Draw names online

Everyone goes into one closed circle: the first person gives to the second, the second to the third, and the last one gives back to the first. That structure is why the draw never fails the way folded papers do – there is no second round, no awkward redraw because the last two people pulled each other.

The order of that circle is shuffled on our server with the same random number generator browsers use for cryptography, not with a shortcut based on the clock. Nothing about the result depends on the order you typed the names in.

Instead of showing one big list, the draw produces one private link per person. Send them by email, or copy them all as a single message and share them in the group chat. Each link opens a page with one name on it – the person you are giving to – plus the budget, the date and any note you added.

This is what lets the organizer play too. There is no page, anywhere, that shows who drew whom.

Before drawing, mark any pair that should not be matched: partners who live together, siblings, two people who drew each other last year. The draw respects every rule you set, and tells you plainly if the rules make a valid circle impossible instead of quietly ignoring one.

Your organizer page shows who has opened their link, so you can nudge the two people who have not instead of asking the whole group. If someone joins after the draw, add them: they slot into the circle, one existing person gets a new name, and the page tells you exactly who to inform. Everything is deleted automatically 60 days after the exchange date.