Elfster is brilliant for Secret Santa, but it's seasonal by nature and everyone needs an account. Giftwhale is a year-round wish list tool with guest reservations and pre-purchase reservations.
100% free. No subscription. Trusted by 60,000+ families.
Elfster is the leading Secret Santa platform. Giftwhale is a year-round family wish list tool. Both are free, but they're built for different primary use cases.
| Feature | Giftwhale | Elfster |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Year-round family wish lists, guest-friendly sharing, pre-purchase reservations, date reminders | Secret Santa and gift exchanges, large groups, anonymous Q&A, native apps |
| Core wish lists | ||
| Pre-purchase gift reservations Giftwhale lets people reserve before buying, preventing duplicates upfront. Elfster uses a "mark as purchased" system after the gift is bought. | Yes | No |
| View and reserve without an account Share a link and anyone can browse and reserve. No sign-up needed. Elfster requires all participants to create accounts or be managed via Family Manager. | Yes | No |
| Reservation visibility controls Choose when and whether you see reservations on your own list, so surprises work exactly how you want | Yes | No |
| Free to use | Yes | Yes |
| Add items from any website | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic product lookup from URL | Yes | Yes |
| Family and kids | ||
| Memorable dates tracker Track birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with reminders. Elfster doesn't have a dedicated dates feature. | Yes | No |
| Child accounts Both platforms let parents create managed accounts for children. Elfster calls this Family Manager. | Yes | Yes |
| After the gift | ||
| Thank-you letters linked to gifts Both platforms support thank-yous. Elfster lets you add notes and photos when marking gifts as received. Giftwhale links thank-you letters to specific gifts and gift-givers. | Yes | Thank-you notes |
| Gift ideas vault Save gift inspiration for anyone, even people not on Giftwhale | Yes | No |
| Secret Santa and groups | ||
| Gift exchanges | Yes | Yes |
| Random draw with exclusions | Yes | Yes |
| Budget limits | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous Q&A in exchanges Elfster lets gift givers ask recipients anonymous questions like "What's your shirt size?" without revealing their identity. | No | Yes |
| Groups of 300+ people Elfster supports very large gift exchanges. Giftwhale is designed for family and friend groups. | No | Yes |
| Platform | ||
| Year-round primary focus Elfster works year-round but its branding, marketing, and core identity centre on Secret Santa and holiday exchanges. | Yes | Seasonal focus |
| Native mobile app Elfster has iOS and Android apps. Giftwhale works as a web app on any device. | Coming soon | Yes |
| Gift guides and product picks Both platforms offer curated gift guides and product recommendations to help you find the right gift. | Yes | Yes |
Best for
Core wish lists
Pre-purchase gift reservations
Giftwhale lets people reserve before buying, preventing duplicates upfront. Elfster uses a "mark as purchased" system after the gift is bought.
View and reserve without an account
Share a link and anyone can browse and reserve. No sign-up needed. Elfster requires all participants to create accounts or be managed via Family Manager.
Reservation visibility controls
Choose when and whether you see reservations on your own list, so surprises work exactly how you want
Free to use
Add items from any website
Browser extension
Automatic product lookup from URL
Family and kids
Memorable dates tracker
Track birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with reminders. Elfster doesn't have a dedicated dates feature.
Child accounts
Both platforms let parents create managed accounts for children. Elfster calls this Family Manager.
After the gift
Thank-you letters linked to gifts
Both platforms support thank-yous. Elfster lets you add notes and photos when marking gifts as received. Giftwhale links thank-you letters to specific gifts and gift-givers.
Gift ideas vault
Save gift inspiration for anyone, even people not on Giftwhale
Secret Santa and groups
Gift exchanges
Random draw with exclusions
Budget limits
Anonymous Q&A in exchanges
Elfster lets gift givers ask recipients anonymous questions like "What's your shirt size?" without revealing their identity.
Groups of 300+ people
Elfster supports very large gift exchanges. Giftwhale is designed for family and friend groups.
Platform
Year-round primary focus
Elfster works year-round but its branding, marketing, and core identity centre on Secret Santa and holiday exchanges.
Native mobile app
Elfster has iOS and Android apps. Giftwhale works as a web app on any device.
Gift guides and product picks
Both platforms offer curated gift guides and product recommendations to help you find the right gift.
“Giftwhale has genuinely improved our gift-giving experiences. No more stress about what to buy people, no more duplicate presents. Everyone in my family uses it now.”
Giftwhale user
Send your wish list to Gran, your uncle, or a colleague. They click the link, see your list, and reserve a gift. No account, no password, no fuss.
Giftwhale is built for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and everyday gift planning. Not just the Christmas Secret Santa season.
Family members reserve gifts from your list before they buy. No risk of two people purchasing the same thing. Elfster's "mark as purchased" only happens after the gift is bought.
The memorable dates tracker keeps birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions in one place with reminders. Check someone's wish list right from the reminder.
The leading Secret Santa platform with 40 million+ users, strong exchange features, and native mobile apps.
Uses "mark as purchased" rather than pre-purchase reservations. All participants need accounts.
Best for families who want year-round wish lists with guest access and pre-purchase reservations.
“We built Giftwhale because organising gifts across birthdays, Christmas, and family events shouldn't need multiple tools. It should just work, for kids and grandparents alike.”
- The Giftwhale team
“The reservation system is what makes Giftwhale special. When someone reserves an item, it's marked so others know not to buy it. No more duplicate gifts! But the clever bit is I can't see who reserved what, so there's still surprise on the day.”
- Giftwhale user
“Christmas shopping used to be so stressful in our family. Now everyone has their Giftwhale list and we can all see what each other wants. The kids especially love adding items to their lists!”
- Giftwhale user
“After years of disappointment with other wish list apps, Giftwhale is refreshingly good. It does everything I need without unnecessary complexity. The team clearly understands what users actually want.”
- Giftwhale user
For year-round wish lists, yes. Giftwhale offers pre-purchase reservations, guest access without accounts, and a year-round focus. Elfster is better for large-scale Secret Santa exchanges (100+ people) and has extras like anonymous Q&A. Both are free.
Pre-purchase reservations (not just "mark as purchased"), guest access without accounts, reservation visibility controls, a memorable dates tracker, and a gift ideas vault. Elfster has anonymous Q&A in exchanges, very large group support, and native apps.
Completely free. No premium tiers, no credit card required. Both Giftwhale and Elfster are free.
Yes. Giftwhale has a built-in gift exchange feature with random name draws, exclusions, and budget limits. For small family or friend groups, it works great. Elfster is stronger for very large groups (100+ people) and has extras like anonymous Q&A.
Not with Giftwhale. Anyone can view a shared wish list and reserve gifts without signing up. Just share the link. With Elfster, all participants need to create accounts or be managed through Family Manager.
Giftwhale lets people reserve gifts before buying, preventing duplicates upfront. Elfster uses "mark as purchased" after the gift is bought. Giftwhale also gives you control over whether you see reservations on your own list.
Yes, Elfster has a Family Manager feature that lets parents create and manage accounts for children. Giftwhale also has child accounts. Both platforms handle this well.
Yes. Both Giftwhale and Elfster offer curated gift guides and product recommendations. Both offer curated recommendations to help you find the perfect gift.
Paste a few product links, share with family, and you're done. No credit card, no commitment.
No subscription. No credit card required.
