Free Secret Santa generator
Who’s in it?
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Four pictures to pick from, no watermark, a link that opens on any phone. We email it to you too.
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On November 10 we typed six made-up names into 13 Secret Santa generators near the top of Google and watched where the names went. Six kept the group on their own servers, and two of those also wanted an email or a phone number for every person. The other seven ran the whole draw in the browser, the way this one does. We think that's the right default for a family or an office, because a list of who's in your family doesn't need to live on anyone's server, ours included. Put each household on its own line, press Draw names and send each person their link. Nobody sees who drew whom, not even you, so the organizer gets to play too.
Why the hat keeps going wrong
Pull names from a hat and about 63% of the time someone gets their own. Put the other way, with four or more people the first draw works only about 37% of the time, so a group needs close to three goes on average. Keep couples apart as well and it gets much worse: three couples need nine goes, on average, before a draw breaks no rule. These aren’t survey numbers. We counted every possible draw.
| People | First draw works | Draws, on average | If they’re all couples, first draw works | Draws, on average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 37.5% | 2.7 | 16.7% | 6.0 |
| 6 | 36.8% | 2.7 | 11.1% | 9.0 |
| 8 | 36.8% | 2.7 | 11.8% | 8.5 |
| 10 | 36.8% | 2.7 | 12.1% | 8.2 |
| 12 | 36.8% | 2.7 | 12.4% | 8.1 |
| 20 | 36.8% | 2.7 | 12.8% | 7.8 |
How we counted: a draw works when nobody gets their own name (a derangement, in maths) and, in the couples columns, nobody gets their partner either, which we counted by inclusion and exclusion. We checked the formulas against every possible draw for up to 8 people and against a million random shuffles. Draws on average is one divided by the chance the first one works.
Drawing names on paper, without the redraws
If one person is happy to know everything (Grandpa, holding the hat), this way never fails:
- Write every name on its own slip and shuffle the slips face down.
- Turn them over one at a time and copy the names down a list in that order.
- Each person buys for the name under theirs. The last name on the list buys for the first.
- If anyone sits right above their partner, swap the partner’s slip with the next one down and check the whole list again. The list goes round, so the last name counts as above the first.
- Grandpa writes each person their name on a folded note and keeps quiet until the swap.
Nobody can draw themselves this way, because the list goes round in one loop. The catch is Grandpa, who knows the lot. The generator above does the same job with nobody holding the hat: it reshuffles in your browser until no rule is broken, and nobody sees the result.
How private the links are
Each link holds one person's draw after the # sign. Browsers never send that part of an address to a server, so when your cousin opens her link, the names don't reach us. The page that opens it loads no analytics at all, not even ours.
The draw inside a link is scrambled with random bytes from that link, so you can't read it by looking, and two links never look alike. It isn't encryption, though. Someone determined to decode another person's link could do it. This is for a fair family draw, not state secrets.
Your list is saved in this browser so you can come back and send the rest of the links. Start over wipes it. Anyone you send a link to can open it, so send each one only to its person. If you open somebody else's link to check it works, it will show you their person.
This page has our usual analytics, but the names box and the list of links are blanked out of session recordings, and no name goes into any event. We checked by recording every request a browser made while we drew eight names and opened a link.
What we found in 13 other generators
We ran each one in a fresh browser with six made-up names and recorded every request it made, stopping wherever a site wanted a real email or phone number. Where the table says a site's server, we saw the names leave in a request to it. The one exception is Text Secret Santa. Its form asks for everyone's number before anything else, so we stopped before any names went anywhere, and the table goes by what it says it does, which is send the texts itself.
Keeping names on a server isn't sinister. It's how a site sends reminders, runs wish lists and lets people ask their Santa questions, and if you want those things, the sites built for them do them far better than this page. Elfster and DrawNames aren't in the table, because our test browser didn't get through their set-up, so we can't say what they ask for at the last step.
