How to Run Secret Santa in Telegram (Free Bot, No Sign-Up)
If your friends, family or team already coordinate in a Telegram group, a separate website with sign-ups is one step too many. @YourSecretGiftBot runs the whole exchange from a private chat: the group, the invite, the draw, wishes and addresses.
It is free, needs no account and no email, and everything you make there is also on the website — so the one person who refuses to install Telegram can still take part.
Secret Santa in Telegram, step by step
- Open @YourSecretGiftBot and press Start. The menu is pinned under the message box — it changes as you go, and “Main menu” is always one tap away.
- Gift exchange → New group. Type a name, pick 🎅 Secret Santa.
- Forward the invite link to your group chat. Anyone who taps it joins in one tap. The bot also gives you an organizer code — it opens the group on the website from any device.
- Everyone adds wishes and an address from the bottom menu: “📝 My wishes” and “📦 My address”. Organizers see who is ready under “👥 People”.
- Tap “🎲 Draw names”. Each person gets a private message with who they are giving to, that person's wishes and delivery address.
Nobody sees the pairs in Secret Santa mode — the organizer included. If you lose your match, “🎁 Who I'm giving to” shows it again.
An open draw: everyone sees the pairs
Pick 👀 Open draw instead when there is nothing to keep secret — a kids' exchange, a couples' swap, a team where people need to coordinate. The flow is the same; after the draw everyone gets the full list of pairs.
White Elephant in Telegram
For a White Elephant party pick 🐘 White Elephant. There are no pairs: the draw deals out a random turn order, and each player gets their number in a DM.
At the table, “🐘 My turn” shows your number and “📜 The rules” keeps the steal rules one tap away — handy when half the room is arguing about them anyway. Gift ideas that survive a steal are in our White Elephant gift guide.
A wishlist in Telegram
The same bot keeps a wishlist — for a birthday, a wedding or just in general. Wishlist → New list, then paste links from any shop: each becomes a wish with the title, photo and price pulled from the page. No link? Just write what you want in words.
Share the list and guests reserve gifts right in Telegram by tapping a number. You never see who reserved what, so the surprise survives.
Some shops block automatic previews. The item still lands in the list — rename it in the bot or edit it on the site.
Already made the group on the website?
Open the group or the wishlist on secret.gift and press Run it in Telegram, then Start in the bot. It shows up under “My groups” or “My lists”, and the draw notification comes to Telegram too. The site and the bot are the same data, so you can switch between them at any point.
What the bot can and cannot see
- It only works in a private chat. Adding it to a group chat does nothing — it does not read your group conversations.
- Wishes and addresses go only to the person who gives to you (and in an open draw, to the group).
- /stop switches every notification off at once.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Secret Santa bot for Telegram?
Yes — @YourSecretGiftBot by secret.gift. It creates the group, gives you one invite link for your group chat, draws names and sends each person their match privately. It is free and needs no sign-up.
Do all participants need Telegram?
No. The group also lives on secret.gift, so anyone can join from the invite page in a browser. People who connect Telegram simply get their draw result in the chat.
Can the organizer see who got whom?
Not in Secret Santa mode — the pairs are hidden from everyone, organizer included. Choose the open draw if you want everyone to see them.
Can I add the bot to our group chat?
It will not do anything there: the bot only works in private chats. Share the invite link in the group chat instead — each person opens it privately.
Is the Telegram bot free?
Yes, like everything on secret.gift. No payments, no premium tier, no ads in the chat.
Nick Sleighman. Claims to have never given a bad gift since 2011. Tests gift ideas on his own family every December and ranks everything by price, wow-factor and 'will they actually use it'.
Keep reading
Prefer the browser? Make the group here — you can move it into Telegram later.
Create a Secret Santa group