Free Resource from Toshi
Secret Santa Generator with Wishlists
A free Secret Santa generator for family, friends, and the office. Set a budget, draw names online, and keep every match private!
How it works
Start your group
Give it a name, set a budget, and pick the day you'll swap gifts.
Invite everyone
Send one link to your group chat. Each person adds their name and what they'd like.
We draw names
We email each person who to get a gift for. It's a secret, and no one gets themselves.
You're getting a gift forMei
- Budget
- S$30
Mei's wishlist
- A paperback I haven't read
- Hand cream
What is Secret Santa?
Secret Santa is a gift exchange where everyone in a group is given one person to buy for, in secret. Each person gives one gift and gets one, so no one has to shop for the whole group. Some groups call it Kris Kringle.
Names are drawn at random, everyone works to the same budget, and the giver stays a mystery until the gifts are opened, if they're revealed at all.
Draw names online with this Secret Santa generator
No hat, no slips of paper, and no one has to be in the same room. A few things worth knowing before you start:
- Who can join. The draw needs at least 3 people, and a group holds up to 30. Each person joins with their own email address and can add a wishlist of up to 10 things.
- The organiser. You can take part in your own group or just run it. The organiser sees who has joined, never who has whom.
- Before the draw. The organiser can remove a double entry or someone who joined by mistake. Once names are drawn, the group closes to new people, so wait for the last one to join.
- The draw. No one draws themselves. Each person sees their match on their own page, with the budget, the swap date, and that person's wishlist. Anyone who has opened their own link by then also gets it by email.
- Redraws. The organiser can redraw any time before the swap day, up to 3 draws a day.
- Wishlists. They stay editable after the draw, and whoever is buying always sees the latest one.
How to organise a Secret Santa
Settle three things before you share the link: the budget, the swap day, and a few house rules. The budget and the date show on the join page. Put the rules in the message that goes with the link.
Set a Secret Santa budget
Pick one round number and say whether it's a cap or a target. As a rough guide:
- S$10 to S$15 for kids, or a big group that doesn't know each other well
- S$20 to S$30 for most office and friend groups
- S$50 or more for close family, and only if everyone agrees
Lower is kinder. A thoughtful S$15 gift is fine on its own; it's the S$15 gift next to a S$60 one that stings.
Agree the rules
- Keep your match to yourself until the swap.
- Stay close to the budget, under or over.
- Start with the wishlist. If it's empty, ask the organiser to find out more, not the person.
- Write only the recipient's name on the tag.
- Decide before the day whether givers reveal themselves.
Pick the swap day
Draw names two to three weeks ahead. That leaves time to shop, and for anything ordered online to arrive.
Secret Santa gift ideas by budget
The wishlist comes first. When it runs out, these suit most people.
| Budget | Gift ideas |
|---|---|
| Under S$15 | Hand cream, a good notebook and pen, a small potted plant, a box of local snacks |
| S$15 to S$30 | A paperback, a card game, a reusable coffee cup, a jigsaw puzzle |
| S$30 to S$50 | A board game for four, a soft throw, a cookbook, a voucher for a class or workshop |
| For kids | A craft kit, a sticker book, a picture book, a water bottle with their name on it |
Something they'd use but wouldn't buy for themselves usually goes down well.
Family, office, and online Secret Santa
Family Secret Santa
A family draw means each adult shops for one person. Every place in the group needs its own email address, so for young kids, a parent can join for them with a second address, or give the kids their own draw with a smaller budget. Then swap the gifts on a family day out. There are plenty of things to do with kids in December.
Office Secret Santa
The organiser doesn't have to take part, which suits an admin or HR lead running it for the team. Agree the budget first, post the join link in the team chat, and hold the swap at the year-end lunch.
Online or remote Secret Santa
Everyone joins and sees their match on their own phone, so the group never needs to meet. If gifts will be posted, agree where they go first, such as the office, and add it as a note on your wishlist. Then open the gifts together on a video call.