DrawNames alternative: Secret Santa without collecting emails

First things first: does DrawNames need email?

Short answer: less than most people think. Based on its website, FAQ and app page as of October 2026, DrawNames works like this:

• The organizer sets up a group with names, exclusions, a budget and the date.
• Invitations go out by email, by text, through Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or other messaging apps.
• No registration is required. An account is optional (you sign in with a code sent by email) and keeps your groups and wish lists in one place.
• Each participant accepts the invitation and draws their own name from the link. Nobody sees the full list of matches, and the organizer can only view it after the celebration date.
• On the website, the FAQ says people without an email address should use the app. Several people can also share one address.
• Each person can keep a wish list and ask anyone in the group questions anonymously. Gifts can be reserved so nobody buys the same thing twice, and a gift finder filters by age, budget and category.
• DrawNames was started in 2001 in the Netherlands. The app for iPhone and Android comes from Meetrix Online, and there are local versions of the site such as drawnames.co.uk.
• DrawNames states it shows no ads and doesn't sell personal data.

That's a solid, well-rounded tool. So if typing in email addresses was your only worry, the DrawNames app may already solve it. Read on if you want to skip the accepting and joining too.

When a DrawNames alternative makes sense

The difference between the two approaches is where the draw lives. With DrawNames it lives in a group on their service that people respond to. With a link-based draw it lives in the links themselves. That sounds technical, but you feel it in practice:

• You don't want to collect anything. No emails, no phone numbers typed into a website, no list of who's in your family sitting on a server. With our generator, the names stay on your phone and each match travels inside its own link. The part after the # in that link is never sent to our server.
• Nobody should have to accept anything. With DrawNames each person accepts an invitation first and, on the website, gets tied to an email address. A link skips all of that. No accepting, no sign-in code, no group page to find again. Tap, see the name, done.
• The group is scattered across apps. Grandma on WhatsApp, your sister on iMessage, a friend who only uses Signal. DrawNames can share invitations to most of them too. The difference is what people find when they tap: with a link it's the name itself, not an invitation to accept.
• You're doing it on the spot. Everyone's at the table after dinner and someone says "let's do Secret Santa". Two minutes later, every phone in the room buzzes.

What each person actually does

The organizer's side is similar in both. The difference shows on everybody else's phone.

Neither is "better". DrawNames gives each person more to do and more to use. The link gives them less to do and less to use.

Five groups where a draw without email shines

Real situations where an email list (or any list) is the wrong starting point.

👵

1. A family with grandparents who only use WhatsApp

• Best forfamilies, 3 generations
• Time2 minutes to draw

Grandpa has a phone number and a WhatsApp profile picture of his tomatoes. He does not have an email address he checks. Send him his link in your usual chat, ideally with a voice message telling him to tap it. That's the whole onboarding.

⚽

2. A kids' team or youth group

• Best forclubs, school classes, scouts
• Time5 minutes including messages

Kids often don't have email, and many parents would rather not have their child's details on yet another site. Type first names only, send each link to the parent and let them show it to their kid at home. Use a one-way exclusion if siblings are in the same group.

🏢

3. An office where nobody wants a contact list

• Best forteams, coworking spaces
• Time2 minutes to draw

Collecting private email addresses for a gift exchange makes some coworkers uneasy, and a work inbox full of newsletters is where invitations go to die. Send links through your team chat in direct messages instead. Nothing new gets stored about anybody.

🌍

4. Friends spread across countries and messengers

• Best forold school friends, long-distance groups
• Time10 minutes

Half the group moved away and everyone uses a different app. Draw once, then send each link through the app that person actually reads. Agree to ship gifts or open them together on a video call.

🍽️

5. The spontaneous draw at the dinner table

• Best forany group already together
• Timeunder 5 minutes

When someone suggests Secret Santa over dessert, nobody wants to wait for invitations. Ask everyone to say their name, type them in, draw and AirDrop or text the links around the table. Turn your phone face down while people open theirs.

How to run the draw by link

1. Grab the names from your group chat. The member list of the chat is your participant list. Paste it into the Secret Santa generator, one name per line.
2. Add exclusions for couples, households or siblings.
3. Fill in budget, date and a note. These show up on every link, so nobody has to ask again.
4. Switch on "I'm taking part too" if you're playing. You get a link of your own and see no matches.
5. Draw, then send each link in a private message. Copy one, paste it into that person's chat, move to the next.

The full walkthrough with troubleshooting (late joiners, dropouts, lost links) is in our guide to online Secret Santa.

psst … this makes it easier

Draw Secret Santa names in two minutes

• Add names and exclude couples if you like
• Everyone gets their own private link by text or WhatsApp
• Free, no sign-up, no email addresses

Draw names now

You're getting a gift for …Sam 🎁Scratch

Messages to send with the links

Each audience needs a slightly different nudge. Adjust names and dates.

For grandparents

Hi Grandpa! This is your Secret Santa link 🎅 Just tap the blue text. You'll see a little present open up and the name of the person you're buying a gift for. Don't tell anyone! Our budget is $25.
[link]

Copy

For parents in a kids' group

Hi Sarah, here's Leo's Secret Santa link for the team party on December 12. Please open it together with him and keep the name a secret from the others 😊 Budget is $10, wrapped gifts go in the box by the door.
[link]

Copy

For coworkers

Your Secret Santa link for the team 🎁 No sign-up, it just opens in the browser. Please don't forward it, the name inside is only meant for you. Gifts are exchanged at the holiday lunch.
[link]

Copy

What DrawNames does that a link can't

To be fair about it: some features only work when everybody joins the same group, and DrawNames has them.

• Wish lists per person. Workaround with a link draw: a shared document or a short form everyone fills in. Our Secret Santa questionnaire has questions and wish list templates ready to copy.
• Anonymous questions to your giftee. Workaround: ask someone close to them, or ask the whole group the same question so nobody can tell who's curious.
• A gift finder and gift reservations. Workaround: our Secret Santa gift ideas by budget.
• An overview of who hasn't drawn yet, so the organizer can nudge them. Workaround: none, but with a link nobody has to draw. Opening it is enough.
• No repeat of last year's matches when you reuse last year's group. Workaround: one-way exclusions for last year's pairs.
• Access to your groups from any device after signing in. Our generator keeps the draw on the device you used, so resend lost links from there.

If your group would use those features, DrawNames is a good choice. If you'd mostly use the draw, a link does that part with fewer steps. Weighing up Elfster as well? We compared it separately in our Elfster alternative guide.

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Frequently asked questions