Spin the wheel: a free wheel of names for any choice
This wheel of names is a simple way to pick something at random. Type a list of names or options, spin the wheel, and let it choose. Teachers use it to call on students, streamers use it for giveaways, and families use it to settle who does the dishes. It is free, there is no account to create, and it works in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
How to use the wheel spinner
The wheel sits next to a box where you type your entries, one per line. When you first open the page, it shows eight sample first names so you can try it right away. Replace them with your own list. The list is saved in your browser, so it is still there the next time you visit.
- Spin it your way. Tap the wheel, tap the round Spin button in its center, or press the Space bar. You can also flick the wheel with a finger or the mouse, and it spins in the direction you threw it.
- Watch it slow down. The wheel turns fast, then slows down over a few seconds. It ticks each time a slice passes the pointer on the right side.
- Meet the winner. A pop-up shows the result with white confetti. Choose Spin again, or Remove to take that name off the wheel.
- Use your voice. Tap the microphone button in the header and say “spin”.
The bar at the bottom has a few more tools. Shuffle mixes the order of your entries, and Sort puts them in alphabetical order. Results lists the winners since you opened the page, with a Clear button to start over. Sound turns the ticks on or off.
The full screen button in the header makes the wheel bigger, which helps on a classroom board or a stream. The wheel uses two colors: white slices and lighter slices of the page color. To change the color, use the round button at the bottom right. Names stay readable up to about 100 entries.
Drawing several winners
Need a first, second and third prize? Spin once, then press Remove in the pop-up. The winner leaves the wheel, so the next spin picks someone else. Repeat until you have all your winners. Results shows them in the order they came out, most recent first.
Ideas for a random name picker wheel
- Classroom. Put your class list on the wheel to choose who answers, who reads next, or who picks the game at recess. Remove each name after its turn and everyone gets a go.
- Raffles and giveaways. Enter each participant once and spin in front of everyone, in the room or on screen. Seeing the wheel turn makes the draw feel open.
- Who goes first. Board games, card games, karaoke, presentations. One spin and nobody can argue.
- Team games. Spin for a category, a challenge or a player. To split a whole group, the random team generator is quicker.
- Streams. Full screen and a bold page color make the wheel easy for viewers to read. Spin for the next game to play or a viewer to shout out.
- Chores. Write the jobs on the wheel and let each person spin. It is hard to argue with a wheel.
Need a quick answer instead? The yes or no wheel is ready to go, and the decision wheel comes filled with food ideas for nights when nobody can choose dinner. To pick names without a wheel, try the random name picker.
Is the picker wheel fair?
Yes. The winner is drawn with your browser's cryptographic random generator, the same kind of source used for security, before the wheel even starts to move. The spin you see is the animation that brings that slice to the pointer. How hard you flick changes how long the wheel turns, not who wins.
Every slice has the same size and the same chance. So the chance for any one entry is one divided by the number of entries. Each spin is independent: a name that just won is as likely to win again as any other, unless you remove it.
| Entries on the wheel | Chance for each entry |
|---|---|
| 2 | 1 in 2 (50%) |
| 4 | 1 in 4 (25%) |
| 8 | 1 in 8 (12.5%) |
| 10 | 1 in 10 (10%) |
| 25 | 1 in 25 (4%) |
| 100 | 1 in 100 (1%) |
Want one option to come up more often? Type it twice. It gets two slices, so it has twice the chance of the others. Your list and settings stay in your own browser, nothing is sent to a server, and the wheel keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
A wheel with a long history
Wheels have stood for luck for a very long time. In ancient Rome and medieval Europe, the Wheel of Fortune was a familiar image: the goddess Fortuna turns a great wheel, and the people riding it rise and fall at random. The philosopher Boethius wrote about it in the sixth century, and it shows up in many medieval manuscripts. Prize wheels at fairs and carnivals later turned the idea into a game. This one just fits in your pocket.