Good coworker gifts are small, useful at work and easy to open in front of the whole team. Below are 32 ideas in three budgets, from a chocolate bar to a group gift for the boss, plus the etiquette for office gift exchanges. Star a shortlist and share it with whoever is collecting.
Updated by the Frugal Santa elves
Pick a budget, or a tag like the desk, the break room or the boss, then star a few ideas and share the shortlist with the team. Buying for family too? See all our Christmas gift ideas.
Cheap enough to give one to everyone on the team. Tie on a tag with each name.
A bag of good beans for a team that runs on coffee. Buy ground if the office has no grinder.
For the coworker who adds heat to every lunch. A few small bottles let them try new ones.
Everyone borrows pens. A pack of ten in bright inks works for one person or a whole meeting table.
For meeting notes and to-do lists. Dotted pages suit writing and quick sketches.
A big paper calendar for deadlines and days off. Some 18-month ones start this fall, so it's useful right away.
It quiets the keyboard, warms a cold desk and makes a plain workspace look finished.
For the coworker in the dim corner by the printer. Some have a USB port to charge a phone.
It lifts the screen closer to eye level and folds flat for the laptop bag.
The phone charges on the desk with no cable to hunt for. Check that their phone charges wirelessly.
For the coworker who loses keys or a badge every other week. Check that it works with their phone.
For a chilly office, a drafty desk and the walk in from the parking lot.
Winter heating dries out office air. A compact one fits beside the monitor.
For the colleague who keeps a sweater on the back of the chair all winter.
For the coworker who carries lunch and a drink every day. Soft-sided ones fold flat in a drawer.
Short rounds fit a lunch break. Leave it on the break-room table for everyone.
Hundreds of challenges in a small case, for a brain break between meetings.
Print a photo from this year's team lunch, frame it and have everyone sign the mat.
Three flavors in one big tin for the break room. A team gift nobody has to carry home.
Pick a place near the office, so it's an easy lunch on a busy day.
Memory foam under the feet for long days at a desk. Many adjust in height.
It clips on top of the screen and lights the desk without glare on the monitor.
A big bottle on the desk means fewer trips to the water cooler.
Stackable glass with locking lids, for soup days and leftovers at the office.
Small drawers for pens, sticky notes and chargers, so the desk is clear on Monday.
A big indoor plant from the whole team. Ask how much light the office gets first.
A group gift the whole team uses every morning. Check that the office allows small appliances.
It holds coffee at the temperature they choose, for the colleague whose cup always goes cold.
For an open office and long video calls, when they need an hour of quiet.
A restaurant gift card big enough for two, with a card signed by everyone.
A night out they'd enjoy, like a play or the band they keep talking about.
For a boss who'd rather not get things. Pool the team's gift for a cause they care about.
Pick something they'll use at work, and keep it modest. Anna Post of the Emily Post Institute told The Fiscal Times in 2014 that there's no set amount to spend on office gifts, and that they don't need to be extravagant. Desk things, a good coffee or a treat for the break room all fit.
Skip alcohol unless you know the person well. Post pointed out that many people don't drink, for many reasons, so a bottle can miss. Skip anything too personal, like perfume or clothes that need a size.
Then check the rules. The Emily Post Institute notes that many companies forbid business gifts or allow only those under $25, so read the handbook before you buy. For the card, pick one that doesn't assume a holiday or a religion, as Post advised. "Happy holidays" and "Warm wishes for the new year" work for everyone on the team.
Of the 32 ideas on this page, 18 cost under $25 at Walmart when we checked on October 16, 2026. For a whole team, set one amount per person first, then multiply: eight coworkers at $10 each is $80, and the gift follows from that.
Desk things get used every day: gel pens, a dotted notebook, a felt desk mat or next year's desk calendar. For a chilly office, try rechargeable hand warmers or a small humidifier. For the break room, a card game or a puzzle anyone can pick up at lunch.
Food is the easiest team gift, since it gets eaten and never clutters a desk. A bar of good dark chocolate cost $4.97 when we checked, so ten bars stay under $50. Add a tag with each name. Filter to the ideas under $25, and find more in our cheap Christmas gifts.
A gift from the whole team, or nothing at all. The Emily Post Institute advises against giving your supervisor a gift from you alone, since coworkers may read it as currying favor. Join with your department and give one gift from the group instead. Anna Post gave The Fiscal Times the same advice in 2014: give the boss a gift only if the whole office goes in together.
