So every year my family does this huge gift exchange thing and honestly it is becoming a total nightmare to keep track of what everyone actually wants. Last Christmas was the final straw because my sister and my mom both bought my nephew the exact same Lego spaceship and then my brother-in-law got him the same one too. We literally had three of the same set under the tree and the poor kid was so confused while my sister was annoyed she had to go stand in the return line at Target on December 26th. Im trying to get ahead of the game this year since we have about 15 people to coordinate for our gathering in December and I need something that wont cause a massive headache for me as the unofficial organizer.

Ive been looking at a few options but I cant decide which one will actually stick with everyone. I was looking at Elfster first because I know its like the big name for this stuff and it has the secret santa generator built in which is cool but the interface feels so cluttered to me. Like there are so many ads and random gift suggestions I feel like my dad is gonna get lost or accidentally click on some weird sponsored link and just give up entirely. Then I found Giftful which looks way cleaner and more modern which I personally love but I dont know if it works as well for people who arent super tech savvy or if the browser version is actually good. My budget is basically zero lol I definitely dont want to pay for a subscription just to tell people I want new socks or a coffee grinder.

The main thing is that it absolutely needs to have a solid web version because my aunt refuses to download any new apps on her phone claiming she has no storage left (she has about 5000 blurry photos of her cat). It also needs a clear way to claim items so we dont end up with the triple Lego situation again. Im really torn between Giftful and Elfster or maybe just sticking to a shared Google Doc although the doc is so boring and people always forget to format it right and it looks like a mess after two days. Has anyone used both? Does Elfster actually get easier once you set it up or should I just go with the prettier option and hope the older folks can figure it out...