Planning your Secret Santa Exchange is Simple, Free + Fun

In just a few clicks you can invite your friends and family, draw names and create a wishlist with our Secret Santa Generator. From your friends at White Elephant Online.

  • Easy to Setup

    You can create your gift exchange and invite your group with just a few clicks, it’s that simple.

  • Dream Big

    With our Wishlist feature, you can add a gift from any website you want. We wouldn’t dare limit your dreams.

  • Share With Your Crew

    You can share your wishlist with anyone you want at any time. No more playing subtle with your friends and family.

  • Fun for All

    What’s not to love about Secret Santa? It’s a great way to celebrate the holidays with your favorite people.

Easy as Ho Ho Ho

  • Fill in as many - or as few - details as you’d like: set your date and time, pick a price limit and decide if you’re exchanging in person or from afar.

  • Send out invitations to your family and friends any way you’d like: e-mail, text, anything goes. You can also set up exclusions, say, if Billy shouldn’t draw Betty this year.

  • Once everyone accepts your invitation, Secret Santa Generator will assign names taking into consideration any exclusions you’ve set up.

  • Create a wishlist to make sure what you want this year is no secret. You can add an item from any website by copying and pasting the URL - we’ll grab the details for you.

‘Tis the Season

Our simple to use and intuitive platform means you’re just a few minutes away from getting the gift-swapping fun going this year.

The Definitive Guide to Secret Santa

Look no further: every question you have about a Secret Santa Gift exchange is answered here.

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White Elephant vs. Secret Santa

If you’re wondering what the difference is between these two popular holiday gift swapping games, we’ve got you covered.

Learn More

Try White Elephant Online

If you’re looking for a full virtual experience, try out our other game, White Elephant Online! It’s especially perfect for your next remote office holiday party.

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Secret Santa Generator FAQ

  • Ahead of time, everyone who is participating draws the name of a person to purchase a gift for. If you can get your group together in person, you can draw names out of a hat. If you can’t, that’s what Secret Santa Generator is for! Each player will then purchase a gift with their specific recipient in mind - without the recipient knowing who their Santa is until they open their gift.

  • Secret Santa Generator makes it easy to organize your gift exchange and assign Santas for your group. Create your gift exchange, invite your family and friends, let us draw names for you and communicate that out to the group, and let the gifting begin! Everyone can also create a wishlist to take the guesswork out of buying the perfect gift.

  • Absolutely! We make it easy to set exclusions per participant, if for example you want to avoid the same combinations as last year. Next year if you’re playing with the same group, you’ll be able to easily exclude the assignments from this year’s game.

  • Absolutely! You can easily add a general note for your Secret Santa, or add specific gifts to your wishlist. You don’t need to choose from our curated list, you can submit gifts from any retailer you like!

  • Yes! We know you’re only going to get one or two gifts for Secret Santa, so we made the wishlist shareable with anyone you like. No login required on their part. Now all of your friends and family can know exactly what you want!

  • Looking for the perfect gift? The best gifts are the ones your recipient actually wants, so we make it easy to create a wishlist at Secret Santa Generator, and to prompt your gift recipient to build theirs. All you have to do is copy and paste a URL from any item on any website, and we will automatically pull in the gift details. You can also share your wishlist with anyone, even if they aren’t in your Secret Santa group. For general ideas, you can check out our Gift Guides.

  • This one is up to you! Secret Santa works well in person but it’s also easy to ship your gift directly to the recipient. You can then get together over video chat and open the gifts one at a time. Or everyone can open them on their own schedule without specifying a time to gather.

  • We have a whole explainer on that one, which you can find here. But at a high level, with Secret Santa you’re purchasing a gift for a specific person. With White Elephant, you buy a general gift that someone will then win during the exchange. Secret Santa is great for groups that know each other well, while White Elephant can work for all types of groups.