The JibJab alternative for Christmas: compared honestly
JibJab and a personalized Santa video get cross-shopped every December, but they are different products. Here's the difference, side by side — including when JibJab wins.
Make a Santa videoThe short answer
JibJab is a $36-a-year membership for comedic ecards: you paste your family's faces into dancing-elf videos and send them to friends — the card is about you, made to get a laugh. A personalized Santa video is a message to your child from Santa: he says their name, their city, what they did well this year, in his own voice. If you want the office and the group chat laughing, JibJab is genuinely great at that. If you want a six-year-old frozen mid-breath because Santa just said their name — that's us, from $3.99 per greeting with a free preview.
Side by side
Checked in August 2026. Neither list is a knock — they're built for different moments.
| What matters | Santa here | JibJab |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A personal message from Santa to your child, video or audio | Comedic ecards with your family's faces pasted in ("Starring You") |
| Who it's for | The child hearing their own name from Santa | Friends, family and coworkers you want to make laugh |
| Personalization | Name, age, city, this year's achievements, your own words — spoken aloud | Faces in templates; the script is the template's joke |
| Price model | Per greeting: $3.99 audio, $5.99 short video, $9.99 full video — no subscription | $36/year membership (mobile apps also sell $6.99/month) |
| Languages | Santa speaks 29 languages | English-first catalog |
| Beyond Christmas | Santa greetings year-round | 1500+ cards for birthdays and every occasion — the membership's real strength |
| See before you pay | Free preview of the message | Previews of templates; membership unlocks sending |
| Start for free |
What a greeting costs here
One-off payments, no membership, nothing to cancel.
$3.99 — audio message
30–40 seconds of Santa speaking to your child by name
$5.99 — Stories video
15–30 second vertical video, made for phones
$9.99 — full video
The 60–90 second film, with an optional photo of your child in Santa's hands for a little more
JibJab's $36/year makes sense if you send cards all year. For one or two Santa moments in December, paying per greeting is a fraction of that.
Santa can say their name tonight
Make a Santa videoWhen JibJab is the better pick
An honest list — for some jobs it simply is:
- You want laughs, not wonder: adults and group chats are JibJab's home turf.
- You send ecards all year — birthdays included — so a membership pays for itself.
- You want your own faces in the video; our Santa holds a photo of your child, but you don't star in the animation.
- The office Christmas email needs something funny in the next five minutes.
How the Santa video works here
Tell Santa about your child
Name, age, city, what they did well this year — one short form.
Preview for free
See the message before paying a cent.
Get it in minutes
The finished video lands in your email, ready to play tonight.
Santa can say their name tonight
A personal message from Santa — not a template with faces — in minutes, from $3.99.
Make a Santa videoMore honest comparisons
Examples
Stories video (15–30 sec)
Full video (60–90 sec)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is JibJab the same as a personalized Santa video?
No — and that's the useful part. JibJab pastes your family's faces into comedic animated templates that you send to others. A personalized Santa video is Santa himself speaking to your child by name, about their year. One is a joke you star in; the other is a message your child receives.
How much does JibJab cost?
JibJab's membership is $36 per year on their site (their mobile apps also sell a $6.99 monthly plan), which unlocks 1500+ ecards, GIFs and Starring You packs. Here you pay per greeting: $3.99–9.99, no subscription.
Does JibJab make videos where Santa talks to my child?
JibJab's catalog is face-swap comedy — your faces dancing in elf costumes and similar. The child can appear in the card, but Santa doesn't speak to them personally. If Santa saying your child's name is the point, that's what a personalized Santa video is for.
Which is better for a toddler?
Small children rarely get the face-swap joke — they mostly recognise the faces. What lands at that age is Santa knowing their name and their good deeds, which is exactly what the personalized video does. For adults, the joke usually wins.
Can I use both?
Plenty of families do: a JibJab card to the group chat for laughs, and a Santa video for the child's own moment. They don't replace each other — which is the honest summary of this whole page.
JibJab and Starring You are trademarks of their respective owner. Facts about JibJab were checked in August 2026 on their public pages; prices and terms may change — verify on their site.