Secret Santa exists to solve one specific headache: pulling names for a gift exchange without anyone seeing anyone else’s assignment, and without a mutual match ruining the surprise. We built Secret Draw, a free name picker that runs right here in your browser. Add your group, mark anyone who shouldn’t be paired together, and draw. Each person reveals their own match privately, one tap at a time.
Play Secret Draw now
It opens with five sample names already loaded. Tap Draw names to see a working example, then swap in your real group.
How to use it
Type a name and tap Add for everyone in your exchange, three people minimum. If a couple, siblings, or roommates shouldn’t draw each other, pick both names in the exclusion row and tap Add exclusion, repeat for as many pairs as you need. Then tap Draw names.
The draw itself stays hidden. Every participant gets their own card with a Reveal my match button, and tapping it shows only that one assignment, nothing else on the screen changes. That is the whole point: pass the device around, or send everyone to the same link, and each person taps their own name without seeing anyone else’s. Not happy with the split? Tap New draw for a fresh shuffle instantly.
Your participant list is saved on this device, so you don’t have to retype the group next year. Assignments are never saved anywhere, not even locally, so a fresh visit always starts clean.
How it compares to Secret Santa
Secret Draw keeps the part people actually open the app for: type names, set who can’t match with whom, draw, reveal privately. The exclusion logic is real. It runs a proper randomized draw and, if plain shuffling can’t satisfy your constraints, falls back to a solver that guarantees a valid result whenever one exists, and tells you plainly when your rules make a fair draw impossible rather than quietly producing a broken one.
The native app goes further with features built for running an exchange end to end: wish lists attached to each name, gift ideas and budgets, notifications reminding people to add their preferences, and a proper invite flow so participants join from their own phones instead of gathering around one screen.
Our honest take: use Secret Draw for a quick, no-signup draw when everyone can tap their own reveal on the spot, like a family dinner or an office desk. Install the full app when you’re organizing a bigger exchange with wish lists, budgets, and people who won’t all be in the same room to reveal together.
Get the full app
Secret Santa is free on Android and adds wish lists, budgets, and invite links for running a complete gift exchange remotely.
Bottom line: Use Secret Draw for a fast, private draw right now. Install Secret Santa when your exchange needs wish lists, budgets, and remote invites.
Frequently asked questions
Can I draw Secret Santa names online without an app?
Yes. Secret Draw runs entirely in your browser above. Add your group, set any exclusions, and tap Draw names for a real random result, no install and no account.
Is this the official Secret Santa app?
No. Secret Draw is an original tool we built, inspired by the name-draw problem apps like Secret Santa solve. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to that app’s developer. Get the official app from the links above for wish lists and a full remote exchange.
Can I stop two people from being matched with each other?
Yes. Use the exclusion row to mark any pair, like a couple or siblings, who shouldn’t draw each other. The draw will never assign an excluded pair. If your exclusions make a fair draw genuinely impossible for the group size, Secret Draw tells you clearly instead of forcing a bad result.
Will other people see my match if I look at the screen?
No. After a draw, every name is hidden until that specific person taps Reveal my match. Tapping one person’s button only shows their own assignment, everyone else’s stays hidden.
Does it save my picks?
Your participant list is saved on your device so you don’t have to retype it next time. The actual name assignments are never saved, including when you use Share, which only sends how many people were matched, never who drew whom.
