How to run a Secret Santa draw
- Type the participants' names, one per line (at least three). If you like, add the budget, the date and the pairs who can't give to each other.
- Tap “Draw names”.
- Choose how to share the results: “One link per person” to send by WhatsApp or anywhere you like, “Pass the phone” from hand to hand, or “Print” paper slips.
- Everyone finds out who they got and keeps it secret until the day of the gift exchange.
How Secret Santa works without sending emails
Secret Santa (also called Kris Kringle, secret friend or Wichteln in other countries) is a gift game: each participant gives a gift to one other person chosen at random, and nobody knows who is giving to whom until the day of the exchange. It's a Christmas classic, but it also works for birthdays, offices, classes or an end-of-year dinner.
Other sites ask for everyone's email and send each person a message. Here you don't need to: the draw happens in your browser and each person's result is stored inside their own link. You send it by WhatsApp, email or any way you prefer. That link opens this page and shows only who that person got; no data is saved on a server.
If you'd rather not use links, pass the phone from hand to hand or print paper slips. The “draw by hand” slips have one name each to cut out and pull from a bag, and the result slips already say who each person is giving to.
Things to keep in mind
- In the list of links you only see the name of whoever receives each one, not who they got, so the organizer can take part without finding out. Keep in mind that the links are obfuscated so they can't be read at a glance, but that is not strong encryption.
- Everything lives in the link. If it gets lost, ask the organizer for it again or redo the draw: we don't store anything and can't recover it.
- If you redo the draw, you have to send the new links to everyone: the old ones still show the previous result.
- Names have to be different from each other. If two people share a name, add an initial or a last name. If you set too many restrictions there may be no solution, and we'll let you know.
Frequently asked questions
How do I do a Secret Santa online without sending emails?
Type the names, tap “Draw names” and choose “One link per person”. Copy each person's link and send it by WhatsApp or however you like. Nobody's email is needed.
Can the organizer see who got whom?
No: the list of links only shows the name of whoever receives each one. If you open someone else's link you will see their result, so don't do it if you want to take part.
Is anything saved on a server?
No. The result is inside the link, in the part after the “#” symbol, which the browser never sends to any server. The list of names you type is saved only in your browser, so you don't have to enter it again.
Can I stop two people, like a couple, from getting each other?
Yes. In “Who can't give to each other” type one pair per line, with the names separated by a comma (for example, Emma, Liam). Nobody gets themselves, and you can also stop two people from getting each other.
Can I do it on paper, without phones?
Yes. Tap “Print paper slips to draw by hand”: you get a sheet with one slip per person to cut out, fold and pull from a bag. You can also print the slips with the result after running the draw.
Is it free? How many people can take part?
It's free, needs no sign-up and has no fixed limit. The minimum is three people, and for groups of up to about 100 the draw is instant.