Secret Santa generator: draw names with no sign-up
Draw names online in a minute. Type the names, mark who must not draw whom, and press Draw. Then send each person their own private link by text, WhatsApp or any chat.
Nobody signs up or gives an email. The names are never sent to or stored on InviteBird’s servers.
Your draw
Add the names and press Draw names. You will get a private link for each person, ready to send by text, WhatsApp or any chat, plus a pass-the-phone mode and printable slips.
How does the Secret Santa generator work?
It gives every player one person to buy for. Nobody draws themselves, and nobody draws a person you kept them apart from. It is one of our party planning tools.
- Add the names. One per line, from 3 to 100 people. Paste them straight from a group chat if you like.
- Keep people apart. Add couples and housemates both ways, or last year’s match one way.
- Add the details. A budget, the date of the gift exchange and a short note all show on every reveal.
- Draw and send. Each person gets a private link. You can also pass one phone around the room or print fold-over slips.
Worked examples: three groups
- A family of 8 with three couples. Add the three couples as both-ways pairs. Each partner then buys for someone from another household. Add a budget of $30 and the date of the family dinner.
- A 12-person office on WhatsApp. Paste the names from the team list and add a $20 budget and the party date. Tap WhatsApp next to each name and send it to that person only, never to the group.
- 5 friends in one room. Draw, then choose Pass the phone. Each friend taps their own name, reads their match, and hides it before passing the phone on.
How do you keep couples from drawing each other?
Add them as a keep-apart pair with “Both ways” checked. Neither partner can then draw the other. Use the same pair for housemates or a parent and child.
Uncheck “Both ways” to stop just one direction, such as last year’s match. If the pairs leave no way to draw everyone, the generator says so before anything is sent. When one person has nobody left to draw, or nobody is allowed to draw them, it names that person.
Can you do Secret Santa without email?
Yes. Nobody needs an email address or an account here. You send each link yourself, in whatever app your group already uses.
How do you send Secret Santa names on WhatsApp or by text?
After the draw, every name has a WhatsApp button and a Text button. Each opens a ready-made message with that person’s private link, and the match itself is not in the message.
Send each message to that one person, not to the group chat. You can also copy the link or the whole message into any other app.
Are the names private?
The draw happens on your own device. Each person’s match travels only inside their link, after the # sign, and browsers never send that part to a website’s server.
So InviteBird never receives or stores the names. Anyone who has a link can open it, though, so send each one privately. If you are playing too, don’t open the other links.
How do you draw names in person?
Choose Pass the phone after the draw. Each person taps their name, confirms it is them, and sees their match on their own.
Or print fold-over slips: each slip shows a name on the outside and the match inside. Hand them out, and nobody needs a phone at all.
| Way | Best for | Who sees the matches | Needs phones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private links | Groups far apart | Each person, only their own | Yes |
| Copy message | Email or any other app | Each person, only their own | Yes |
| Pass the phone | One room | Each person, in turn | One phone |
| Printed slips | One room, no screens | Each person, only their own | No |
Planning the gift exchange party?
Our Secret Santa rules guide covers budgets, wish lists and the reveal. If your group would rather swap and steal, see the white elephant rules.
For the party itself, a holiday invitation collects RSVPs and can carry a What to Bring list for the food: design free, pay when you send, from $9.99 on the Nest plan.
Common questions
How many people can play?
From 3 to 100. With only 3 people, a both-ways pair always leaves no way to draw (a one-way pair still works), and the generator tells you to remove it.
Can I see who got whom?
Only if you look. The draw is saved in this browser until you press Clear, and InviteBird never receives it. If you are playing too, send the links without opening them, or print the slips and let each person take their own.
What if someone drops out after the draw?
If nobody has shopped yet, draw again with the new list and send everyone their new link. If people have, use the dropout fix in our Secret Santa rules, which changes only one or two matches.
Is the Secret Santa generator free?
No sign-up needed. The generator costs nothing and needs no account or email. Invitations for the party itself are a separate, paid InviteBird feature.
Will my draw still be here tomorrow?
Yes, on this browser, until you press Clear. It is saved on your device only. Each person’s link keeps working wherever it is sent.
How we built it
The generator draws a random match for each person and checks every rule again before it shows the result. It follows the draw rules in our Secret Santa guide: nobody draws themselves, and partners are kept apart.
It matches the usual meaning of the game: the Cambridge Dictionary describes Secret Santa as each person in a group buying a Christmas present for one other person.
- Secret Santa, Cambridge Dictionary, Cambridge University Press (no page date shown), opened October 30, 2026.
- Secret Santa gift exchange rules and name draws, InviteBird.