Geftable is open for private beta

For years, I have maintained a gift exchange list for my kids. When our kiddos were younger, they wanted to give a Christmas present to each of their siblings. As they got older, it got more expensive. So we did what many parents may have done: We started a Secret Gift exchange for them. They were given a bit more money, but only one sibling to buy for. (It solved a lot of issues.) Now, every Christmas, we draw names for the "Sibling gift" as we call it. Every year, I have to remember who had who last year (and the year before that), who's married to whom (not hard), and who hasn't given to someone in a while. With 5 adult children and their partners, it's a bit more complicated than a simple spreadsheet from when they were littles.

At some point, I had Claude write a Python script with all the rules that I tried to keep straight in my head and feed it into a Google Sheet. Then I had the wacky idea to build a "little" app to manage the list and draws and make it so I could easily share it with them. Yeah... I overdesigned AND overengineered it. A lot! Geftable is the result. (This is also a design experiment for me. Can I use an AI tool and not my traditional design and software tools? The app itself doesn't use AI.)

You make a list for your group: a family, a group of friends, roommates, an office team. Add everyone by name and (optionally) email. Geftable will draw names for each year. It keeps track of past years, so nobody gets the same person again right away. It knows who's a couple, so partners don't draw each other. You can keep two people apart without anyone else knowing why. And it can send email reminders four, two, and one week before the gift day.

If you already keep your list in a spreadsheet like I did, you can drop it into our template and import it, past years and all.

If someone invites you to their list, you're in. No waiting. Starting a list of your own means you sign up for the waiting list. I'm letting people in a few at a time. It's only me right now, and I don't want to make something that doesn't work or breaks unexpectedly.

A few things you might ask before handing over your family's email addresses:

• Is my information sold? No. We don't show ads, and we don't sell what we know about you or share it for advertising.
• Who sees who I'm giving to? In a secret draw, you see who you give to, and who your partner gives to if you're in a couple AND couples don't give to each other. After the gift day, everyone in the list can see who gave to whom. Whoever runs the list sees every pairing, so they can fix a mistake. If something goes wrong, I may look at it to fix it.
• Will you spam me with upgrade emails? No. We send no advertising, and news of Geftable only to the waiting list. Everything else is about your lists or your account: your invite, a note when names are drawn, and reminders, all from hello@geftable.com. You can turn off the notes and the reminders. And unless you sign in with Google or a passkey (Yeah... I told you I overengineered it.), you'll get an email with a magic link that signs you in.
• What does it cost? Nothing. One list of your own, and as many other lists as you're invited to. (I do have some plans for a Premium version that will include unlimited lists for those special few. Interested? There's an option on the waitlist sign-up form to indicate your interest.)

That's it. If your group is going to draw names this year, do a Secret Santa, or participate in another gift-giving exchange where you need to manage a list of participants and their gift assignments, I'd love for you to try it.

Have fun gefting!
-ty
Ty Hatch, Creator of Geftable