How it works

Picks for each friend, with a reason

Giver is a free gift-finding app for iPhone and Android where friends share what they would love to get, and Giver suggests real gifts for each friend with a short reason why each one fits. Here is how it works, step by step.

How do I tell friends what I’d like?

You fill in a gift profile: a private list of what you’d actually love to get. Sign-up asks just two things, your birthday and your interests. Everything else is optional and can be added whenever you like:

Interests: Around 90 to choose from, from pottery and climbing to vinyl and anime, plus your own.
Things you’ve been wanting: The strongest signal of all, along with things you’d love but feel guilty buying yourself.
Vibes: Three to five of 15, such as Cozy, Minimalist, Outdoorsy, Techy or Foodie.
Gift history: A gift you loved, and one that missed the mark.
Restrictions: Vegan, vegetarian, alcohol-free, gluten-free, nut allergy, fragrance-sensitive, no leather and more.
Gift personality: Surprises, practical things, experiences, or less stuff.
Sizes: Clothing, shoe and ring sizes, in US sizing.

The idea behind Giver is simple: the person who knows best what they’d like is the person receiving the gift. Write it down once, and every friend benefits every time.

Who can see my profile?

Only you and the friends whose request you accept. You add friends by username or by sharing your invite link. Accepting a request lets you both see each other’s gift profiles, and nobody else can. People who search for you see your username and photo, nothing more.

You can block or report anyone from their profile. Blocking removes the friendship and hides you from each other.

How does Giver choose gifts?

Pick a friend, then set an occasion (birthday, anniversary, wedding, Christmas, Valentine’s Day or graduation) and a budget, from under $25 to $200 and up. Giver then works in two stages:

It narrows the catalog. Gifts outside your budget, out of stock, or against your friend’s restrictions are removed first. A nut allergy or “no leather” is a hard rule, not a preference. Then each thing your friend shared, every interest and every wish, is matched against a catalog of real products, so each part of their profile is represented.
It ranks and explains. An AI model chooses the best five to eight gifts from that shortlist and writes one or two sentences for each, tying it to something your friend told Giver. It prefers specific over generic (a proofing basket for a sourdough baker, not a general cookbook), matches their skill level, keeps gifts for a colleague safe, and spreads picks across categories and prices.

The AI only chooses from real products. Names, prices, images and shop links come from the catalog, never from the model, so Giver can’t invent a product that doesn’t exist.

Why it fits Emma

She bakes sourdough every weekend. A cane banneton gives her loaves that spiral crust she keeps trying to get.

Where do I buy the gift?

Each gift shows its sellers and the lowest price among them. Tap a seller and you go straight to that shop to buy. You can also save ideas to a board for that friend, or to your own wishlist.

Some shop links are affiliate links: if you buy, the shop may pay Giver a small commission, at no extra cost to you. That’s how Giver stays free. Picks are ranked by how well they fit, never by commission. Read our affiliate disclosure.

How do birthday reminders work?

When a friend request is accepted, both birthdays are added to each other’s Giver calendar automatically, with a reminder two weeks before, which leaves time to order something good. You can add other occasions and pick reminders one day, one week, two weeks or one month ahead. Birthdays repeat every year on their own.

What if my friend isn’t on Giver?

Send them your invite link, so the ideas come from their own answers. If you need ideas right now, describe them yourself: name, birthday, interests, a few things they’ve mentioned wanting, anything to avoid. Only you can see that description. When they join through your invite, it merges into their real profile, and their own answers win.

No time for either? Search in the app lets you describe anyone by age range, budget, occasion and interests and shows matching gifts, no profile needed.

Ready when your friends are

Giver is free and in closed beta on iPhone and Android in the US.

Join the beta Read the FAQ