The Best Online Gift Cards and Digital Gift Ideas (2026)

Trawling through busy retail stores seeking gifts is a daunting task. Shopping online can be just as time-consuming, and you may run into delivery delays. Even if you successfully secure a haul of presents, many will wind up in closets or charity stores. It’s time to try an online gift. Digital presents and online gift cards are easier to give. Shop from your comfy sofa or cozy bed—no gift wrapping or shipping needed. We have a virtual smorgasbord of delicious digital gift ideas.

You should also consider subscriptions as gift ideas. Check out our Best Subscription Boxes for Gifting, the Best Gift Subscriptions for Kids, and Best Beauty Box Subscriptions.

Updated October 2026: I’ve added entries in several sections, including food, gaming, and travel; removed discontinued options; and updated all links and prices.

They may not be all that imaginative, but electronic gift cards let your loved ones choose what they actually want, and it’s never disappointing to receive one (assuming it’s at a place you like). Gift cards are everywhere—you can also look beyond the retail giants to find highly rated independent stores near your giftee.

• Etsy gift cards work with a huge variety of independent sellers, and it’s a virtual treasure trove of quirky and unique items that make great gifts.
• Amazon gift cards are an obvious pick for the sheer breadth of choice.
• Brooklinen gift cards enable your giftee to level up their sleep with some of our favorite weighted blankets and bed sheets.
• CardSnacks offers many ecard options and gift cards from more than 400 retailers.
• Target, Best Buy, REI, Walmart, and Home Depot are other good choices. (Use our Walmart promo codes for extra savings on gifts.)

Courtesy of Goldbelly

The way to anyone’s heart is often through their stomach. Food can bring comfort and joy, and everyone loves an excuse to treat themselves and skip the chore of cooking for a night. Many local restaurants and delis will offer gift cards or picnic baskets, so it’s worth checking if your giftee has a favorite.

• Milk Bar gift cards open up a world of delectable desserts, from cakes and pies to cookies and truffles.
• Omaha Steaks offers gift cards so folks can order their preferred cuts, from ribeyes to filet mignons, plus burgers and franks, seafood, chicken, desserts, and more.
• Goldbelly gift cards let you order culinary delights from across the US. If your giftee complains they can no longer get their favorite cakes, sandwiches, or fried chicken because they moved out of state, there’s a good chance they’ll be able to find it, or something similarly great, from a small restaurant or shop on Goldbelly.
• OpenTable offers gift cards for restaurants in various locations, making it easy to find top-rated eating spots near your giftee and set them up with a tasty treat.
• GrubHub gift cards let family and friends order in from their favorite restaurants. They simply enter their address to see a list of nearby restaurants that offer delivery or takeout.
• HelloFresh gift cards allow your recipient to try HelloFresh meal kits or sign up for a meal plan. (Use our HelloFresh promo codes for extra savings on gifts.)
• DoorDash gift cards can be used to order directly to your door from countless restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores.

Sling TV

Courtesy of Sling

We are living in a golden age of entertainment. It has never been easier to get great TV and film pumped into your home. Cord-cutting gives us more control, and there’s an increasingly wide choice of streaming services you can give as presents.

• Netflix Gift Cards at Target and Amazon: The streaming pioneer boasts an impressive library of TV shows and movies, including exclusives like Wednesday, Stranger Things, and Squid Game. To ditch ads and stream in 4K on up to four devices at once, the price jumps from $9 to $27 per month.
• Paramount+ Gift Cards at Amazon and Best Buy: The home of Star Trek has a growing roster of shows and some good movies. A few other streaming services are also worth gifting.
• Sling TV for Live and Local TV: This app works on phones, PCs, or a streaming device like Roku and offers live TV channels, like a cable subscription, but over the internet. It’s one of the most affordable livestreaming services and lets you choose between channel bundles. Live TV is ideal for folks who love sports and talk shows.
• Disney+ Gift Cards at Walmart: This makes a thoughtful gift for those with young kids, though many adults will also enjoy a dose of nostalgia with classic Disney movies and shows, plus The Simpsons, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, NatGeo, and more.
• Hulu gift cards are ideal for cord-cutters who want a mix of on-demand TV shows and movies, with an optional live TV component.
• Mubi: With its handpicked selection of international arthouse films, fans of cinema seeking obscure indies and influential classics will love this subscription. You can also get a year for $120.

