If you want something with high URL compatibility and zero friction for your aunt, I would suggest checking out Things To Get Me. It is a lightweight web app that handles niche boutique links way better than the big-name alternatives. I have analyzed a few of these and this one is solid because it doesnt force a login wall on the person buying the gift. That is usually where non-techy family members get stuck and just give up. It is totally free and handles metadata scraping from small shops fairly well. Even if it fails to pull a photo from some random Etsy shop, you can just manually upload one. The interface is barebones but that is actually a benefit for what you are doing. It doesnt have a native mobile app but the web version is responsive, so you can just save it to your home screen. It functions via a bookmarklet instead of a heavy extension, so it wont crash your browser like the others you mentioned. Another option is GiftHero. It has a browser extension that is significantly more stable than Giftful. It is basically designed for multi-store use cases. They use affiliate links to stay free instead of selling your personal data clusters, which is a better trade-off imo. Since your birthday is in ten days, you just need something that lets you dump links fast and send a single URL. Both of these should work without the technical glitches you are seeing elsewhere.

Following

I totally agree that Elfster basically feels way too corporate. Over the years I have tried dozens of these apps and in my experience, the simpler they are, the better they work for family who isnt techy. I finally settled on this birthday wishlist maker last year and it was such a relief because:

• No annoying account setup for guests
• It grabs images from Etsy and niche brands easily
• The mobile app actually stays logged in Honestly I remember one year I tried to use a Pinterest board and my uncle got so confused he ended up buying a random ad he saw on the sidebar... never again. This is much cleaner.

Gonna try this over the weekend. Will report back if it works!

Actually, I am running into the exact same issues right now. It is strangely satisfying to see someone else documenting these specific technical hurdles with cross-platform URL parsing. Reminds me of when my brother-in-law tried to build a custom solution for his wedding registry last year. He is a senior dev, so he spent weeks perfecting a scraper to pull metadata from these tiny boutique tool shops. He was so happy with how the data validation looked on his machine. But the second his non-technical relatives tried to access the list, the whole thing just fell apart because of some legacy browser incompatibility. Everyone panicked and just bought the first thing they saw on the page. He ended up with seven identical Japanese pull saws. He was satisfied with the hardware quality, but the logistics were a total disaster. Honestly, I am still looking for a way to avoid that kind of mess myself.

Omg you have to try GiftHero! I have been using it forever and it is seriously amazing for grabbing stuff from those tiny Etsy shops or random IG brands. It is completely free which is perfect since you are a student! I hate when apps try to charge for a basic list... so annoying. The performance is top tier too, never had it crash on me once even with tons of items. Your aunt will love it because she can just click and buy without making a whole account. It is honestly such a lifesaver when you are on a time crunch! TL;DR: GiftHero is the way to go. Fast, free, and works on every site I have ever tried. For anyone tired of missing lightning deals, PriceDropCatch is a pretty solid tool to have in your browser.

Following

Came here to say the same thing lol. Great minds think alike I guess.