| Generator | What it asks for | Where the names went | How each person finds out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text Secret Santa | Your email, then a phone number or email for every person | Its server, which sends the texts | A text or an email |
| Gifty | First names, then an email from each person when they open the link | Its server | One group link, then everyone picks their own name |
| secret.gift | Your name, and it gives you a password | Its server | One invite link, and people join with a name |
| Wishes | Names, with emails optional | Its server | One group link, then everyone taps their own name |
| SecretSantaGenerator.online | Names | Its server | One link, then everyone types their own name |
| NameDrawing.com | Names | Its server | The whole list, on the organizer's screen |
| Homsy | Names | Stayed in the browser | A link for each person |
| ShuffleNames | Names | Stayed in the browser | A link for each person |
| GiftSnitch's free tool | Names | Stayed in the browser | A link for each person |
| utils.com | Names | Stayed in the browser | A link for each person |
| GiftList's free tool | Names | Stayed in the browser | One link that holds every pairing |
| ListLink | Names | Stayed in the browser | Pass the phone round |
| mael.dev Secret Santa Planner | Names | In the browser, though each link carries the giver's name in the address | A link for each person |
The rules most groups use
- Everyone draws one name and buys one present, so each person gives one and gets one.
- Agree on a spend limit the person with the least to spare is happy with, and say the number out loud, so nobody has to guess.
- Pick the swap day before you draw, so nobody shops in a panic on the 23rd.
- Couples and people who live together usually don't draw each other, which is what the lines in the box above are for.
- Keep your name to yourself until the swap. If you need a hint, ask someone who isn't in the draw to pass a question along.
- If someone drops out after the draw, draw again and send everyone their new link. Fixing one name by hand tells whoever fixes it who has whom.
What this doesn't do
There are no wish lists, no reminders and no emails. It can't change one person's draw without a new draw for everyone, and it can't tell you who has opened their link. If you need those, pick a site that keeps the group on its server; that's what the server is for.
What it does have is a card to go with the present. Whoever opens a link can make the person they drew a HiWith card with that person in the picture, from one clear photo. The draw is free, and the card is $4.99 if you decide to send it.
Christmas cards made from your photos
Sources
- We ran the 13 generators on November 10, 2026, each in a fresh Chromium browser with six made-up names. They are textsecretsanta.com, giftyapp.io/secret-santa/create, secret.gift, wishes.app/secret-santa-generator, secretsantagenerator.online, namedrawing.com, gethomsy.com/tools/secret-santa-generator, shufflenames.com, giftsnitch.com/tools/secret-santa-generator, secret-santa.utils.com, giftlist.com/tools/secret-santa-generator, list-link.com/tools/secret-santa-generator and mael.dev/secretsanta.
- The hat table’s first two columns count draws where nobody gets their own name, which is OEIS sequence A000166 at oeis.org/A000166.
- The couples columns count draws where nobody gets themselves or their partner. That’s OEIS sequence A000316, the same count as two decks with two cards of each kind, at oeis.org/A000316. We checked it against every possible draw for up to four couples.
How it works
- Pick a cardPilots, mermaids, rock stars, one very surprised cake. Every one shows a real example first.
- Add their photosOne clear face each, up to 5 people. A selfie is fine. No sign-up.
- See it free, then payOne picture of them in the card in about 10 seconds. Like it? Apple Pay or Google Pay, and four pictures arrive about 20 seconds later, the video in about 90.
What it costs
One card, or 10 a month. Full refund if you don’t love it.
How does Secret Santa work?
Everyone in the group draws one name in secret and buys that person one present, usually under an amount you agree on. At the swap everyone gets a present, and nobody knows who gave what until they guess or someone cracks.
Can the organizer join in?
Yes. The draw happens without anyone seeing it, so you get a link like everyone else. Just don't open anyone else's link to see if it works, because it will show you their person.
How do I keep couples from drawing each other?
Put them on one line with an & between them, like Tom & Ann. Everyone on a line is kept apart from everyone else on it, so a whole household can share a line: Leo & Sue & Theo.
What if the draw can't work?
Sometimes the lines leave no way round it, say one household of five and two other people. The page tells you who is stuck and why, so you can move someone onto a line of their own and draw again.
Do you see or keep the names?
No. The names, the draw and the links are made in your browser and never sent to us. The list stays saved in this browser until you press Start over, so you can finish sending the links later.
What if someone drops out after the draw?
Draw again and send everyone their new link. Fixing one name by hand would tell whoever does it who has whom, and it can leave someone buying a present for themselves.
By HiWith (Winding AI, Inc.) · support@winding.ai · Updated