Gift exchange generator

A gift exchange only works if everyone gives once and receives once. The generator builds a single closed loop, so that is guaranteed: no one buys for themselves, no one is forgotten, and no one ends up with two gifts while a colleague gets none.

Mutual pairs – two people buying for each other – are avoided by design, which is usually what people want and almost never what a hat gives you.

State the budget as a range rather than a number and everyone relaxes; it removes the awkwardness of one person spending three times as much. Add the exchange date and a short note – where you are meeting, whether homemade counts – and it appears on every participant's link, so the rules are attached to the thing people actually open.

Participants can add a short wishlist to their own page too, which their giver sees. It is optional, and it is by far the easiest way to avoid another scented candle.

Exclusions handle the real-world constraints: couples who already buy for each other, siblings in the same house, two departments that never meet. Mark the pairs that should not match and the draw works around them, or tells you when the rules leave no valid combination.

We store the names you type and any wishlists, nothing else, and delete all of it 60 days after the exchange date – sooner if you press delete. Nobody needs an account or an app; the links open in any browser. The full result is not visible to the organizer, which is what lets you join your own exchange.