My Wishlist is a solid tool, but it has no child accounts, no thank-you messaging, and no date reminders. Giftwhale adds the family features that are missing.
100% free. No subscription. Trusted by 61,000+ families.
My Wishlist and Giftwhale are both free wish list tools with reservations and Secret Santa. The differences are in family features and the post-gift experience.
| Feature | Giftwhale | My Wishlist |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Families, child accounts, thank-you letters, date reminders | European users, QR code sharing, direct shipping, simple individual lists |
| Core wish lists | ||
| Reservation visibility controls Giftwhale lets you fine-tune reservation visibility. My Wishlist has a Spoiler mode toggle that shows or hides all reservations. | Yes | Spoiler mode |
| Free to use | Yes | Yes |
| Add items from any website | Yes | Yes |
| Gift reservations | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic product lookup from URL | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes |
| View and reserve without an account | Yes | Yes |
| Family and kids | ||
| Dedicated child accounts Giftwhale lets parents create managed accounts for children. My Wishlist has a co-admin feature for shared list management, but no child profiles. | Yes | No |
| Memorable dates tracker Track birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with reminders | Yes | No |
| List collaboration My Wishlist lets you add a co-admin to a list. Giftwhale supports full collaborators on any list. | Yes | Yes |
| After the gift | ||
| Thank-you letters Send a personalised thank you to the gift-giver, linked to the specific gift | Yes | No |
| Gift ideas vault Save gift inspiration for anyone, even people not on Giftwhale | Yes | No |
| Secret Santa and groups | ||
| Gift exchanges | Yes | Yes |
| Random draw with exclusions | Yes | Yes |
| Budget limits | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous messaging in exchanges My Wishlist lets Secret Santa participants send anonymous messages to each other. | No | Yes |
| Platform | ||
| QR code sharing Both platforms generate QR codes for sharing wish lists. | Yes | Yes |
| Friends activity page My Wishlist has a friends page showing activity and wishes from connected users. | Yes | Yes |
| Shipping address sharing My Wishlist lets gift-givers see a shared shipping address for direct delivery. | Yes | Yes |
Best for
Core wish lists
Reservation visibility controls
Giftwhale lets you fine-tune reservation visibility. My Wishlist has a Spoiler mode toggle that shows or hides all reservations.
Free to use
Add items from any website
Gift reservations
Automatic product lookup from URL
Browser extension
View and reserve without an account
Family and kids
Dedicated child accounts
Giftwhale lets parents create managed accounts for children. My Wishlist has a co-admin feature for shared list management, but no child profiles.
Memorable dates tracker
Track birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with reminders
List collaboration
My Wishlist lets you add a co-admin to a list. Giftwhale supports full collaborators on any list.
After the gift
Thank-you letters
Send a personalised thank you to the gift-giver, linked to the specific gift
Gift ideas vault
Save gift inspiration for anyone, even people not on Giftwhale
Secret Santa and groups
Gift exchanges
Random draw with exclusions
Budget limits
Anonymous messaging in exchanges
My Wishlist lets Secret Santa participants send anonymous messages to each other.
Platform
QR code sharing
Both platforms generate QR codes for sharing wish lists.
Friends activity page
My Wishlist has a friends page showing activity and wishes from connected users.
Shipping address sharing
My Wishlist lets gift-givers see a shared shipping address for direct delivery.
“Giftwhale has genuinely improved our gift-giving experiences. No more stress about what to buy people, no more duplicate presents, no more returns.”
Giftwhale user
Create accounts for each of your children. They add what they want, you review the list before sharing it with family. Grandparents see one clear list per grandchild.
After the birthday or Christmas, send a personalised thank you to each gift-giver, linked to the specific gift they bought. Beats a generic text message.
The memorable dates tracker keeps birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions in one place with reminders. Check someone's wish list right from the reminder.
Add items from Amazon, Target, Etsy, or any shop. If it has a URL, you can add it to your list. No retailer restrictions.
A straightforward European wish list tool with reservations, Secret Santa, and useful sharing features.
No child accounts. No thank-you messaging. No date reminders.
Best for families who want child accounts, post-gift thank-yous, and birthday reminders.
“We built Giftwhale because organising gifts across birthdays, Christmas, and family events shouldn't need multiple tools. It should just work, for kids and grandparents alike.”
- The Giftwhale team
“Managing wish lists for three kids used to be chaos. Now with Giftwhale, each child has their own list and the grandparents can easily see what everyone wants. The child account feature is brilliant!”
- Giftwhale user
“I'm not great with technology but Giftwhale is so simple to use! Adding items takes seconds — you just paste a link and it fills in all the details automatically. Sharing my list is just one click.”
- Giftwhale user
“Our family is spread out and coordinating gifts was always a nightmare. Giftwhale has solved this completely! The reservation system means no duplicates from different relatives.”
- Giftwhale user
For families, yes. Giftwhale has dedicated child accounts, thank-you letters linked to gifts, and a memorable dates tracker. My Wishlist is better if you want QR code sharing, shipping address sharing, or anonymous Secret Santa messaging. Both are free.
Dedicated child accounts, thank-you letters linked to specific gifts, a memorable dates tracker with reminders, and a gift ideas vault. My Wishlist has QR code sharing, shipping address sharing, and anonymous Secret Santa messaging that Giftwhale doesn't.
Completely free. No premium tiers, no credit card required. Both Giftwhale and My Wishlist are free.
Not with either platform. Both Giftwhale and My Wishlist let you share lists by link without requiring viewers to sign up.
Giftwhale lets parents create managed accounts for each child. Children can add items to their own lists, and parents review everything before sharing with family. My Wishlist has a co-admin feature for shared list editing, but not dedicated child profiles.
My Wishlist is based in the Netherlands and serves a European audience. It has sister sites in German and Dutch. Giftwhale works worldwide with any online shop.
Yes. Giftwhale has gift exchanges with random draws, exclusions, and budget limits. My Wishlist also has Secret Santa with the added bonus of anonymous messaging between participants.
My Wishlist is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that you can add to your home screen. Giftwhale also works as a web app. Neither has a native app store download.
Both platforms generate QR codes for sharing wish lists. My Wishlist also offers short links, which is handy for printed invitations. Giftwhale generates QR codes for both wish lists and gift exchanges.
Paste a few product links, share with family, and you're done. No credit card, no commitment.
No subscription. No credit card required.