Courtesy of Target

Music makes a wonderful gift. It can conjure memories, boost your mood, and get you dancing. Our Best Music Streaming Services guide runs through our favorites and why we like them in more detail, but these subscriptions are the best options for most people. (Spotify, one of our top picks, no longer offers gift cards.)

• Apple Gift Card for Apple Music ($12 per month): It boasts millions of lossless tracks, and the mobile apps are solid.
• Google Play Gift Cards for YouTube Music ($12 per month): YouTube Music offers a huge library and starts at $12 per month, but if you watch a lot of YouTube videos, YouTube Premium costs $16 a month and offers an ad-free experience.
• Tidal Gift Card ($12 per month): Audiophiles will appreciate the streaming quality here, and Tidal boasts more than 100 million songs.

Kindle Paperwhite

Courtesy of Amazon

There’s nothing quite like settling down with a good book, whether you read it on a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone. Ebooks and ebook subscriptions make great gifts, and many fantastic audiobook versions feature big-name casts for folks who love to listen. Amazon dominates this scene, but it’s not the only game in town.

• Amazon Kindle Unlimited ($12 per month): This lets anyone who reads on a Kindle or a device with the Kindle app borrow up to 20 books at a time from a library of millions. There are discounts for longer gift subscriptions (6, 12, or 24 months).
• Libro.fm (2-credit bundle for $30): This audiobook service supports local booksellers (you can pick a store) and splits the profit from your purchases. Plus, it boasts expert curation from booksellers.
• Audible Plus ($45 for 3 months): You get one free book to download per month, and access to a bunch of included Amazon audiobooks, including many bestsellers. You can also gift individual ebooks or audiobooks by selecting the “Give as a Gift” option on Amazon.
• Epic! ($40 for 3 months): This digital reading platform for kids 12 and under has more than 40,000 titles and includes audiobooks, interactive videos, quizzes, tracking tools, badges, and rewards to encourage reading, as well as personalized recommendations.

Photograph: Getty Images

Some of the best journalism you can find online requires a subscription. Magazine, journal, and newspaper subscriptions make great gifts for anyone.

• WIRED is just $24 for a year of unlimited online access, though there’s a higher tier if you want the print edition. If we may be so bold, it’s ideal for any tech lover in your life.
• The New Yorker has a digital-only subscription for $52 per year that includes new articles, access to the archive, and crossword puzzles.
• The New York Times is $75 for a year, which nets your giftee unlimited articles, podcasts, and videos via the website or app.
• The Atlantic costs $90 per year for a digital subscription and offers an array of well-reported stories and newsletters.
• MAD Magazine is $20 for six issues a year, and a subscription is now the only way to get this legendary (and damn funny) magazine outside of comic shops.
• ProPublica is a nonprofit that runs off donations. You don’t need to subscribe to read top-notch unbiased reporting, but you can contribute to this Pulitzer-winning news organization in someone’s name.

Courtesy of Amazon

There may be too many gaming subscription services now, but that’s good news for gift shoppers with gamers on their list.

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ($69 for 3 months) was the best deal in gaming until the price hike. It includes hundreds of titles, including frequent new releases, to download and play on Xbox or PC. It also includes access to the Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service so you can play on even more devices.
• Nintendo Switch Online ($20 per year) is a must-have for online play and cloud game saving. It also gives access to classic NES and SNES games. If you opt to add the Expansion Pack, you’ll pay $50 for a year, but this adds N64 and Sega Genesis games as well as DLC for Animal Crossing.
• Humble Choice memberships cost $15 per month and give access to new mainstream and indie PC games every month, as well as a curated library. You can also gift Humble Bundles, and a portion of every purchase goes to charity.
• Apple Arcade for iPhone and iPad is $7 per month or $50 a year and has more than 200 games. Again, there’s no specific gifting option, but an Apple Gift Card can pay for an Apple Arcade subscription.
• PlayStation Plus Essential costs $11 per month or $80 per year. It’s essential for anyone who wants to play online multiplayer on a PlayStation 5 or PS4, and it gives access to monthly free games. If they already have it, consider PlayStation Plus Extra ($17 per month or $135 per year) for a catalog of around 400 games, or PlayStation Plus Premium ($20 per month or $160 per year) for more than 700 games and cloud streaming access.
• Google Play Pass for Android phones costs $5 per month or $30 a year and provides access to a library of ad-free games and apps for Android phones and tablets. You can’t gift the subscription specifically, but you can send a Google Play gift code for someone to spend on Play Pass.
• Steam PC game store gift cards come in various sizes and make great gifts for PC gamers. Steam has a library of more than 50,000 games.
• Roblox gift cards can be redeemed for Robux (Roblox’s digital currency) in this popular free gaming platform.
• Twitch gift cards can be used to subscribe to your giftee’s favorite online streamers.

