Coworker Gift Ideas Under $20 (Office-Appropriate)

Buying for someone you see every workday is its own kind of tricky. You know how they take their coffee and which meetings wear them out, but not much about their life outside the office. The coworker gift ideas below stay small, useful, and easy to give in front of other people.

Every pick costs $20 or less at its regular price. Each one comes with an approximate price range, who it suits, and when to skip it. Four are real brands sold at big US stores, and two cost almost nothing beyond a few minutes of your time.

Office gifts add up fast when there’s a team to cover, a name-draw exchange, and a card going around for someone’s birthday. If coworkers are one line among many this season, the gift budget planner helps you set that line before you shop.

The short answer

Under $12: a Burt’s Bees lip balm 4-pack or a tea sampler you put together yourself.
$12 to $20: a Moleskine Cahier pocket notebook set, an Anker Nano charger, or Bananagrams for the break room.
When you don’t know them well: a $10 to $20 coffee shop gift card with a short, specific note.

Table of Contents

How We Chose These Gifts

Each gift had to pass four checks:

$20 or less at regular price, checked at two or more US retailers where we could.
Office-appropriate. Nothing personal, nothing jokey that could land wrong, and nothing you’d hesitate to hand over in a meeting room.
No strong scents. Offices are shared air.
Useful at work or on the way there, so it doesn’t end up in a desk drawer.

We left out scented candles, diffusers, and perfumed lotions, the most common small office gifts. The Job Accommodation Network notes that fragrance sensitivity can cause headaches, nausea, breathing trouble, and skin reactions, and some workplaces ask staff to avoid scented products altogether. A gift that has to be kept in the car isn’t much of a gift.

Prices are approximate, were checked in October 2026 at two or more US retailers where possible, and reflect regular prices, not sales. They change often, so check before you buy.

Quick Picks by Budget

Gift	Approx. Price	Best For	The Catch
DIY tea sampler	$8–$12	Tea drinkers, a whole team	Takes 20 minutes to assemble
Burt’s Bees lip balm (4-pack)	$10–$11	Anyone in a dry office	Light peppermint scent
Moleskine Cahier pocket notebooks (set of 3)	$13–$19	Note-takers and list makers	Thin, soft covers
Anker Nano charger (20W)	$12–$17	The coworker always on low battery	Cable sold separately
Bananagrams	About $14	Break rooms and team lunches	Needs a table and a few players
Coffee shop gift card	$10–$20	Anyone you don’t know well	Needs a note to feel personal

1. Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm (4-Pack)

Coworker Gift Ideas : Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

Best for: Anyone who works in dry office air, and the easiest gift to buy in multiples for a whole team.

Approx. price: usually $10–$11 for four tubes

Why it fits: It’s small, everyone uses lip balm in cold months, and four tubes mean one for the desk, the bag, the car, and the coat pocket.

Why it’s here (Maker’s details): Burt’s Bees sells the original balm as a 100% natural origin formula made with beeswax, vitamin E, and peppermint oil, as listed at Walmart and Target.

Skip it if: they’re sensitive to peppermint or prefer a tinted balm. You can also skip it if you’re giving to just one person you know well, since it reads as a small add-on rather than a gift on its own.

Make it personal: split one pack among four teammates, one tube each, with a sticky-note-size card.

Cheaper option: a single tube, usually a few dollars, tucked into a thank-you card.

2. Moleskine Cahier Pocket Notebooks (Set of 3)

Coworker Gift Ideas : Moleskine Cahier Pocket Notebooks

Best for: Coworkers who jot notes in meetings, keep a running to-do list, or still prefer paper.

Approx. price: usually $13–$19, depending on the cover color

Why it fits: Pocket notebooks slip into a jacket or a laptop sleeve, and a set of three lasts for months of meeting notes.

Why it’s here (Maker’s details): Moleskine‘s Cahier pocket set, as listed at Staples, has three soft-cover journals of 64 pages each, at 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

Skip it if: they take every note on a laptop or tablet. A notebook that never gets opened is just desk clutter.

Make it personal: write a short line on the first page of the top notebook, such as “For the next big idea.”

Cheaper option: a store-brand pocket notebook 3-pack, usually under $8.

3. Anker Nano Charger (20W)

Coworker Gift Ideas : Anker Nano Charger

Best for: The coworker who borrows a charger every afternoon, or anyone who works from more than one desk.

Approx. price: usually $12–$17

Why it fits: A spare charger that lives at work means their main one stays at home. It’s small enough to sit in a drawer without taking up space.

Why it’s here (Maker’s details): Anker lists the Nano Charger at 20W from one USB-C port, about 1.1 ounces, and a little over an inch on each side, in several colors.

Skip it if: you don’t know what cable their phone uses. The charger has a USB-C port only, and the cable is sold separately, so check that they already own a USB-C cable for their phone.

Make it personal: pick the color that matches their laptop or their favorite team.

Cheaper option: a 6-foot USB-C cable ($8–$12), so they can charge from their chair instead of the outlet behind the desk.

4. Bananagrams

Best for: A break room, a team lunch, or the office gift exchange where you don’t know who will draw your name.

Approx. price: usually about $14

Why it fits: Everyone builds their own grid of words at the same time, so a round takes a few minutes and fits into a lunch break. There’s no board, and it packs into a small pouch that lives in a drawer.

