MyRegistry vs GiftList: Which Universal Registry Wins?

Quick Answer: Both GiftList and MyRegistry are universal registries that add gifts from any store, and both do weddings and baby registries. GiftList wins for most people: 100% free forever — including fee-free cash funds and group gifting with no middleman — plus surprise-safe reserving with no account for givers, an AI gift finder (Genie), a built-in Secret Santa, and live price comparison. Choose MyRegistry mainly if you need to import an existing registry, want its broad retailer partnerships, or rely on thank-you-note tracking.

A "universal" registry means one thing: you can add a gift from any website — a national brand, a local boutique, even an experience — into a single list your guests shop from one link, instead of being locked to a single store. GiftList and MyRegistry both deliver that core promise. Where they differ is what they wrap around it. Here is an honest, side-by-side comparison so you can pick the right one.

Quick Comparison: MyRegistry vs GiftList

Verify current pricing and fees on each provider's site before you register — cash-fund fees in particular change over time.

GiftList Overview

GiftList is a free universal wishlist and gift registry that is not tied to any single store. You add items by pasting a product link from any website — title, price, and image auto-fill — or with the browser extension to save in one click while you shop. On mobile, an in-app browser lets you browse any store and save without leaving the app. You can also add items with no link at all, such as experiences or gift cards.

It also runs dedicated wedding and baby registries that are fully universal — add anything from any store — and couples can co-manage one shared list together. You can add a fee-free cash fund to any list (honeymoon, a big purchase, anything you're saving for) or turn any single item into a group gift, and friends chip in directly via Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, or Cash App — GiftList takes no cut. There are even Charity Gift Lists for nonprofits. Everything is 100% free, with no premium tier and no fees.

Best for: weddings, baby showers, birthdays, holidays, and everyday gifting across multiple retailers; families who want to coordinate gifts without spoiling surprises; anyone running a fee-free cash fund or group gift; and anyone organizing a Secret Santa.

Pros:

• 100% free forever — no tiers, no item limits, no fees of any kind
• Fee-free cash funds and group gifting with no middleman — givers pay you directly (Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, Cash App)
• Add from any store, plus manual and experience items
• Dedicated, universal wedding and baby registries with collaborative co-editing for couples
• Purchases hidden from the owner to protect the surprise; revealed later via Gift Tracker
• No account needed for gift-givers to view, reserve, or buy
• Genie AI gift finder and Gift Exchange for Secret Santa / White Elephant, all free
• Daily-curated Gift Ideas filtered by recipient age and gender
• Live price comparison, a mobile in-app browser, modern 2026 design, and dark mode
• Web, iOS, Android, and browser extension with full feature parity

Cons:

• No registry import from other sites — you build your list fresh
• Fewer direct retailer partnerships and no built-in thank-you-note tracking

MyRegistry Overview

MyRegistry is one of the most established universal registry platforms. It lets you add gifts from any store in the world using a one-click browser button, and it is built around full event registries — weddings, baby showers, and nonprofit/charity gift lists — with cash and honeymoon funds and thank-you-note tracking. Its genuine standouts are registry import (it can pull an existing registry from another site, transferring items, photos, and prices so you do not rebuild from scratch), broad direct retailer partnerships, and built-in thank-you-note tracking.

Best for: people who want to import and consolidate an existing registry from another site, who value its broad direct retailer partnerships, or who lean on built-in thank-you-note tracking.

Pros:

• Truly universal — add from any store with a browser button
• Real-time cross-store purchase tracking to prevent duplicates
• Registry import, broad retailer partnerships, and thank-you-note tracking
• Strong, long-standing wedding and baby registry experience
• Cash and honeymoon funds (note the per-gift handling fee below)

Cons:

• Cash funds on individual registries carry a per-gift handling fee paid by the giver — roughly $3.95 to $6.95 by gift amount (per MyRegistry's help center) — so its cash gifts are not fee-free
• No AI gift finder and no built-in Secret Santa / gift exchange

Head-to-Head: Adding Items From Any Store

This is a tie on the headline feature — both are genuinely universal. GiftList saves any item when you paste a product link or click the browser extension, and on mobile its in-app browser saves as you shop. MyRegistry offers a comparable one-click "Add to MyRegistry" browser button that works on any store in the world, plus the ability to import an existing registry from another platform. If you already have a Target or Amazon registry you want to fold in, MyRegistry's import is a real convenience GiftList does not match. If you are starting fresh and shop everyday, the two feel equivalent in practice.

