Secret Santa generator
Add everyone's names and draw. Each person gets a private link that shows only who they're buying for, so nobody sees the full list, not even you. Free, with no sign-up and no email addresses.
At least three people. Paste a whole list to add everyone at once.
Not sure yet? Let the group vote on it
Nobody sees the full list, you included. Each person gets a link that shows only who they buy for, and nothing is stored on our servers.
How the draw works
Add the names
Type them one at a time, or paste the whole list from your group chat. A draw needs at least three people and takes up to sixty.
Keep couples apart
Add a rule for any two people who shouldn't draw each other: partners, flatmates, or the two who swap presents every year anyway.
Draw
Every allowed result is equally likely. If the rules make a draw impossible, the page says so instead of quietly breaking one.
Send each person their link
Send it by WhatsApp, email or any app on your phone. Each link opens to one name, and a tick shows who you have already sent it to.
How the draw stays secret
Most Secret Santa sites ask for everyone's email address so they can send out the results themselves. This one needs none. Each person's result is written into their own link, scrambled, after the # in the address: the part a browser never sends to a server. Nothing about the draw is stored on our side, so there is no list there to leak or lose.
The organiser holds every link and could open them all. If you are taking part yourself, open only the one with your name on it, and the draw stays as secret for you as it is for everyone else.
Next, the evening everyone can make
Propose a few dates for the exchange, share one link and let the group vote. Nobody you invite needs an account, and the winning date can go on every Secret Santa link.
Couples, families and flatmates
A rule means two people won't draw each other, in either direction. Use it for partners who would buy each other a present anyway, for parents and children in a family draw, or for the two colleagues who sit side by side.
Every rule removes some possible draws, and in a small group the rules can remove all of them. Three people where two are a couple cannot work: the third person would have to buy for both. The page checks every combination and tells you when that happens, so you can drop a rule or add a person instead of finding out later.
Setting a budget
Put a figure on it and write it into the draw, so it appears on everyone's link. One number everyone sees is fairer than 'something small', which means a different amount to each person. For an office exchange, pick an amount the most junior person in the group would be comfortable with.
Some groups use a theme as well as a budget: something homemade, something second-hand, a book. Put it in the name of the exchange, such as 'Book swap, £15', and it travels with every link.
At work, at home or across the country
At work, one person usually runs the draw for the team and sends the links in the chat the team already uses, with a budget everyone can manage and an exchange in the last week before the holidays.
In a family the rules matter most, since partners, parents and children usually leave each other out. Everyone buys one good present instead of ten small ones.
For a group spread across cities the draw works the same way. Everyone posts their present to the person they drew, and the presents are opened together on a video call, on an evening the group has picked.
Secret Santa generator questions
Is the Secret Santa generator free?
Yes. It's free, shows no ads and needs no account, for you or for anyone in the draw.
Do people need an email address or an app?
No. Each person gets a link you send them however you like: WhatsApp, Messages, email, Slack or Teams. It opens in any browser.
Can the organiser take part in the draw?
Yes. The page never shows you who drew whom. Send everyone their link, open only your own, and you'll find out who you're buying for the same way they do.
Can I stop couples from drawing each other?
Yes. Add a rule for any two people who shouldn't draw each other, in either direction. You can add as many as you need, and the page tells you if they make a draw impossible.
What if someone loses their link?
The last draw is kept in the browser you drew it in. Open this page again on the same device and send that person their link again. Links don't expire.
Can I redo the draw?
Yes, start a new draw at any time. Links you've already sent keep the names they were drawn with, so redraw before you send anything, or send everyone their new link.
Is the list of names stored anywhere?
No. Each person's result is written into their own link, scrambled, and our servers never receive it. That's also why we can't email the results for you: there is no list on our side to send them from.
Other groups people plan with Decider
- Schedule a family gatheringAgree on a date for a dinner, birthday or reunion across a family that is not on any shared calendar.
- Club meeting schedulingSchedule club and society meetings with members who answer at their own pace, no member accounts needed.
- Parent-teacher conferencesOffer conference slots to parents and let them pick, without a sign-up sheet on the classroom door.
- Volunteer schedulingFind the meeting or shift time most of your volunteers can make, with no login for the people you invite.
Draw the names tonight. Settle the date this week.
Put the evening in a poll: propose a few dates, share one link, and let the group pick the one most people can make. Free, and nobody you invite signs up.