Couples kept apart
Add a rule for any two people and they will never draw each other, in either direction.
Gift-exchange name draw
Your gift exchange,
folded and sealed.
Namefold draws names for your family, office or club exchange. Nobody draws themselves, couples can be kept apart, and everyone opens their own envelope on their own phone.
- No accounts
- No emails sent
- Deleted after the party
Three folds and you are done
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Write the names
Type or paste everyone taking part, one per line. Add a date, a budget and a note if you like.
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Set the rules
Keep couples or housemates apart, stop two people drawing each other, or make one loop through everybody.
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Send the envelopes
Namefold draws, then gives you one private link per person. Text them, or print fold-over cards with a QR code.
What each person sees
One envelope. One name. Nobody else's.
Every person gets their own link. It opens a sealed envelope with their name on it, and inside, the one person they are buying for, with that person's wish list.
The organizer page shows who has opened their envelope, not who drew whom. The organizer holds every link, though, because they send them out, so each envelope keeps a record: when it was first opened and how many times its match has been shown. A peek leaves a mark.
Running the exchange for others and not taking part? You can choose to see the full list, and every envelope then says so.
Who can see whatMade for the way exchanges really go
No swaps, one loop
Stop pairs from simply trading gifts, or chain everybody in one loop so the giving goes all the way round.
Wish lists for the giver
Everyone can write ideas and things to avoid. It is shown to the person who drew them, and never listed on the organizer page.
Cards for the dinner table
Print a fold-over card for each person with a QR code inside. They scan it and see their match alone.
Opened, or not yet
See at a glance who has looked at their envelope, so you know whom to nudge before the party.
Next year, no repeats
With Plus, start next year's exchange from this one: same people and rules, and nobody gets the same person again.
Free for most families. Small change for big groups.
Free during preview. Payments are not switched on yet, so every exchange gets the Plus features at no charge. The prices below are what the plans will cost.
Free
$0
- Draws up to 12 people
- Couples and other rules, No swaps, One loop
- A private envelope link for everyone
- Wish lists, opened-or-not board, print cards
Big Draw
$1.00 once, per exchange
- Everything in Free
- Up to 40 people in that exchange
- No subscription: pay once, done
Free during preview
Namefold Plus
$1.95 a month, or $19.50 a year
- Up to 100 people
- Keep it for next year (13 months)
- Next year's draw skips this year's pairs
- Every link in one spreadsheet (CSV)
Free during preview
Questions people ask
Can the organizer see who drew whom?
Not on the organizer page: it shows each person's link and whether they have opened it, never the matches or wish lists, unless the organizer turns on "Show the full list" (meant for a host who is not taking part; every envelope then says it was turned on). But the organizer holds every link, because they send them out, and a link opens for whoever has it. So each envelope shows when it was first opened and how many times its match has been shown. If that is more than you did, someone else looked.
Do people need an account or an email address?
No. There are no accounts, and Namefold sends no email. You share each person's link however you like: a text, a chat, or a printed card.
What if someone loses their link?
Open your organizer page and copy their link again. If a link went to the wrong person, make a new one: the old link stops working at once.
Is the draw really random?
Yes. The server draws with the operating system's secure random generator and checks every rule before it saves. The details are here.
How long is everything kept?
Until 30 days after your exchange date (120 days after you made it if you set no date), then it is deleted automatically. You can delete it all yourself at any time.