Courtesy of 1Password

If you have family or friends with questionable online security habits, no amount of nagging will change their ways, but buy them a digital security gift, and they might just try it. Here are a few security-related digital gift ideas. (We also have more info in our Best Password Managers and Best VPNs guides.)

• 1Password starts at $3 per month if you pay annually, and gift cards are available in $25, $50, or $100 amounts. It’s one of our favorite password managers: it works on every platform, has tons of integrations and add-ons, and offers lots of useful extras, like travel mode.
• Malwarebytes Premium costs $40 per year and covers five devices. It goes way beyond your average antivirus program to guard against malware and other cyber threats, like phishing and malicious URLs. It’s easy to use, speedy, and less intrusive than a lot of popular antivirus software.
• NordVPN starts at $3 per month, but you can get deeper discounts for longer terms, such as $81 per year, or even cheaper if you catch one of its frequent discount deals. It’s one of our favorite virtual private networks, deservedly popular, and offers servers all around the world. It can stop people from snooping on you and help you bypass geographical restrictions on streaming services like Netflix.

Rosetta Stone

Courtesy of Amazon

Everyone wants to acquire new skills, but motivation can be hard to come by. If your loved ones talk about learning a musical instrument, a new language, or picking up some photography skills, why not spring for some online lessons to help them get started?

• MasterClass starts at $120 per year and offers classes on all sorts of topics from seriously big-name celebrities. You can sign up for cooking classes from Gordon Ramsay, storytelling tips from Neil Gaiman, film classes from David Lynch, songwriting help from Alicia Keys, or learn skateboarding from Tony Hawk.
• Rosetta Stone ($159 for a year) offers comprehensive language-learning courses. For total immersion, lessons are conducted in the target language and feature interactive real-life scenarios and pronunciation feedback. Check out our Best Language Learning Apps guide for more options.
• Lessonface gift cards start at $25. This online platform connects students of all ages and abilities with music teachers. Lots of reviews and filters help you find the right teacher. Online lesson rates vary, but you can buy gift cards starting at $25.
• Fender Play ($98 for 6 months) offers online lessons for guitar (acoustic, electric, or bass) and ukulele. The mobile app and online lessons are suitable for beginners or for intermediate guitarists looking to improve.
• Babbel starts at $81 for 6 months and gives access to all languages; it’s our favorite language-learning app. With a focus on useful vocabulary, it teaches the basics of grammar before moving on to conversational scenarios in common settings.
• Preply, around $15 per 50-minute lesson, is perfect for anyone looking to get serious about learning a language. It connects you with tutors for online lessons, but prices vary.
• The School of Photography ($155 per year) has online courses, hundreds of videos, Lightroom presets, and monthly assignments. Any photographer, whether a hobbyist or pro, can develop their skills.
• CodeSpark Academy ($60 for 6 months) is a game-based app that teaches kids ages 5 to 10 the fundamentals of coding. It stars cute monsters and challenges kids to solve a series of puzzles. Everything is visual, so there’s no reading required. They can also make and share their own interactive stories and games.

Courtesy of Gray Hamner/Peloton

Staying fit is crucial for good health and overall well-being, and our favorite fitness apps and services can help anyone do it with online classes that guide workouts from home. Exercise some caution when gifting fitness services, though. Make sure your intended recipient is genuinely interested.

