Elfster: The Secret Santa App

Name: Elfster: The Secret Santa App
Rating: 4.9 (301430 reviews)
Author: Elfster, Inc.

Wishlists & Gift Exchange

Only for iPhone

Free · Designed for iPhone

301K Ratings
Ages

13+
Years
Category

Shopping
Developer

Elfster, Inc.
Language

EN
English
Size

56.4
MB

iPhone

The #1 Secret Santa App for Gift Exchanges, Wishlists & Holiday Planning Elfster is the premier Secret Santa app that makes organizing gift exchanges effortless, fast, and completely free. Whether you're planning Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid Al-Fitr, birthdays, weddings, or any other special occasion, our Secret Santa generator and gift registry app features ensure perfect gift-giving every time. Why Choose Elfster? Free, Easy & Fast Gift Exchanges - 100% FREE: No hidden fees, subscriptions, or premium upgrades - LIGHTNING FAST SETUP: Create your Secret Santa in under two minutes - INCREDIBLY EASY: Simple interface that anyone can use - WISHLISTS: Curate your own Wishlists with the products that you would love to receive PERFECT FOR ANY OCCASION Christmas & Holidays Our Christmas gift list app helps you organize Secret Santa exchanges for family, friends, coworkers, and groups of any size. Also perfect for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, and other holiday celebrations. Birthdays & Special Events Use our name drawing app for birthday gift exchanges, milestone celebrations, graduations, and "just because" moments throughout the year. Weddings & Life Events Create gift registries for weddings, baby showers, housewarmings, anniversaries, and other major life celebrations. Office & Group Events Organize workplace Secret Santa exchanges, team building events, and group celebrations with colleagues. ELFSTER FEATURES: Secret Santa Generator with Smart Exclusions Our advanced secret santa generator ensures fair pairing while allowing you to: - Set exclusions so couples don't draw each other - Prevent kids from being paired with adults - Exclude last year's matches for variety - Handle groups of any size (from 3 to 300+ people) Shareable Wishlists from Top Retailers Create and share gift registry app Wishlists featuring products from: - Amazon, Target, Nordstrom - Local and specialty retailers - Custom gift ideas and experiences - Gift card options Easy Invitations & Management - Send invitations via text, email, or social media - Cross-device compatibility (iPhone, Android, desktop) - Real-time updates and notifications Gift Discovery & Trending Items - Browse trending gifts and popular items - Curated gift guides for every occasion - Price tracking and deal alerts - Gift suggestions based on age, interests, and budget HOW ELFSTER WORKS: Step 1: Create Your Exchange - Set up your Secret Santa or gift exchange in minutes. Add participant names, set your budget, choose your event date, and configure any exclusions. Step 2: Send Invitations - Invite friends and family via text, email, or your favorite messaging app. Step 3: Draw Names & Create Wishlists - Our name drawing app automatically pairs everyone fairly. Participants create shareable wishlists with items from any retailer. Step 4: Shop & Exchange Gifts - Browse wishlists, purchase gifts directly through retailer links, and mark items as purchased to avoid duplicates. Then… enjoy your gift exchange! GIFT IDEAS & TRENDING ITEMS FOR 2025 Discover what's hot this gifting season with our curated collections: - Tech Gifts: Latest gadgets, smart home devices, wireless accessories - Fashion & Beauty: Trending apparel, skincare, jewelry, and accessories - Home & Kitchen: Cookware, decor, organization, and smart appliances - Books & Entertainment: Bestsellers, streaming subscriptions, games - Kids & Family: Educational toys, family games, outdoor activities - Personalized Gifts: Custom items, photo gifts, and unique experiences Start your free Secret Santa gift exchange today with Elfster—the ultimate secret santa app that makes gift-giving easy, fast, and fun! If you have any trouble at all with the app, we are here to help! Visit our Help center for answers to the most common questions at https://help.elfster.com/knowledge.

