Secret Santa Generator with Exclusions, Categories and Re-draws

Watch it in two minutes

The whole PRO panel on a real group page: exclusions, categories, a re-draw, a latecomer and the reminder.

Free vs PRO at a glance

Pair exclusions: who must not draw whom

The classic Secret Santa problem: a husband draws his wife, a mom draws her own kid, and the same two coworkers get each other two years running. In the PRO panel pick two people and press Add pair — they won't be matched with each other. An exclusion works both ways, and you can add as many as you need.

If the rules make a draw impossible (say, everyone in a group of four is excluded from everyone else), the draw stops and tells you to remove one pair, instead of quietly ignoring your rules.

Participant categories: family, friends, coworkers

Create categories — a department, a family, school friends, any circle — and pick one for each person in the participant list. Then choose how the draw treats them:

• Keep categories apart. People draw someone from another category whenever possible: design gifts sales, the bride's side gifts the groom's.
• Draw within each category. Every category swaps among its own people: one link for the whole company, but each team runs its own exchange. A category of one has nobody to swap with, so that person draws from another category.

Re-draw or cancel the draw

Made a mistake, or someone dropped out? Re-draw pairs gives everyone a new person — we try to make it a different one — and sends each participant a Telegram message about it. Cancel the draw removes the pairs so you can add or remove people, change the rules and draw again. Warn whoever has already bought a gift.

Latecomers after the draw

With PRO the invite link keeps working after the draw. Someone who joins late lands in Joined after the draw and waits there, so a forwarded link can't reshuffle anybody's pair by accident.

When you press Give a pair, we split one random pair: that Santa now gifts the newcomer, and the newcomer gifts the person that Santa had. Only that one Santa gets a message; everyone else keeps their pair. If someone leaves after the draw, their Santa takes over their giftee in the same way.

“Remind everyone” and who has seen their pair

One button sends a Telegram message to everyone who hasn't filled in their wishes or delivery address yet. You decide when — at most once every 12 hours — and the page tells you how many people it reached, so you know whom to nudge in person.

In the participant list an eye icon shows who has already opened their pair and who hasn't, with a count like “Seen their pair: 6/9” in the draw step.

How to switch PRO on

In the Telegram bot the same is under ⭐ PRO features on the group screen. One payment for one group, no subscription. Running an exchange for a company and need your own design or a special feature? Write to us.

1. Create a group and send the invite link — free, a minute, no sign-up.
2. On the group page open the Everyone is in step. The PRO panel is there, under the participant list: set up exclusions and categories right away, before paying.
3. Press Unlock PRO · $5.49, pay on the Stripe page, and you're back on the group page with PRO on. Everything you set up stays as it was.

Do you need PRO?

• Family with couples: exclusions keep partners and parents with kids from drawing each other.
• Office of 20+: categories by department, a reminder for the half that never writes wishes, and latecomers who join after the draw.
• A yearly exchange with the same people: re-draw and people get someone new where the group allows; to rule a pair out for certain, add it as an exclusion.
• Five friends who all know each other: the free version is enough — just draw.

Frequently asked questions

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