What is the best app for sharing kids' birthday wish lists?

Question

My sons fifth birthday is literally in ten days and I am freaking out because I havent organized anything yet. I spent way too much time looking at venues here in Chicago and now my mother in law is blowing up my phone every hour asking what he wants and honestly I just want to send a link and be done with it.

I did some digging online and saw people mentioning Giftster and maybe Elfster? But Giftster looks so old and clunky like something from 2005 and I read some weird reviews about Elfster being more for secret santas and not really for kids birthdays. Then I tried WishUpon but it kept crashing when I tried to pull stuff from different websites and I really need something that just works the first time because I dont have time to troubleshoot an app right now.

Here is what I actually need:

Must be free because the party budget is already blown

Has to be super easy for grandparents who barely know how to use an iPhone

Needs a feature where people can mark something as bought so we dont get five of the same dinosaur toy

Ability to add items from any store not just one specific place

I really need to get this sent out by tomorrow morning or my relatives are just gonna start buying random junk we dont have room for in this apartment... anyone have a favorite that actually works?

leaschmid322 · Accepted Answer

@Reply #1 - good point! Most registry apps are super clunky and unfortunately they often have hidden fees or terrible mobile sites. I had issues with WishUpon too, its just not as good as expected lately... kind of a letdown. Quick question tho, are your relatives mostly on iPhone or a mix of stuff? That changes which budget-friendly ones actually work.MyRegistry is free but the interface is messyGiftHero is very basic

FireFox2024 · Answer

> But Giftster looks so old and clunky like something from 2005 and I read some weird reviews about Elfster being more for secret santas and not really for kids birthdays. Yeah, I totally get that disappointment. Its honestly frustrating how many of these apps still look like they were built for Windows XP or something. I tried Giftster a while back and the UI is just... painful. Like, why is everything so cluttered? IIRC, I also had issues with Elfster because their whole secret santa logic gets in the way when you just want a simple registry for a five-year-old. Its not as good as expected for year-round stuff tbh. WishUpon is another one where the backend seems super buggy lately. I think I heard someone mention its been having server issues since their last update. Not sure if they fixed the scraping tool yet but it sounds like a headache you dont need right now when youre already stressed about the venue stuff. If youre in a rush and need something that wont confuse the grandparents, you might want to check out this free wishlist creator. I think it handles the already bought tracking way better than the old school apps. Not 100% sure if it integrates with every single niche site, but someone told me it worked for most of the stuff they threw at it. Better than getting five of the same T-Rex, right? Chicago apartments are way too small for a dinosaur army. Good luck with the party, hope you find something that doesnt crash every five seconds!