Say Congrats With 10 Creative No-Shipping Graduation Gifts

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Graduation is one of the biggest and most exciting milestones in a student's life and a day that's eagerly awaited by their loved ones. If that buzzy vibe is putting a whole lot of pressure on you to find the perfect gift, we've got you covered. 

Our suggestion? Go for the unexpected and check out a few digital gifts. They might be more exciting than a fancy pen and more useful than a frame for their diploma, and you don't even have to wrap anything. Plus, the fact that you don't have to wait for it to arrive means you can buy something at the last minute if you dropped the ball. 

10 Digital Gifts for College Grads

Find the right gift for your grad. Take a look below at no-shipping-required gifts that run the range from new things to learn, tools to make work and life a little easier, resources for traveling the world, and even a way to score low-cost meals.

Think about what’s next for your graduate and find the gift that could help them get where they want to be—even if that's on an international flight or eating dinner they barely had to pay for. 

A productivity app subscription to help them stay on the ball

Toolify is like a digital toolbox. Instead of searching for new software or sites to resize an image or generate a random word, all your grad has to do is check their collection of over 120+ utility websites curated by Toolify. If they need to flip an image, change a file format, convert units, decode HTML, or generate a password, they can find a resource for it here. This one’s a real time-saver, especially for remote work, and it’s on sale. A lifetime subscription to Toolify™ Handy Webtools is only $30.

An app organizer and a lifetime of learning

The 2023 Productive Power Player Bundle is a two-part deal that gives users lifetime access to Start.ME and StackSkills, and both of these tools are great for learning new skills and staying informed. Start.ME turns your browser homepage into a hub of information where users can get the latest news, organize their favorite apps, lay out a to-do list, or get the latest news on their stock portfolio. They can even take notes right in their browser, which could be useful if they’re enrolled in any of 1,000+ courses available with StackSkills. School may be out, but that just means your graduate can choose what they learn with courses on coding, marketing, a musical instrument, game design, and more. Get Start.ME and StackSkills for life for $59.

 

Endless reading material with 20-minute book summaries

Books are a classic gift, but FlashBooks puts a modern twist on it. A hefty tome can take weeks to read, but FlashBooks condenses their texts into tight summaries users can read or listen to in just 20 minutes. School might not have left much room for pleasure reading, but FlashBooks could make up for lost time with summaries of best sellers like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and Atomic Habits. Carry a library with you anywhere and access it on Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, and practically any other smart device as long as it can read a PDF. Check out this book summary lifetime subscription while it’s only $100 (reg. $522). 

Productivity software for work or home — and Windows or Mac

MS Office Pro for Windows with bonus Excel training

If you’re looking for a gift that’s as thoughtful as it is useful, this one’s an Excel-lent choice. This double deal gives you a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional for Windows 2021 and three advanced Excel courses. The Microsoft Office license comes with the whole family of apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneNote, Publisher, and Access. 

These are tools your grad can use at home to craft a resume or at work to connect with their team and get organized. Plus, these three Excel courses from Maven Analytics could help them at a job they already have or land a job they want. Knowing how to build valuation models, create power pivot tables, and understand DAX calculated columns might be what distinguishes them from other applications, but first they have to learn it all in this $40 (reg. $409) bundle. 

MS Office Home for Mac with an actual MacBook (OK, this one requires shipping)

Fresh out of school, everything is expensive, so taking care of some essential software and the computer to use it on could be a major burden taken off of your recent grad — and the reduced price will take some burden off of you, as well. Celebrate your graduate’s accomplishments with a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac and a near-mint condition refurbished MacBook Air. The Microsoft Office license comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams (Basic version), and OneNote. These are some awesome, versatile tools, and you can install them all on this 2017 MacBook with 8GB memory and a 256GB SSD. This computer is ready for work or play, so queue up a movie on the 13.3-inch Retina Display or put that 12-hour battery to work on a remote job. Celebrate your student with a gift they'll use every day for just $500 (reg. $1,219). 

Food, glorious food — for cheap, thanks to Restaurant.com

Food isn’t inexpensive, especially when you’re a recent graduate looking for a job. Help keep your loved one eating well for long after the graduation party. They can use this Restaurant.com eGift Card to purchase gift certificates for discounted dining at eateries around the country. Their local diner could be offering $50 gift certificates for just $20 of that Restaurant.com eGift Card — and with $500 loaded on the card (which they'll redeem on the Restaurant.com site as an account credit), that'll still leave $480 for whatever else their heart (or stomach) desires. It'll only cost you $70 and will end up saving them way more on dine-in, delivery, and takeout. 

An AI job-prep service that could help them ace the interview

Landing a job isn’t easy, even with a shiny new degree, but you could make it easier with a lifetime subscription to an AI interview prep coach. Practicing interview questions with a friend can’t hold a candle to diving into 20,000 pre-made mock interviews for hundreds of positions. You can even enter a job post from LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, or ZipRecruiter and get a custom interview created on the spot. Plus, the advanced AI gives you feedback on your answers, speech articulation, pauses, and it even studies your facial expressions. Give your graduate a robot that helps them get a great job. Usually $89, it's on sale for only $50. 

 

A gift for downtime and digital nomads

If your grad wants to see the world, give them a digital travel gift basket that could help them see more of it without blowing through their savings. The 2023 Travel Hacker Bundle comes with lifetime subscriptions to Rosetta Stone, Dollar Flight Club, RealVPN, and 79 hours of expert travel tips. 

Whether they’re traveling the world or working abroad, Rosetta Stone can help break language barriers, with beginner to expert instruction on 24 different languages including French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. And with Dollar Flight Club, all your world traveler has to do is wait for deals on domestic and international flights to soar into their inbox. 

You may not be there to watch over your grad every moment, but you can still make sure they know how to travel with savvy. That means equipping them with a VPN that protects their identity online while they travel and providing travel hacking tips on everything from becoming a digital nomad to sustainable tourism and traveling on a budget. Access all of these services for life for a one-time payment of $200.

A virtual wellness membership to keep them active and healthy

Looking for a gift that helps your grad make healthy decisions? Ultiself Biohacker is a routine planner app that turns self-improvement into a game. With Ultiself, users get access to a menu of 300+ good habits, including full pre-built routines and tools to track progress. There’s even an AI algorithm that identifies effective habits and areas of improvement. If your kid was late to graduation, this app may be a fun way for them to become more self-sufficient. It’s also on sale for $20 (reg. $47).

 

A digital SIM card to help them save money on data at home

Your child may be all grown up, but you can still look out for them. Grab a gift that’s as much an everyday tool as it is a comfortable backup plan when you get a lifetime plan for Instabridge eSIM. This U.S.-only lifetime eSIM gives users 2GB of data a month every month. If the phone bill ever doesn’t get paid, that means your grad can use their backup data to stay connected or, if it’s an emergency, watch Netflix. Add this virtual backup plan to an Android or iPhone for just $149 (reg. $300). 

Get Your Grad a Digital Gift They’ll Love

Celebrate all the hard work, dedication, and countless hours of studying that have gone into earning that diploma! Digital gifts may not be traditional, but they could be exactly what your grad was hoping for. Whether it’s a great meal (or several), a tool they can use to find and keep a new job, or a way to see the world, be sure to pick a gift that’s suited to your grad’s tastes, interests, and goals. And if you find something that's offered in a lifetime subscription, even better!

Prices subject to change.