# MerryHoHo

> A reference on who brings Christmas and New Year presents in 56 countries — and an
> independent comparison of the services that send a personalised greeting from them.

MerryHoHo answers one question per country: which figure brings the presents there,
on which date, under which local name — and who can send a personalised video, call
or letter from that figure, at what price, and which options are free.

The site sells nothing and processes no orders. Every service listed is used on its
own website.

## What makes the data unusual

The present-bringer is not Santa in most of Europe, and the date is rarely 25 December:

- Netherlands — Sinterklaas, 5 December
- Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary,
  Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy — St Nicholas in his local form,
  6 December
- Ukraine — Святий Миколай, 19 December
- Czechia and Slovakia — Ježíšek / Ježiško, 24 December, not Santa
- Germany — the Weihnachtsmann in the north, the Christkind in the south
- Switzerland — Samichlaus
- Finland — Joulupukki · Sweden — Jultomten · Norway — Julenissen · Denmark — Julemanden
- Estonia — Jõuluvana · Latvia — Ziemassvētku vecītis · Lithuania — Kalėdų Senelis
- Chile — Viejito Pascuero, not Papá Noel
- Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia — Деда Мраз, at New Year
- Slovenia — three figures on three dates: Miklavž (6 Dec), Božiček (25 Dec),
  Dedek Mraz (31 Dec)
- Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey —
  Дід Мороз, Аяз ата, Qor bobo, Şaxta baba, Ձմեռ պապ, თოვლის ბაბუა, Noel Baba,
  all at New Year
- Greece — Άγιος Βασίλης, 1 January
- Spain — los Reyes Magos, 6 January, ahead of Papá Noel
- Italy — La Befana, 6 January, alongside Babbo Natale

## Structure

- / — the gift-day timeline and the full country list
- /{country-code}/ — one page per country, written in that country's own language,
  naming its own figure, with the services available in that market

Country codes are ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, lowercase, with a trailing slash: /cz/, /kz/, /gr/.

## How the comparison is maintained

Prices, free tiers and features are recorded only after the service has been opened
and checked by hand, with the date of the check. Anything unverified is published as
"not verified" rather than guessed. Several services in this category publish no price
outside their own checkout, and the comparison says so instead of inventing a figure.

## Contact

See /legal/ for the operator and contact details.