• ClassPass (from $19 per month) gives access to fitness studios and gyms, a wide variety of at-home workouts, and beauty and spa treatments. Basic membership gives you eight credits, enough to book up to two classes.
• Apple Fitness+ ($10 per month) is packed with slick video and audio workouts ranging from kickboxing to yoga. It’s a great choice for beginners, as workouts rarely require any equipment, are well explained by the charismatic instructors, and always include variations for folks at different levels. While you can’t give a subscription, an Apple Gift Card can be used for Fitness+ or any of Apple’s other services.
• Peloton ($13 per month) is a popular fitness brand that sells expensive exercise bikes and treadmills, but you can also get an app subscription that gives access to on-demand and live workouts that people can do with whatever equipment they have. There’s no direct way to gift a Peloton membership, but you can use an Apple or Google Play gift card on the app.
• Strava ($12 per month) is an excellent tracking and training app for runners and cyclists. There is a free tier, but the subscription allows for more in-depth analysis, custom goals, route planning, segment competition, personal heat maps, and more. You can’t gift membership directly anymore, but you can use an Apple or Google Play gift card in the app.

Courtesy of Walmart

Some retail memberships or subscriptions give access to better deals, free priority shipping, and other benefits that make them highly appreciated gifts.

• Walmart+ membership ($98 per year): If you know a frequent Walmart shopper, this includes free shipping and grocery deliveries, discounts on fuel, pharmacy discounts in some states, and contactless checkout on a smartphone. You can’t gift a membership anymore, but you can buy a gift card that folks can use to subscribe.
• Amazon Prime ($139 per year): You likely already know about this service, but these are the perks if you don’t. It includes fast free shipping, video and music streaming, ebooks and games, and various exclusive deals and discounts. You can no longer buy Prime as a gift, but you can use an Amazon gift card to get it. It costs $15 per month if you don’t pay annually.
• Costco’s Gold Star Membership ($65 per year): The recipient gets access to more than 700 Costco locations and the website, with frequent deals to be found on everything from big-ticket electronics to wholesale groceries.

Courtesy of Airbnb

Many of us are getting back into the swing of traveling and are looking to make up for lost time, so why not give the gift of a trip?

• Uncommon Experiences offers interactive virtual classes covering cookery, cocktails, painting, songwriting, and many other activities. They send kits out before each class, but giftees may need to buy some of their own ingredients.
• Virgin Experience Gifts include driving experiences, active adventures, golfing trips, foodie tours, and a whole host of other options. You can search by location, so it is easy to check what’s available near your recipient. You can buy eGift Cards in any amount.
• 57hours Gift Cards start at $100 and fund outdoor adventures with local guides worldwide. Categories include rock climbing, hiking, kiteboarding, surfing, mountain biking, and more. You can search by location and activity, but some places have more options than others, and trips can get pricey.
• StubHub Gift Cards from $25 can be used for sports games, concerts, theater, and other live events across the US.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift Membership from $120 gives your recipient and a guest free admission to New York’s most popular museum, with five preview days for access to exhibitions before they open to the public, members-only tours, and more.
• Spafinder Gift Cards from $50 can be used in spas and salons near you for mani-pedis, massages, haircuts, and even wellness retreat getaways.
• AMC Theatres Gift Cards start at $5 and can be used for movie tickets, popcorn, and other concession goodies.
• Airbnb Gift Cards start at $25, and you can also get physical cards from Amazon. You can use them for any stay or experience.
• A US Park Pass for $80 a year gives you access to more than 60 national parks, including Yosemite, Alcatraz Island, and the Everglades.
• Uber gift cards can be used for rides almost anywhere.

Photograph: Getty Images

Many of us have more than we need, and gifts can be hit or miss. Making a charitable donation in someone’s name is a great alternative that lets people know you’re thinking of them and also does some good in the world. Just be careful to do a little research on your chosen charity or service before you spend. Organizations like Charity Navigator and Charity Watch can help you find the most deserving and trustworthy charities.

• GlobalGiving supports all kinds of projects and relief funds all around the world. You can choose to donate to a specific project in someone’s name or give them a gift card so they can pick a project.
• GiveWell is all about ensuring your donations have the highest possible positive impact. It takes no fees and supports some crucial global campaigns.
• World Wildlife Fund symbolic species adoptions ($60+) cover everything from hammerhead sharks to Arctic wolves. These make great gifts for animal lovers and come with an optional soft toy and information pack. The WWF does have a large infrastructure to support, but it takes its mission to protect wildlife and the environment very seriously.