Spin the Wheel

What is a spin the wheel tool?

A spin the wheel tool, also called a random name picker or a decision wheel, is a colorful wheel that is divided into equal slices, one for each name or option you add. You press a button, the wheel spins and slows down, and the pointer stops on one slice. That slice is the winner.

It is a fun and fair way to settle a choice. Nobody can argue that the draw was rigged, because everyone watches the result appear. People use it for giveaways, classroom games, team meetings, family decisions and party games.

How to use the wheel

• Step 1: Add your options: Type one name or option on each line, or use a preset such as Yes or No, Heads or Tails or Dice.
• Step 2: Choose the settings: Tick Remove the winner after each spin if every option should win only once.
• Step 3: Spin: Press the spin button, or tap the wheel itself, and watch it slow down.
• Step 4: Read the winner: The winner appears under the wheel and is added to the list of previous winners.

Is the wheel really fair?

Yes. The winner is chosen by your browser's secure random number generator at the moment you press spin, before the wheel starts to turn. The animation is then arranged to stop exactly on that winner, so it is a show of the result and not a game of skill. Every line has exactly the same chance, whatever the length of the text or the color of the slice.

One thing to remember is that the chance depends on how many times an option is in the list. If you type the same name twice, it gets two slices and twice the chance. That is useful when you want to give someone extra entries, and a mistake when you copied a name twice by accident.

Ways to use a random name picker

• Giveaways and raffles: Paste the names of your entrants and pick a winner that everybody can see.
• Classrooms: Choose who answers next, or divide students into groups, without favorites.
• Team meetings: Decide who presents first, who takes the notes or who leads the daily stand-up.
• Family decisions: What to eat tonight, which movie to watch or whose turn it is to wash the dishes.
• Party games: Truth or dare, charades topics and the order of play.
• Chores and tasks: Hand out jobs fairly so nobody feels picked on.

What the presets do

The preset buttons fill the list for you. Yes or No gives a quick answer, Heads or Tails replaces a coin, and Dice makes a six-sided die with the numbers 1 to 6. Rock Paper Scissors picks a move for you. After you choose a preset, you can still edit the list, add more lines or remove some.

Picking several winners

To pick more than one winner, tick Remove the winner after each spin. Every winner leaves the wheel, so the next spin is only among the people who are left. Spin as many times as you need. The previous winners list keeps the order, so you can use it as first prize, second prize and third prize.

You can also use this to create a random order. Keep spinning with winners removed until the wheel is empty, and the order of winners is the new running order.

Tips for a fair giveaway

• Publish the rules first: Say how people can enter and how the winner will be chosen before the draw.
• Check every entry: Remove duplicates and invalid entries before you paste the names.
• Show the draw: Share your screen or record a short video of the spin, so people can see it.
• Keep a record: Save the list of names and the result in case someone asks later.
• Follow the local rules: Contests and prize draws have legal requirements in some countries and on some social platforms.

Spin the wheel or random number generator?

Use the wheel when the options are names or choices and you want a visible, fun draw. Use a random number generator when you need numbers, many results at once or numbers in a range, such as ten different tickets between 1 and 500. If you number your entries first, you can use either tool.

Why use our free spin the wheel tool?

• Fair and secure: Built on the browser's cryptographic random generator.
• Smooth animation: A wheel that slows down naturally and respects the reduced motion setting.
• Up to 100 options: Enough for a class, a team or a big giveaway.
• Private: Your list is never uploaded, stored or tracked.
• Free: No signup, no limits and nothing to install.