Prize Wheel – Free Spinner for Giveaways
Announcing a winner from a list is a notification. Drawing one on a wheel is an event. The result is just as random either way, but a visible spin gives the audience something to watch and removes any question of the host having chosen quietly.
How to Use the Prize Wheel
- Open the editor and replace the sample prizes with your own. Decide first whether the wheel is picking a prize, or picking a person who then receives a prize — these are different wheels.
- Set colours per prize tier so the audience can see the good ones coming.
- Weight the segments if prize tiers are uneven. A rare grand prize should have a lower weight than a common discount code.
- Spin in front of the audience. The result appears on screen and in the winner dialog.
- Save the wheel so next week's draw uses the identical setup rather than a rebuilt approximation.
Why Use the Prize Wheel
- Gives a giveaway a moment of theatre instead of a flat announcement.
- The draw is visible, so nobody can claim the host picked a favourite.
- Reusable — save it once and run the same wheel every week with identical odds.
- Works for in-person events, livestreams and recorded videos, on a phone or a big screen.
Prize wheel or name wheel? Pick one
There are two different mechanics and mixing them up produces bad giveaways. One is a prize wheel: the segments are prizes, and whoever spins receives whatever it lands on — common at conferences and in shops. The other is a name draw: the segments are entrants, and the wheel selects who wins. If you put prizes and names on the same wheel you get an unclear result. Decide which you are running first, then load only that. Our wheel of names page covers the entrant-draw version in detail.
Setting honest odds for prize tiers
- Equal segments, unequal prizes: simplest and most common. Eight segments with one grand prize means a one-in-eight chance of the big one, which may be more generous than you intended.
- Weighted tiers: use segment weights so the grand prize is genuinely rare and the small prizes are common. This is what real promotional wheels do.
- "Try again" segments: a segment that awards nothing is normal on promotional wheels and keeps the cost per spin predictable.
- Publish the odds: if you are running a public promotion, state the odds or the weighting. It is fairer, and in many places it is a legal requirement for a promotion.
Running it on a livestream
For a streamed or recorded draw, put the wheel full screen and slow the spin duration down. A four-second spin reads as a formality; a longer slowdown reads as suspense, and viewers stay for the landing. Save the wheel beforehand so the segments are already set when you go live, and spin twice if you need to award more than one prize — removing each winner as you go so the same name cannot come up again.
Wheel Options
- Free coffee
- 10% off
- Try again
- Free delivery
- Sticker pack
- Grand prize
- Nothing this time
- Bonus entry
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the prize wheel free to use?
Yes. Building, spinning and saving a prize wheel are free, with no account needed to spin.
Should the segments be prizes or people?
Pick one. A prize wheel has prizes on the segments and the spinner receives whatever it lands on. A name draw has entrants on the segments and selects a winner. Mixing both on one wheel gives an ambiguous result.
Can I make the top prize rarer?
Yes — use segment weights. Give the grand prize a low weight and the common prizes a higher one so the wheel reflects your actual prize budget.
Can I reuse the wheel for a weekly giveaway?
Yes. Save it once and reload it each time, so every round uses identical segments and identical odds rather than a rebuilt version.
Do I need to disclose the odds?
For a public promotion, often yes — rules vary by country and platform. Stating the number of segments and whether they are weighted is the safe approach.