Building GiftLoom: from an idea to something real

Gift ideas arrive at bad times. You’re in line at the grocery store when you remember your mom mentioned a scarf. You’re mid-conversation when a friend says what they’d really like for their birthday. You nod, tell yourself you’ll remember, and three weeks later it’s gone.

GiftLoom began with that small, familiar failure. Not a big problem, but a constant one, and the kind that costs you a slightly rushed purchase every December.

The real problem is mental clutter

Most gift planning isn’t hard. It’s scattered. Ideas end up in notes apps, text threads, a screenshot you’ll never find again. Budgets live in your head. Who already bought what lives in a group chat.

Nothing about that is complicated, but you carry all of it around. I wanted something that took the load off, so that remembering stopped being your job.

One line, filed for you

The most important design decision was how an idea gets in. If saving a gift takes six taps and a form, you won’t do it standing in the grocery line, which is exactly when it matters.

So you type one line:

Scarf for Mom #Christmas $120

GiftLoom reads that and files it under the right person, event and price. That’s the whole interaction. I spent more time on this than on anything else, because a planner nobody feels like opening is just another place for ideas to disappear.

Around that capture sits the rest. Reminder emails go out a week before an event, or on whichever days you choose. You can set a budget per event and look back at what past events cost. And you can share an event or wishlist so other people claim gifts and nothing gets bought twice.

I kept the scope narrow on purpose. It’s a gift planner. It isn’t a general to-do app wearing a ribbon.

Why founding households, and why free

GiftLoom is free for founding households while I build it. The spots are open until Oct 25, 2026.

I did it this way because I don’t yet know everything that’s wrong with it. I know what I use it for. I don’t know how a family with three kids’ birthdays in one month uses it, or what confuses someone who never touches a hashtag. Real households will find things I can’t see from my desk.

Charging people while the product is still taking shape didn’t feel right either. If you help me make it better, you shouldn’t be paying for the privilege. In return I ask for honest feedback, including the “this part annoys me” kind.

What’s next

Right now the work is mostly polish and listening. I’m watching where people get stuck when they type their first line, tightening how the sharing flow reads, and fixing the small rough edges that show up once real calendars are involved.

I’m not going to promise a feature list. When something ships, I’ll say so here, and when I decide against something, I’ll try to explain why.

If you’d like to try it, you can find GiftLoom at giftloom.app. If something breaks or confuses you, write to support@giftloom.app. A real person reads those.