Ratings & Reviews

4.9

out of 5

301K Ratings

The only gift exchange app you should use!
11/08/2024

IvoryDoveWritingReviews
LOVE this app! It’s so easy to use. My parents are in their 60s and even they figured it out. It makes it so easy to set up gift exchanges. You can set restrictions, so people can’t draw their significant others. You can create a wish list and find pretty much any item on the internet to add to it. You can message the person you drew anonymously, if you have a question about one of their gift ideas. You can list just “ideas” instead of actual products as well. You can send a thank you after you receive a gift. And you can very easily reuse a previous year’s gift exchange to set up the next year’s. I set up my 2024 exchange in less than 30 seconds because everything except the date was the same as last year! Last year, I got a survey from the UX team asking for feedback. Elfster really cares about their app, and their users’ experience using it. It really shows!

Developer Response
Thank you so much for your ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review! We love to hear all the ways you are using Elfster, and your parents too! Thanks for sharing some of our favorite features in your review - we hope you enjoy Elfster for years to come!💚🤩🎉
The only gift exchange app you should use!
11/08/2024

IvoryDoveWritingReviews

LOVE this app! It’s so easy to use. My parents are in their 60s and even they figured it out. It makes it so easy to set up gift exchanges. You can set restrictions, so people can’t draw their significant others. You can create a wish list and find pretty much any item on the internet to add to it. You can message the person you drew anonymously, if you have a question about one of their gift ideas. You can list just “ideas” instead of actual products as well. You can send a thank you after you receive a gift. And you can very easily reuse a previous year’s gift exchange to set up the next year’s. I set up my 2024 exchange in less than 30 seconds because everything except the date was the same as last year! Last year, I got a survey from the UX team asking for feedback. Elfster really cares about their app, and their users’ experience using it. It really shows!
Developer Response 11/20/2024
Thank you so much for your ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review! We love to hear all the ways you are using Elfster, and your parents too! Thanks for sharing some of our favorite features in your review - we hope you enjoy Elfster for years to come!💚🤩🎉
Great App
12/28/2023

Bkelevate
I started using this app because of a company gift exchange. Then I suggested using it with my family’s Christmas exchange. And now I’ve convinced other families and friends to use it as well.The wishlists portion is great. My wife and I will look at the wishlist throughout the year for birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and random gifts as well. I like that you can private message someone for more details without giving away who you are.If I had any gripe it’s that they’ve made it more difficult to add to the wishlist but I’m guessing they use referral links if you search the gift in their app. So since I didn’t pay for the app I can’t fault them for trying to push using the search in their app instead of adding custom. But I’d honestly happily pay for the app for some additional features because I like the app so much.

Developer Response
Thanks so much for your ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review! We're happy to see our users engaging with Elfster all year long with our Wishlist feature. We'd love to hear more about your experience with Wishlists and how you found it more difficult this year. Please contact us at help@elfster.com and let us know where you think we can make an area easier. We're always looking to help our users have the Best experience! Thanks again!
Great App
12/28/2023

Bkelevate

I started using this app because of a company gift exchange. Then I suggested using it with my family’s Christmas exchange. And now I’ve convinced other families and friends to use it as well.The wishlists portion is great. My wife and I will look at the wishlist throughout the year for birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and random gifts as well. I like that you can private message someone for more details without giving away who you are.If I had any gripe it’s that they’ve made it more difficult to add to the wishlist but I’m guessing they use referral links if you search the gift in their app. So since I didn’t pay for the app I can’t fault them for trying to push using the search in their app instead of adding custom. But I’d honestly happily pay for the app for some additional features because I like the app so much.
Developer Response 01/02/2024
Thanks so much for your ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review! We're happy to see our users engaging with Elfster all year long with our Wishlist feature. We'd love to hear more about your experience with Wishlists and how you found it more difficult this year. Please contact us at help@elfster.com and let us know where you think we can make an area easier. We're always looking to help our users have the Best experience! Thanks again!
Great, but a few small changes would make fantastic
11/28/2023

Rczaps
Love the app finally made this year so much easier for gifts.HOWEVER, I’d love to see a family manager option for children who don’t have their own accounts. I just added a list for my son under my name. But can’t see if anyone purchased anything in his list because it’s under me. I could create a whole new account for him, but he is two and that seems a but dramatic. Or even this option for older kids (and spouses who won’t make an account) to make profiles for them without making whole accounts with a log in and password. Maybe a passcode to get into their list? But it’s under my account still? Would be great especially since there are things if other people do not buy for my 2year old id like to purchase. Baby list for baby registries has a feature you can even see on your own list if you insist on snooping, but that isn’t an obvious option to show you.

