The setup walkthrough, every feature explained, the Gift Survey, the White Elephant tool, and the one thing you must save before closing the page.
What SecretSantaMatch is
When you set up a Secret Santa, the first thing every other tool asks for is email addresses. From everyone. SecretSantaMatch does not. Nobody creates an account. Nobody shares their email. Your exchange data is encoded inside the shareable link itself, not stored on any server. Each participant only sees their own assignment when they open their private link.
Over 50,000 people have run exchanges through SecretSantaMatch since late 2025. The core generator is 100% free with no limits on group size or number of exchanges. From nothing to everyone having their assignment link takes under 5 minutes.
Setup walkthrough
Add your participants
Go to SecretSantaMatch.com/generator and add names. No email addresses required. Use bulk add to paste a full list at once. Faster for groups of 10 or more.
What you can add per participant
Set exclusions and budget
Add any pairs who should not be matched: couples who live together, a manager and their direct report, or two people who were matched last year. The draw engine guarantees excluded pairs are never matched.
Set the gift budget here. It shows up on every participant's reveal card as a reminder so nobody forgets the limit.
Settings at this step
Customize the reveal card
Each participant sees an animated reveal card when they open their link. Customize it before generating.
Card options
Generate, then save your master link immediately
Hit generate. The draw runs instantly. You receive two things.
What you get
Save the master link before you do anything else. It is not stored on our servers. If you close the page without saving it, it is gone and you will need to start a new exchange. Bookmark it or copy it into your notes app right now.
Share assignments
Share each participant's private link however works for your group. All links are automatically shortened via TinyURL for easy pasting into messages.
Where to share
Participants reveal and update their wishlist
Each participant taps their link and sees an animated reveal of who they drew. From that same link they can add or update their wishlist at any time. Their Secret Santa sees the latest version automatically. No organizer involvement needed.
There are two ways to help Santas know what to buy, both free and optional:
Wishlist on the reveal link: participants add items, sizes, and links right on their private page. Quick, no setup needed.
Gift Survey: a fuller questionnaire with likes, dislikes, clothing sizes, and anything else. Collected before the draw so every Santa starts informed. See the Gift Survey →
The other side of the screen
When you share a participant's link, this is exactly what happens on their end: no account creation, no app to download, nothing to install.
That is the entire participant experience. No password. No profile. No confirmation email to ignore. For groups where some participants are less tech-engaged, this frictionless flow means fewer people drop off before they see their assignment.
What is included free
Everything below is free with no limits on participants or exchanges. No feature is gated behind a paid tier except the four Pro features listed separately below.
Privacy and data
Nobody gives you their email address. Not the organizer, not the participants. Share assignments as links. Nothing to store, nothing to secure.
Exchange data lives inside the URL itself, not on a server. Each participant only sees their own assignment when they open their private link.
The organizer keeps one master link that shows all participants and manages the exchange. Save it immediately after generating. It cannot be recovered.
Exchange features
Unlimited exclusion pairs. Prevent couples, manager and direct report, or anyone who was matched last year from drawing each other.
Each participant can add items, sizes, and links to their wishlist on their private reveal page at any time. No login needed. Their Santa sees the latest version automatically, so instead of guessing, they know exactly what to buy. Optional and free.
Multiple holiday themes, a custom message from the organizer, and the option to upload your own photo as the card background. Makes the reveal feel like it was made for your group specifically.
Paste a full list of names at once rather than entering them one by one. Saves time for any group over 8 people.
All participant links are shortened via TinyURL automatically. Short enough to paste cleanly into WhatsApp messages or Slack posts without wrapping.
Groups of 3 to 100+ all work identically. Large groups are not a paid feature. The draw handles any size and any number of exclusion rules.
Party and event tools New
The fuller option for making sure Santas know exactly what to get. Likes, dislikes, clothing sizes, wishlist links, all collected before the draw using a chip/tag interface. Share one link with the group, everyone fills it in, organizer sees all responses in one place. PDF export for print. Optional and free.
675+ questions across 16 categories with a spin wheel. Run it at the party before gifts open to warm up the room. Especially useful for office groups who don't know each other well.
Run a fair prize draw for any group. Enter names, spin, winners picked randomly. No signup, free, works at any size event alongside or instead of a Secret Santa.
Live steal tracker for Yankee Swap and Dirty Santa. Handles turn order, steal counts, freeze rules, and the final round. Enter names and go.
Before the draw
Most Secret Santa gifts miss because the Santa had nothing to go on. The Gift Survey fixes that. Run it before your draw and every Santa has a full picture of their recipient before they buy anything.
The organizer shares one survey link with the group alongside the invitation. Each participant fills in their own preferences using an interactive chip and tag interface. Green chips for likes, red for dislikes. It takes about 3 minutes to complete.
Send the Gift Survey at the same time as your Secret Santa invitation, not after the draw. You want preferences collected before anyone starts shopping, not chasing them down afterwards. Give people at least a week to fill it in.
Optional upgrade
The free tier handles everything most groups need. The one confirmed Pro feature is extended link life, useful for exchanges planned well in advance.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extended link lifeUseful for: exchanges set up months ahead, or groups who run year-round gift swaps | Pro gives each exchange an 800-day active window from the date of purchase, compared to 400 days on the free tier. Links stay live for the full duration of your exchange without expiring. |
Add names, set exclusions, generate. Five minutes later everyone has a private link and knows who they are buying for. Free, no email, no account.
Common questions
Yes. The core generator is 100% free with no limits on participants or exchanges. The one confirmed Pro feature is extended link life: 800 days of active link life per exchange from the date of purchase, compared to 400 days on the free tier.
No. Zero email addresses are needed from anyone. Not the organizer, not the participants. Assignments are shared as private links via WhatsApp, Slack, text, or email. Your choice. Email delivery is available but never required.
Yes. Each participant has a private link where they can add and update wishlist items at any time. Their Secret Santa sees the latest version automatically on their own link. The organizer does not need to be involved.
The master link is not stored on our servers and cannot be recovered. Save it immediately after generating, in your bookmarks or notes app. If you lose it, you will need to create a new exchange. This is the one thing to do before anything else.
A free digital questionnaire where participants share their preferences using a chip and tag interface: likes, dislikes, sizes, wishlist links. The organizer shares one link, everyone fills it in, and responses are collected in one place. A PDF is available for in-person groups. Run it before your draw so Santas have something to work with.
Yes. The White Elephant Generator is a separate free tool for Yankee Swap and Dirty Santa. It handles turn order, live steal tracking, freeze rules, and the final round. No signup required.
Yes. It works for any gift exchange at any time of year: office parties, birthday swaps, family reunions, summer team events. Card themes include year-round options alongside holiday designs.