Free · no sign-up · no emails · runs in your browser
Secret Santa generator: draw names in a minute
Add the names, keep couples apart, set a budget and a date, then send each person a private link by text or WhatsApp. Nobody signs up or shares an email, and the names never leave your phone: each person's pair lives only inside their own link. Doing a white elephant instead? There's a section below on choosing.
1 · Who's in?
Or paste a list: one name per line or separated by commas.
2 · Budget, date and rules
Who can't draw whom?
Couples, roommates or last year's pairs. It works both ways: neither will draw the other.
3 · Send everyone their name
How it works
1
Add everyone
Type the names or paste a list from your group chat. Name your exchange if you like; it shows on every link.
2
Set the rules
Set a spending limit in dollars, the date, a short note and the pairs who shouldn't draw each other, like couples or roommates.
3
Send the links
Each person gets their own link by text or WhatsApp, showing only the name they buy for. Or print folded slips, or pass one phone around the room.
Secret Santa rules that keep everyone happy
- Agree on a spending limit before the draw and stick to it. The most common complaint is one person spending far more than the rest.
- Keep it secret until the exchange. If you need a size or an idea, ask the organizer or a mutual friend.
- Use the note for allergies, 'no alcohol', or 'no gift cards' so nobody gets an awkward present.
- Set the date and say how gifts should arrive: wrapped, with only the recipient's name on the tag.
- If someone drops out after the draw, the organizer redoes it from the backup link and everyone gets a new link.
White Elephant or Secret Santa?
Both are popular across Canada at offices, schools and family parties, and they suit different groups.
Secret Santa is one name per person. You buy one gift for the person you drew, so it can be personal, and it works well when people know each other a little. It also works over distance, since everyone can shop on their own time.
White elephant, also called Dirty Santa or Yankee Swap, is a party game. Everyone brings one wrapped gift, players take turns picking or stealing from the pile, and the fun is in the swapping. It suits a group that will be in the same room, and it needs no draw beforehand.
If you can't decide, a simple rule helps: remote or mixed teams and people who like personal gifts go with Secret Santa; a big party where you want laughs goes with white elephant. You can also mix them, drawing names first and playing white elephant rules at the party.
For either one, set the dollar limit up front and keep gifts that suit anyone. Our white elephant gift ideas page has picks for both games.
Questions about Secret Santa
- How does Secret Santa work?
- Everyone's name goes into a draw and each person secretly gets one other person to buy a gift for. On exchange day everybody gives and receives one present within an agreed spending limit, and the givers can stay anonymous.
- Is this Secret Santa generator really free, with no sign-up?
- Yes. There are no accounts, no email addresses and no phone numbers. The draw happens in your browser and each person's pair travels only inside their own link.
- What should the Secret Santa budget be?
- That's up to your group. Agree on it before the draw, type the amount in dollars into the budget box, and it appears on every link.
- Can I stop couples or roommates drawing each other?
- Yes. Add the pair under 'Who can't draw whom?'. It works both ways, and if the exclusions make a fair draw impossible the tool tells you.
- Will the organizer see who has whom?
- Not unless they open someone else's link or the backup link. An organizer who wants to play just opens only their own link.
- What if someone loses their link?
- Keep the organizer's backup link. Opening it restores this exact draw so you can resend one person's link. It shows everything, so keep it private.
- Can we do it with a remote team or family in different provinces?
- Yes. Send each person's link by text or WhatsApp, agree a deadline and decide whether gifts are mailed or handed over at a gathering. Nobody needs to be in the same room for the draw.
- What's the difference between Secret Santa and a White Elephant?
- In Secret Santa each person buys for one drawn name. In a White Elephant everyone brings one gift for the pile, and players take turns picking or stealing. See the section above to choose.