Questions
Before you send the invitations.
Budgets, who can see a wishlist, and what happens if someone has not joined yet.
Elf Match is a free tool for organizing a Secret Santa or other gift exchange. You create an exchange, invite people with a shared link or by email, collect wishlists, optionally keep certain pairs from matching, and send each person a private assignment.
Yes. There is no paid tier and no card required to create an exchange or join one.
A draw needs at least three people who have joined. There is no participant cap. People with a still-open invitation are not included until they accept.
After creating your exchange, copy the invite link and send it to the group. Anyone who opens it and signs in joins as themselves. You can still enter email addresses if you want each person to get their own invitation. They create a free account, add a wishlist, and wait for assignments. Turn the shared link off when you no longer want new people to join.
Exclusion rules prevent certain pairs of people from being matched. This is useful for couples, family members, or anyone who shouldn't gift each other. When you set an exclusion, neither person can be assigned to gift the other. Our matching algorithm respects all exclusions.
Yes. You can set a minimum and maximum, in rupees. Everyone who joins can see that range. There is no other currency.
When at least three people have joined, you can assign Santas. The draw is random, never assigns someone to themselves, and keeps every exclusion. You preview the full list, and you can generate another set before confirming. Confirming emails each person only their own recipient.
As the organizer, you can preview every pairing before you send it. After the emails go out, each person sees only their own recipient. A participant never sees the rest of the draw.
Before you confirm, you can generate another set as many times as you want. After the emails go out, the names cannot be changed.
Yes. Sign in with a one-time email code, or with Google. Use the same email the invitation was sent to. Signing in with a different email will not accept that seat.
You can. After the draw, only the person assigned to give you a gift can read the titles, notes, price estimates, and shop links. The rest of the exchange cannot.
Yes. Each item can have a title, a note, a price estimate in rupees, and a link to a shop. After the draw, your assigned giver uses that list to choose a gift.
No. Your delivery address is only shared with your assigned Secret Santa - the person who needs to send you a gift. Other participants cannot see your address.
Your Secret Santa can update the status of their gift (bought, shipped, delivered), but you won't see these updates - it would spoil the surprise! The gift giver uses this feature to keep track of their progress.
Pending invitations are shown in the exchange overview. The admin can resend invitation emails if needed. You should wait until everyone has accepted before triggering the assignment, as pending members won't be included in the matching.
Yes. The exchange date is yours to set. The same flow works for an office draw, a family gathering, or any other occasion where people should not see the full list of pairings.
Yes, we take security seriously. All data is transmitted over HTTPS (encrypted). Delivery addresses are encrypted before being stored. We never share or sell your personal information. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
You can reach us at hello@elfmatch.com for any questions, feedback, or issues. We typically respond within 24 hours.