Best Gift Tracker Apps for Christmas 2026
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The best gift tracker depends on the job. If you are the one buying for a lot of people and want to stay on budget, use a planner like Giftwise or a spreadsheet; if you want family to tell each other what they would like, use a shared wish list app like Giftster or GiftList; and if you are running a gift exchange, use Elfster or a free Secret Santa generator.
"Gift tracker" covers two different problems. Wish list apps help the people you love tell you what they want. Planners help you, the buyer, keep track of who you are shopping for, what you have bought and what is left to spend. Here is how seven options compare, including the free ones you may already have on your phone.
Quick comparison
| Option | Best for | Budget per person | Shared wish lists | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giftwise | Planning what you buy and spend | Yes | No | Free for 10 people and 15 gifts a year, Premium $9.99 a year |
| Giftster | Family wish lists | Not its focus | Yes | Free |
| GiftList | One list from any store, shared with a link | Not its focus | Yes | Free |
| Elfster | Secret Santa and gift exchanges | Not its focus | Yes | Free |
| Google Sheets or Excel | Short lists, total control | If you build it | If you share the file | Free |
| Phone notes app | Jotting ideas fast | No | No | Free |
| Notion template | People who already live in Notion | If you build it | If you share the page | Check their site |
Giftwise
Giftwise is built for the person doing the buying. You add the people you shop for, group gifts by occasion such as Christmas or a birthday, and set a budget for the occasion and for each person. Every gift moves through Idea, To Buy, Purchased, Wrapped and Given, and money you only plan to spend is shown separately from money already spent. There are shopping, wrapping and shipping lists, and reminder emails before each date.
Where others beat it: Giftwise is not a registry. Your family can't add their own wishes to it, and it has no browser extension for saving items from stores. If what you need most is "tell me what everyone wants," a wish list app will do that better.
Giftster
Giftster is a family wish list app. Each member of a private group keeps a wish list, and when someone reserves a gift, the list owner can't see it, so the surprise is kept. Its Fetch feature adds an item from a store link, there is a browser extension, it supports child accounts, and it can run a Secret Santa draw. Giftster is free and says it is funded by affiliate commissions on purchases.
Where it beats Giftwise: shared family wish lists and hidden reservations. It is less focused on your own budget across everyone you buy for.
GiftList
GiftList lets you paste a link from any online store to add an item, keep one list or one per occasion, and share it. Givers can mark a gift as purchased so nobody doubles up, and they don't need an account to do it. It also offers birthday reminders and a free Secret Santa draw for up to 100 people. GiftList says it is free.
Where it beats Giftwise: a single shareable list built from any store, with no sign-up for the people buying from it.
Elfster
Elfster is best known for Secret Santa. You invite people by email or text and it draws names, and members can keep wish lists, follow friends' lists and get birthday reminders. It is free and earns commissions from shopping links.
Where it beats Giftwise: running a group gift exchange with invitations. If you only need a quick draw, the free Secret Santa generator works without anyone signing up.
Google Sheets or Excel
A spreadsheet is free, flexible and easy to share with a partner. Columns for person, gift, price, status and store take ten minutes to set up, and you can shape it exactly how you like.
Where it falls short: it won't remind you of dates, it is fiddly on a phone in a store, and every total is a formula you maintain yourself. It works well for a short list and gets harder as the list grows. We compare the two in more detail in spreadsheet or app.
A notes app
The notes app on your phone is the fastest way to capture an idea the moment you hear it. A checklist per person is fine for a handful of gifts.
Where it falls short: there are no prices, totals or statuses, so you can't see what you have spent or what is still left to buy.
A Notion template
If you already use Notion, its template gallery has community-made gift list and gift tracker templates, and a database with a person, price and status column can do a lot. Prices for templates vary, so check their site.
Where it falls short: you build and maintain it yourself, and it takes more setup than most people want for one season.
How to choose
- Buying for many people on a budget: a planner such as Giftwise, or a spreadsheet if your list is short.
- Want family to say what they'd like: Giftster or GiftList.
- Running a gift exchange: Elfster, or a free name draw.
- Just collecting ideas: your notes app is fine.
Plenty of people use two: a wish list app for the family and a planner for their own budget. If you are still deciding how much to spend, split your total with the free holiday budget calculator.
Questions and answers
What is the best free gift tracker?
For tracking what you buy and spend, Giftwise is free for up to 10 people and 15 gifts a year, and a spreadsheet is free for any size. For shared wish lists, Giftster and GiftList are free.
Which gift tracker has a budget per person?
Giftwise sets a budget for each occasion and each person and shows spent and planned money against it. In a spreadsheet you can build the same thing yourself with formulas.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for tracking Christmas gifts?
For a short list, yes. It gets harder with many people, on a phone, or when you want reminders before each date.
Can I use a wish list app and a planner together?
Yes. Many people let family keep wish lists in Giftster or GiftList and track their own budget and shopping in a planner.