Head-to-Head: Keeping the Surprise & Preventing Duplicates

Both tools prevent two relatives from buying the same thing, but they take different approaches. GiftList hides purchases and reservations from the list owner while showing them to other gift-givers, and the owner can reveal who gave what later in the Gift Tracker — so the surprise stays intact. MyRegistry uses real-time cross-store purchase tracking that marks an item as taken the moment any guest buys it from any retailer (as MyRegistry describes). The practical edge for GiftList is that gift-givers need no account or email to reserve or buy, which matters for less tech-savvy family members.

Head-to-Head: Weddings, Baby Registries & Cash Funds

On the registries themselves, this is closer to a tie than people expect. GiftList has dedicated wedding and baby registries that are fully universal — you add gifts from any store, not a single retailer's catalog — and couples can co-manage one shared list with collaborative editing. It is 100% free, with the same surprise-safe reserving and duplicate prevention as the rest of the platform. MyRegistry has equally established wedding and baby registries with co-registrant support. On the core registry job, the two are at parity, and GiftList does it for free with no fees.

Cash funds and group gifting now favor GiftList. GiftList lets you add a cash fund to any list — a honeymoon, a down payment, anything you're saving toward — or turn any single item into a group gift that several people pool money into until it hits its goal. Givers contribute directly to you through Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, or Cash App; GiftList charges no fee and takes no cut, with no middleman holding your money. MyRegistry also offers cash and honeymoon funds, but contributions to an individual registry carry a per-gift handling fee of about $3.95–$6.95 depending on the amount, paid by the giver, according to MyRegistry's own help center — so a "free" cash fund there is not actually free for your guests. On charity, it's a tie: GiftList has Charity Gift Lists for nonprofits and MyRegistry has charity gift lists too.

Where MyRegistry genuinely pulls ahead is three features GiftList does not have: registry import (it can pull an existing registry from another site, with items, photos, and prices, so you do not rebuild from scratch), broad direct retailer partnerships, and built-in thank-you-note tracking. If you already have a registry elsewhere to consolidate, or you want those specific tools, MyRegistry is the stronger pick.

Head-to-Head: Beyond the Registry

This is where GiftList pulls ahead. It includes Genie, a free AI gift finder that suggests real products from thousands of brands based on the recipient, age, interests, and occasion — useful when you are the one shopping, not just the one registering. It has a built-in Gift Exchange for Secret Santa and White Elephant with automatic name-drawing and exclusion rules, a daily-curated Gift Ideas feed you can filter by the recipient's age and gender, plus occasion reminders, collaborative lists for couples and families, and live price comparison across retailers in its shop. MyRegistry, by design, concentrates on registries and funds — it does not bundle an AI finder, a daily discovery feed, or a Secret Santa tool.

In other words, GiftList covers the whole gifting cycle — the person making a wishlist (including a wedding or baby registry), the friend hunting for an idea, and the family coordinating who buys what or pooling into a cash fund — across weddings, showers, birthdays, holidays, and everyday occasions. MyRegistry covers the registry moment well and adds registry import and retailer partnerships on top, but it stops at the registry; it does not help the giver who is still searching for the right gift or the group running a Secret Santa.

Which Should You Choose?

• Choose GiftList if you want a 100% free registry — including a wedding or baby registry — with fee-free cash funds and group gifting (no middleman), surprise-safe reserving, zero friction for gift-givers (no account needed), couples co-editing, an AI gift finder, a built-in Secret Santa, and live price comparison. That is most people. Create your free list and add the browser extension to save from anywhere.
• Choose MyRegistry if you need to import an existing registry from another site, you specifically want its broad direct retailer partnerships, or you rely on built-in thank-you-note tracking — the features GiftList does not have.

For most people GiftList is the better all-around pick: it matches MyRegistry on the universal registry and on weddings and baby showers, beats it on cash funds and group gifting by being completely fee-free, does it all for free, and adds tools MyRegistry simply doesn't have. Reach for MyRegistry when registry import, retailer partnerships, or thank-you-note tracking is the deciding factor. To weigh the wider field, see our roundup of the best universal wishlist apps, and if you are still deciding what a registry even is, start with what a universal gift registry is and how a registry differs from a wish list.

Sources

• MyRegistry — Wedding Registry, Baby Registry & Gift Lists (home)
• MyRegistry — What Is a Universal Gift Registry and How Does It Work?
• MyRegistry Help Center — Are there any fees from MyRegistry when giving a Cash Gift?
• MyRegistry Help Center — Are there any fees to have a Cash Gift Fund?