Gift Ideas for Your Best Friend That Don’t Look Last-Minute

Your best friend’s birthday is coming up, or it’s December and you want to get her something that isn’t another candle grabbed at the checkout. The best gifts for a best friend don’t have to cost a lot. They just have to show you know her.

Here are 30 gift ideas for your best friend, sorted by budget, plus a few that cost nothing at all. Planning her party too? Here are sweet 16 ideas for every budget.

Before you pick: a 30-second trick

Scroll back through your chats and her posts. What has she mentioned wanting, complained about losing or been obsessed with lately? A gift that answers something she said in passing is the one she’ll remember. Write three things down before you go shopping. You can also send her the love language quiz: a gift lands better when it matches how she feels loved.

Gifts that cost nothing

1. A letter. Handwritten, not a text. Tell her a favorite memory, what you love about her and something you’re excited to do together.
2. A “52 reasons” deck. Write one reason you love her on each card of an old deck of cards.
3. A playlist named after an inside joke, with a song for every year you’ve been friends.
4. A coupon book: “one free homework help session,” “one sleepover at my place, I pick the snacks,” “one honest outfit opinion.”
5. A plan instead of a thing. Pick a day, plan it fully and just tell her when to be ready. Need ideas? See our list of things to do with friends.
6. Matching profile pictures picked out for the two of you from our matching pfp collection.

Gifts under $10

7. Her favorite snack in bulk, the one she always steals from you.
8. Friendship bracelets you made yourself, one for each of you.
9. A cute claw clip or scrunchie set in her colors.
10. Stickers for her laptop or water bottle that fit her interests.
11. Printed photos of the two of you, in a cheap frame you decorate.
12. A lip balm or tinted balm in a flavor she’ll like.
13. A blank notebook with the first page already filled in by you.

Gifts under $25

14. A cozy pair of socks or slippers with a funny pattern.
15. A mini photo album filled with pictures from this year.
16. A self-care kit: face mask, nail polish, bath item and a snack, in a little bag.
17. A book you loved and think she’d love too, with notes in the margins.
18. A phone case or grip that matches her vibe.
19. A small plant or a grow-your-own kit for her room.
20. A candle or room spray in a scent she already wears or has mentioned liking.
21. A hoodie or tee from her favorite band, team or show.
22. A bake-together kit: the dry ingredients for cookies in a jar, plus the recipe card.

Gifts under $50

23. Tickets to something: a movie, a local show, a trampoline park. Go together.
24. A matching item for both of you: necklaces, keychains or phone charms.
25. A custom photo blanket or pillow with a picture of the two of you.
26. Something for her hobby: art markers, a film camera roll, a crochet kit, gym gear.
27. A gift card to the store or café she goes to most, paired with a handwritten note so it doesn’t feel last-minute.

Gifts that are really about the two of you

28. A “best of us” scrapbook with tickets, photos and screenshots of your funniest chats.
29. A time capsule you both fill and agree to open in a year.
30. A challenge: take our friendship quiz for two and see who knows who better. Loser buys the next snack run.

How to choose when you have no idea

• She’s into beauty: self-care kit, lip balm, claw clips.
• She’s sentimental: letter, photo album, scrapbook, time capsule.
• She’s always busy: a planned day out, tickets, a gift card plus a note.
• She has a big hobby: something she’ll use for it, even something small.
• She has everything: an experience together beats another object.

Not sure what she’d want? Ask her to make a wish list and make one yourself. Our Christmas wish list ideas work for birthdays too.

Wrapping it so it feels special

• Use a paper bag and decorate it with drawings and inside jokes.
• Hide a small gift inside a bigger, silly box.
• Make her open it on a video call if you can’t be there in person.

Questions people ask