Short, factual answers about how Open a Gift works. If something is missing, ask us on the contact page.
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Nothing. Creating, sending and opening a gift are free. There is no paid tier and no payment step anywhere on the site.
No. Neither side signs up, and nothing is installed. You make the gift in the browser and the recipient opens it in the browser.
When you finish, you get a link. You copy it or use your phone's share sheet and send it in WhatsApp, iMessage, email or any chat. We never send it for you and we never contact the recipient.
No. A photo is optional. If you add one, it is resized in your browser to at most 1080 pixels on its longest side before upload.
The gift and its link stay until you delete it from your manage link; opening or replaying never uses it up. Photos are the exception: a photo is deleted 30 days after the gift is created, and from then on the gift opens as a text card with your message. The recipient can save the photo from the opened card before then.
Yes. Your manage link (shown right after you create the gift, and listed under "Your gifts" on the home page in the same browser) has a "Delete this gift" button. It removes the record and the photo immediately and the link stops working.
Your name and the occasion, then the reveal you chose. Once it is done, they see your card with your message and photo. They can play your voice message and song if you added them, answer your Yes/No question, download the photo if there is one, or make a card back. There is no watermark on the gift page.
Yes. The gift is a normal web link, so it opens in any modern phone or desktop browser, including when tapped inside WhatsApp, iMessage, email or another chat app.
Not automatically. You can "Seal it for later": pick a date and time, and the link stays locked with a countdown until then. You still share the link yourself, whenever you like, and the unlock time can be up to five years ahead (within 30 days if the gift has a photo).
Yes. Under "Add clues before the reveal" you can add one or more questions with an answer and an optional hint. The recipient has to answer correctly before the reveal starts. Answers are compared ignoring case and extra spaces.
The reveals play short synthesized sounds. The recipient can mute or unmute with the speaker button on the gift page; the choice is remembered in that browser only.
Only the "Blow Out the Candles" reveal, and only if the recipient taps "Blow for real". Then the browser asks for microphone permission; the breath is detected on the device and never recorded or uploaded. Swiping across the candles always works without a microphone.
Not with a message. They can make you a thank-you card from the end of the gift, and if you added a Yes/No question, their answer shows on your manage link, along with whether the gift has been opened. We do not email or notify you; check the manage link.
Anyone who has the link, unless you add a clue question. Gift pages are not listed anywhere and are marked so search engines do not index them, but the link itself is the key, so share it only with the person it is for.
The gift itself: names, message, occasion, chosen reveal and card, the optional photo and options like unlock time or clues, plus whether it was opened and the answer to a Yes/No question. It is stored on Google Firebase and served from Vercel, and deleted on the schedule above. Details are in the privacy policy.
No. Each gift has one sender. Each person can make their own card in about a minute instead.
No. Open a Gift only makes the online card and reveal. Nothing is printed, posted or bought through the site.
Open a Gift is a free website for sending a virtual gift by link: a message, an optional photo and voice message inside an interactive reveal (15 reveals, 14 card designs) that the recipient opens in their browser. It is free to create, send and open. There is no signup and no app for either side, and no watermark on the gift. Gifts are private: only people with the link can open one. The link keeps working until the sender deletes the gift; photos and voice messages are stored for 30 days, then deleted. It opens in any phone or desktop browser, straight from WhatsApp, iMessage, email or any chat.