One person collects, and everyone signs the card. Keep it voluntary and suggest a range, so nobody feels pushed. Ten people at $10 each make $100, enough for dinner out for two or a pair of tickets to a show.
Pick something the boss can enjoy away from work, or that brightens the office: a tall plant, a framed team photo, a restaurant gift card or a donation to a cause they care about. Show the gift ideas for the boss.
Make it opt-in, and set one price limit for everyone, so the new hire and the senior manager spend the same. Nobody should feel they have to join. Pick a date before people leave for the holidays, and name one person to answer questions.
Then pick a format. In a Secret Santa, each person draws one name and buys for that person. Our Secret Santa generator draws the names online, and a short Secret Santa questionnaire tells each giver what their person likes.
In a white elephant swap, everyone brings one wrapped gift, and people take turns opening a new one or stealing one already opened. The white elephant rules explain the steals, and our white elephant gift ideas help with what to bring.
For a remote team, mail gifts a week early or send e-gift cards, and open them together on a video call.
Look at their desk. The mug they use, the snacks in the drawer, the plant on the shelf and the photos on the wall all say what they like. A work friend can fill in the rest, and if your office runs a Secret Santa, the questionnaire answers are the best clue you'll get.
For a coworker you know well, Santa can ask. With Santa's interview, you send them a link, and they have a short video call with Santa, an AI video character. He asks about their year, what they've loved lately, what they'd rather not get and what they wish for. Right at the start, he tells them their wishes go to you, and they tick a box to agree. The surprise is which wish you pick.
You then get a short summary, their likes and dislikes, and every wish with store prices. The call runs on your minutes, at $1 a minute, and only the time they talk is used.
An e-gift card for the lunch spot by the office arrives by email, and so does a coffee shop card. Since August 22, 2010, federal rules have kept the money on a gift card from expiring for at least five years after purchase or the last reload.
A box of pastries for the break room works too: buy it on the way in, and the whole team shares it. Or give to a cause the team cares about.
For a coworker with young kids at home, give gift minutes with Santa. You pick the minutes at $1 a minute, add a short note and get a gift card with a code you can print, save as a picture or send as a link, so there's nothing to wrap or ship. Your coworker enters the code on the redeem page, signs in with their email and gets the minutes. They never expire, and each code is single-use.
Set the total first: the number of people times your amount each. Then buy in bulk where it fits. A 10-pack of Pilot G2 gel pens cost $11.97 at Walmart on October 16, 2026, about $1.20 a pen, so one pack and a candy cane each covers a small team.
For anything bigger, compare three stores, and look at the price per item, not just the box price. Pool with the team for the boss, so one shared gift replaces ten small ones.
Or let Santa's wish list compare for you: after a live video call with Santa, each of your wishes is priced across stores, lowest first, with links. Keep your receipts: if Target's own price drops within 14 days after you buy, Target will match it. Last, share one shortlist with whoever is collecting for the team, so nobody buys the same thing twice.
There's no set amount, and office gifts don't need to be extravagant. Agree on one limit with your team, and check your company's gift policy before you buy.
No. A card for everyone or a treat for the break room covers the whole team. If you give to a few close friends at work, hand those over away from the rest of the team.
Only as part of a gift from the whole team. The Emily Post Institute advises against a gift to your supervisor from you alone.
Only if you know they drink. Many people don't, so a treat, a plant or something for the desk is a safer pick.
Star your picks, tap "Share my shortlist" and drop the link in the team chat, where everyone can open the same marked list. Nothing is sent to us: the picks stay in your browser, and the link carries only short idea codes after the # sign.
Yes. Santa takes calls from grown-ups as well as kids. Read how calling Santa works, then keep your answers in a Christmas wish list for whoever draws your name.
See Christmas gifts for teachers and gift ideas for someone who has everything.
Live videoTell Santa what you'd like this year on a live video call. Your wishes come back as a list with store prices, lowest first, ready to share with whoever draws your name. $1 a minute.
Call Santa
Gifts for Teachers31 ideas teachers like, plus school gift rules.
White Elephant Gifts36 ideas for a $25 or $50 swap, from funny to useful.
Gifts for Someone Who Has Everything32 ideas that get used or remembered, not stored.
Christmas wish listMake, print and share your list, with gift ideas for every age.