Best Santa's Bag Alternatives

Santa's Bag is a Christmas planner for one person who handles the shopping. It keeps gift ideas, budgets, recipients and wrapping progress together on an iPhone or iPad. For one person organising Christmas on an Apple device, it stores those details in one place.

This page is for people who need a list that relatives can open from a link without creating an account first. It compares Santa's Bag with Things To Have on the ten factors that decide whether a wishlist gets used. It also outlines other alternatives worth considering alongside it.

What Santa's Bag does well

• It tracks recipients, budgets, gift ideas and wrapping progress in one place.
• You can sort and filter gifts by recipient or store, with a built-in countdown.
• Optional purchases let you remove banner ads and back up the database.
• It is well liked for organising family Christmas gifts on an iPhone.

Why people look for an alternative to Santa's Bag

It is iPhone and iPad only. There is no web or Android version. Relatives using other devices cannot take part.

It is a private planner. The plan stays on one device for a single shopper. Others cannot reserve items, so two people can buy the same present.

It is seasonal. The app focuses on Christmas budgets and wrapping. Birthdays during the rest of the year do not fit.

Santa's Bag vs Things To Have

View without an account

Christmas lists are often shared with relatives such as grandparents, cousins and in-laws. If they cannot open a list directly from a link, they often give up. They fall back to asking what to buy or guessing.

Things To Have. Anyone with the link can open a shared list in a web browser. Visitors do not need an account or an app to view the items.

Santa's Bag. The plan lives entirely inside the app on one person's iPhone or iPad. Other people cannot open your list online to view it. They can only see what you choose to email, print out or save for them as a separate list.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead for lists meant to be opened by other people.

Reservations

Marking an item as reserved prevents duplicate gifts. People buying from a list can see what is already taken.

Things To Have. Visitors can reserve an item when you turn reservations on for that list. Visitors sign in to reserve.

Santa's Bag. The app is a private planner on one device. There is no shared list, so nobody else can reserve items.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as Santa's Bag does not let other people reserve items.

Free, no paywall

Christmas planning happens once a year. Paying a fee for a tool used for only a few weeks is hard to justify.

Things To Have. It is free to use with no paywall at any stage. You can create as many lists and add as many items as you want without reaching a limit.

Santa's Bag. The app is free to download and handles basic gift planning at no charge. Optional in-app purchases let you remove the banner ads for $4.99 and add database backup and restore.

Verdict: Even: both are free for the core job.

No ads

Ads in a gift planner place commercial items next to your own ideas. That can distract you from the list you are organising.

Things To Have. There are no ads and no sponsored products. The site also operates without an algorithmic feed or product recommendations.

Santa's Bag. The free download displays banner ads while you use the app. You can remove them with a one-off in-app purchase of $4.99.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, since it has no ads to remove.

Any store

Good gift ideas come from small shops and independent websites as well as big retailers. A list should accept items from anywhere.

Things To Have. You can paste a link from any online shop directly into your list.

Santa's Bag. You can save items from any shop using the iOS share sheet or by dragging and dropping links into the app.

Verdict: Even, as both take items from any store.

Autofill

Typing a title, price and photo by hand for each item is slow. It is often the reason people stop adding gift ideas to a list.

Things To Have. Pasting a link fills in the title, photo and price automatically without a browser extension. It also offers a bookmarklet, an iOS Shortcut and an embeddable button for shop owners.

Santa's Bag. You can save items from any shop using the iOS share sheet or by dragging and dropping links. The app lets you store a photo, a web link and private notes for each gift idea.

Verdict: Unclear, as the app's documentation does not say whether it fills in item details automatically.

Works on any device

Most families use a mix of different phones and computers. A tool that only runs on one operating system leaves some relatives unable to take part.

Things To Have. It is a website and an installable web app that runs in any browser. Nobody needs to install software to view or manage lists on Android, iPhone, tablets or computers.

Santa's Bag. It runs only on iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision. There is no Android app and no web version.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as it runs on any device.

Sort & filter

A family Christmas often involves dozens of gifts for several people. Sorting and filtering tools help relatives find items that fit their budget quickly. That makes a long list manageable to browse.

Things To Have. Any visitor can search a list, with or without an account. They can set a maximum price and sort items by price in either direction. Prices in different currencies are converted automatically so they compare directly.

Santa's Bag. Its views, sorts and filters are customisable for the person managing the purchases. Presents can be organised by recipient or viewed by store.

Verdict: Even: both offer good sorting and filtering.

Export your data

Years of gift history are useful to keep. An export ensures your records do not depend on a single app staying on the App Store.

Things To Have. In Settings → Data, you can export your lists as a JSON file. The import tool accepts pasted links along with .txt, .md or JSON files. You can also preview the items before saving them.

Santa's Bag. Lists can be printed, emailed or saved from the app. A paid feature provides database backup and restore functions. Neither option produces a file that another app can import.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as it lets you export your data in a standard format.

MCP

Model Context Protocol, or MCP, lets an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT read and update your wishlists. This lets you add items and plan gifts by talking directly to your assistant.

Things To Have. You can connect Claude, ChatGPT or your own agent over MCP to add items, tidy lists and plan gifts for friends. You approve the permissions your assistant receives, and you can revoke the connection at any time.

Santa's Bag. It does not offer an MCP server, a ChatGPT app or a Claude connector. Its website and help pages do not mention any support for AI assistants.

Verdict: Things To Have is ahead, as Santa's Bag does not support MCP.

Final verdict

• You want a free list to send to family who will not sign up: Things To Have lets anyone open your list in a browser without an account. Relatives can view it on any phone or computer. Once signed in, they can reserve items when you turn reservations on.
• You want what Santa's Bag is best at (one person organising Christmas for a whole family on an iPhone): stay with Santa's Bag. It works well for tracking your Christmas budget and wrapping progress in a single private app.

Santa's Bag, Things To Have and the runners-up

Frequently asked questions

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