — curated Discover feed | Yes — share sheet, Safari extension | Yes — prices fetched from stores | No — iOS plus web | Yes | — | No — none published |
| Listful | Yes | Yes — gifters mark purchased | No | No — gift suggestions | Yes | Yes — paste a link | Yes | — | — | No — none published |
“—” means we could not confirm it from the app’s own documentation.
Spotted a mistake? Email comparison@thingstohave.app
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Chestr?
Yes — Things To Have has no paywall and no list limits. Chestr is free too, so cost is not the reason to switch — the rest of the table is.
Do my friends need an account to open the list?
Not on Things To Have — viewing never requires a signup. Chestr does not document what it requires. This is the criterion that decides how many people actually see your list.
Can I move my list out of Chestr?
Chestr publishes no export we could confirm, so copy what matters before you stop using it. Either way, a pasted list of links is enough to rebuild it here — importing shows a preview before anything is written, and the way back out is an export in JSON.
Keep comparing
- Best wishlist apps, all of them ranked against the same ten criteria
- Every comparison, one page per app