Enter the names and tap Draw. Everyone gets a secret link by WhatsApp or text that only shows who they’re buying for. Free, no sign-up and no emails: the names stay on your phone.
At least 3 people.
Don’t open the other links: each one shows the name that was drawn.
Secret Santa
Make sure nobody can see your screen. Then open your draw.
Secret Santa is a group gift exchange. In the draw, each person picks the name of someone else, buys them a present and keeps it to themselves. On the day of the exchange everyone gets a gift, but nobody knows who it came from, at least until someone gives it away.
It works because it solves two Christmas problems at once: instead of buying a little something for everyone, each person gives just one gift, chosen with more thought and with the same budget for all. That’s why it’s a fixture in offices, friend groups, clubs and big families.
The only tricky part is the draw: names in a hat work until someone pulls out their own, or half the group isn’t there. The online draw above fixes both.
It takes a minute, on a phone or a computer, and the group doesn’t need to be in the same place.
Enter the names of everyone taking part, from three up to fifty. That’s all it needs: no emails, no sign-up.
The draw randomly matches each person with someone else. Nobody gets themselves, and everyone receives a gift.
Send everyone their link by WhatsApp or text. If you’re all together, pass the phone around instead: each person taps their name, sees their match and hides it again.
One budget for everyone. This rule saves awkward moments: nobody enjoys unwrapping a five-pound gift after spending fifty. Between colleagues, around £10 to £20 in the UK or $20 to $30 in the US is common; friends and family often go a little higher.
Set the date before the draw. The exchange works best while the group is still together: at the office, usually the last day before the holidays or the Christmas party; with friends, at your festive get-together.
No peeking. The surprise is the whole point. With personal links, even the organiser can play along without knowing the matches, as long as they send the links unopened.
A short wish list helps. If the group doesn’t know each other well, ask everyone for a hobby or a small idea. The name stays secret, but the gift is more likely to land.
At work, Secret Santa is the easiest way to wish everyone happy holidays without spending much. A few things work a little differently than with friends.
It’s best to suggest it early, in late November or early December, so everyone has time to buy a gift, and to keep it optional. With colleagues across different sites or working from home, only an online draw really works: everyone gets their link wherever they are.
For the exchange, a shared moment is enough: a team breakfast, drinks on the last working day, or the Christmas party. And the atmosphere does half the work: a silent office in December feels like any other office.
My Corporate Radio brings a Christmas radio station to offices and shops, curated by radio professionals: our own music, new tracks every week and no ads. It switches on by itself in November and plays through the holiday season.
Yes. The draw on this page is free, with no sign-up and no email addresses: enter the names, draw, and send the links by WhatsApp or text.
No, as long as they send the links without opening them. The list only shows names and links: who each person is buying for appears only when that person opens their own link. The organiser takes part like everyone else.
At least three. The draw handles up to fifty names, enough for a whole office.
There’s no fixed rule; what matters is that everyone sticks to the same budget. Between colleagues, around £10 to £20 in the UK or $20 to $30 in the US is common; friends and family often go a little higher.
Open this page on the same phone or computer you used for the draw: the list with every link is still there, ready to send again. If you run a new draw, the old links stop working and you’ll need to send the new ones.
No. The draw runs in the browser of the person who starts it: names are never sent to or stored on our servers. Each match lives only inside that person’s personal link.
More seasonal guides from My Corporate Radio.
Page updated October 2026