Developer Response
Thanks for your review! We have a fantastic Family Manager feature on our site where you can manage a child, populate their Wishlist, see what has been purchased, include them in Gift Exchanges and more! It does require you to give them their own account, but that's as easy as two clicks and typing their name. Find out more at www.elfster.com, or contact us at help@elfster.com with any questions!
Great, but a few small changes would make fantastic
11/28/2023

Rczaps

Love the app finally made this year so much easier for gifts.HOWEVER, I’d love to see a family manager option for children who don’t have their own accounts. I just added a list for my son under my name. But can’t see if anyone purchased anything in his list because it’s under me. I could create a whole new account for him, but he is two and that seems a but dramatic. Or even this option for older kids (and spouses who won’t make an account) to make profiles for them without making whole accounts with a log in and password. Maybe a passcode to get into their list? But it’s under my account still? Would be great especially since there are things if other people do not buy for my 2year old id like to purchase. Baby list for baby registries has a feature you can even see on your own list if you insist on snooping, but that isn’t an obvious option to show you.
Developer Response 12/06/2023
Thanks for your review! We have a fantastic Family Manager feature on our site where you can manage a child, populate their Wishlist, see what has been purchased, include them in Gift Exchanges and more! It does require you to give them their own account, but that's as easy as two clicks and typing their name. Find out more at www.elfster.com, or contact us at help@elfster.com with any questions!
Works, but doesn't
12/27/2024

Slayer_Solo
So we have used Elfster for the last three years for gift exchanges. Most of the time it works out really well. We really like the way it handles gift exchanges, especially the part where you can limit who gets who. It really helps with bigger families and not getting assigned your partner/spouse which is important in these exchanges. However, we had a big problem this year "Mark As Purchased" function. It would show that it was purchased on the individuals and who purchased it, but when we looked at other people's same list, it did not show that it was purchased. Others could not see that it was already purchased. So once again we had duplication of gifting. This is a basic function of this app and really needs to be corrected. Will we use it again next year? That really depends on Elfster and whether they can fix this functionality because that is one of the main reasons we used it.

Developer Response
Thanks for your review and also for letting us know of the "mark as purchased" issues you had. We will definitely have our techie elves take a peek! If you'd like to contact us with your name and email address we can look specifically into your account to see what may have gone awry. Our testing of this setting is showing it works, so if we can find any place where we need improvement, we'll get right on it! Hope to hear from you soon: help@elfster.com
Works, but doesn't
12/27/2024

Slayer_Solo

So we have used Elfster for the last three years for gift exchanges. Most of the time it works out really well. We really like the way it handles gift exchanges, especially the part where you can limit who gets who. It really helps with bigger families and not getting assigned your partner/spouse which is important in these exchanges. However, we had a big problem this year "Mark As Purchased" function. It would show that it was purchased on the individuals and who purchased it, but when we looked at other people's same list, it did not show that it was purchased. Others could not see that it was already purchased. So once again we had duplication of gifting. This is a basic function of this app and really needs to be corrected. Will we use it again next year? That really depends on Elfster and whether they can fix this functionality because that is one of the main reasons we used it.
Developer Response Jan 9
Thanks for your review and also for letting us know of the "mark as purchased" issues you had. We will definitely have our techie elves take a peek! If you'd like to contact us with your name and email address we can look specifically into your account to see what may have gone awry. Our testing of this setting is showing it works, so if we can find any place where we need improvement, we'll get right on it! Hope to hear from you soon: help@elfster.com

Hey Elfsters! All the elves have completed their E.L.F.S (Every Little Fix Squad) training! This ensures Elfster will continue to run at tip-top gift-giving conditions. See what’s new: - Bug fixes and other minor visual improvements to improve the stability and performance of the app

Version 2025.1110.40

22h ago

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Elfster: The Secret Santa App

Wishlists & Gift Exchange

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Version 2025.1110.40

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Data Not Linked to You

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