Why it’s here (Maker’s details): Bananagrams comes with 144 letter tiles in a banana-shaped pouch and plays 1 to 8 people, according to its listings at Target and Walmart.

Skip it if: your team works remotely or never eats together. Then it’s a game with nobody to play it.

Make it personal: add a note inviting the team to a first round on Friday.

Cheaper option: a standard deck of cards ($3–$5) with a printed list of three quick card games.

5. A Coffee Shop Gift Card

Best for: A coworker you don’t know well, a new teammate, or someone in another department who helped you out.

Approx. cost: $10–$20, your choice

Where it gets used: the coffee shop nearest your office is the best choice, since they’ll actually walk past it. A national chain works when people are spread across locations.

Rules to know: Under federal rules explained by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gift card money generally can’t expire for at least five years, and inactivity fees can’t be charged until a card has gone unused for 12 months. Include the receipt in case the card is lost.

Why it’s here (Official guidance): those federal protections make a small card a low-risk gift, and it lets the person choose their own treat instead of getting another mug.

Skip it if: your workplace limits gifts, or the person is your boss and you work somewhere with a gift policy. Check first, as covered in the FAQ.

Make it personal: name one thing they did: “For the morning you covered my presentation.”

6. A DIY Tea Sampler

Best for: Tea drinkers, or a whole team when you want to give each person something small.

Approx. cost: $8–$12 for materials (enough for four to six small samplers)

Time: about 20 minutes

Who can make it: anyone. No crafting skills needed.

What you need:

One or two boxes of assorted tea bags, individually wrapped and sealed ($5–$8)
Small kraft gift bags or envelopes ($2–$4 for a pack)
Tags or blank cards and a pen

How to make it:

Choose a mix of caffeinated and caffeine-free teas.
Put five or six wrapped tea bags in each bag, keeping every wrapper sealed so the flavor and ingredients stay labeled.
Write a tag that names the teas and adds one line of thanks.
Fold the top over and tie or tape it closed.

Why it’s here (Official guidance): it’s consumable, so it adds no clutter, and it skips the fragrance problem the Job Accommodation Network describes for shared workspaces.

Skip it if: they only drink coffee, or have dietary limits you don’t know about. Sealed, labeled packets help, but asking is better.

Make it personal: match the tea to the person: a calming blend for the one who runs every deadline, a strong black tea for the early arrival.

When This List Isn’t for You

You’re shopping for a close work friend. If you see them on weekends too, a gift from our gifts for women under $50 or gifts for men under $50 guides may fit better.
Your company has a no-gifts policy. Follow it. A handwritten card costs nothing and is allowed almost everywhere.
You’re buying for your child’s teacher. Classroom gifts have their own needs, covered in our teacher gift ideas guide.
Your budget is $5 or less. Skip the item and write a specific note. It’s the part people keep.

What Coworkers Actually Want From a Gift

Mostly, something low-pressure. A coworker gift shouldn’t create a debt or make anyone feel they need to give back at the same level. That’s why coworker gifts under $20 work so well: they say thank you without asking for anything in return.

The other thing people want is to feel noticed. A $10 gift with a note about one real moment (“thanks for the help on the March report”) beats a $20 gift with a signature and nothing else. If you’re buying for a whole team, keep the gifts the same so no one compares, and let the notes be different.

Giving It Well

Give it privately or to everyone. Handing one teammate a gift in front of five others who got nothing makes everyone uncomfortable.
Set a clear limit for exchanges. The best office gift exchange ideas start with one agreed price, such as $15 or $20, so no one overspends or feels cheap.
Keep exchanges optional. Some people can’t spend this month, and opting out should be easy and quiet.
Give up as a group. For a manager, one card signed by the team with a small shared gift is safer than individual gifts, and in some workplaces it’s the only option.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should you spend on a coworker gift?

There’s no official amount. Coworker gifts under $20 are a common and comfortable range, and $10 is plenty for a team where you’re buying for several people. If there’s an exchange, the group’s limit is the right number.

Should you give your boss a gift?

It’s usually not expected, and gifts tend to flow down, not up. Some employers set formal rules: for federal employees, Department of Commerce ethics guidance says a gift to a supervisor is generally not allowed unless an exception applies, such as a gift of $10 or less (not cash) or a special, infrequent occasion like a retirement. Private employers vary, so a group card is the safest choice.

What makes a good office gift exchange?

A clear price limit, an easy way to opt out, and gifts that work for anyone. Good office gift exchange ideas from this list include Bananagrams, a pocket notebook set, a spare charger, or a coffee card. Skip anything scented or personal, since you don’t know who will open it.

Coworker Gift Ideas: The Short Version

The coworker gift ideas that work best are small, unscented, and useful at a desk. Under $12, Burt’s Bees lip balm or a homemade tea sampler covers a whole team. For $12 to $20, a Moleskine notebook set, an Anker charger, or Bananagrams for the break room fits most offices. When in doubt, a coffee card with a real note does the job. Who’s first on your work list?

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Sources

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026 · Prices checked: October 2026

This guide has no affiliate links. Brand links go to each maker’s own site so you can check details for yourself.

Tidy Dollars shares researched recommendations, not product tests. We don’t test products, and no brand paid to be included. Prices, features, and availability change, so confirm with the retailer before you buy.