Mentimeter Alternatives (2026): 10 Live Polling Tools

Mentimeter is one of the best-known ways to add live polls, word clouds and quizzes to a presentation. Plenty of speakers, trainers and team leads use it to get a quiet room talking. But it isn't the only tool of its kind, and the right one depends on the room you're standing in front of. I wouldn't treat any single name as the default.

Maybe your sessions are mostly questions from the audience rather than votes. Maybe you live in PowerPoint, or you run workshops with lots of different activities. This page lists ten Mentimeter alternatives in no particular order, sorted alphabetically. Everything here comes from each tool's own website or help pages. For the wider picture of the tools around a presentation, my guide to how productivity tools work is a good companion.

Mentimeter alternatives in one table

In the free plan column, Yes means the tool's own site or help pages describe a permanent free plan or free account. Free plans usually cap the number of participants, questions or sessions, so check the current limits against the size of your audience.

Tool	Type of tool	Good for	Free plan
AhaSlides	Interactive presentation tool	Polls, quizzes and word clouds in one deck	Yes
Beekast	Training and meeting software	Workshops with many activity types	Yes
Crowdpurr	Event trivia and polls	Trivia nights and live event polls	Yes
Pear Deck	Interactive slide add-on	Making Google Slides or PowerPoint interactive	Yes
Poll Everywhere	Audience response tool	Live polls for lectures and conferences	Yes
Sendsteps	PowerPoint add-in and web polling	Polls inside PowerPoint	Yes
SlidesWith	Interactive slides tool	Small-group polls and word clouds	Yes
Slido	Q&A and polling tool	Q&A and polls in meetings and events	Yes
Vevox	Live polling and Q&A	Polls and Q&A in Teams and Zoom sessions	Yes
Wooclap	Live polling and quiz tool	Teaching and training with many question types	Yes

Ten live polling tools to try instead of Mentimeter, A to Z

AhaSlides

Best for: Trainers and teachers who want polls, quizzes and word clouds inside a presentation, with a free plan for smaller groups.

Beekast

Best for: Facilitators who run workshops and training sessions and want a mix of activities such as word clouds, quizzes and surveys.

Crowdpurr

Best for: Event hosts and team-building organisers who want trivia, polls and a leaderboard on the big screen.

Pear Deck

Best for: Teachers and trainers who already build slides in Google Slides or PowerPoint Online and want to add questions to them.

Poll Everywhere

Best for: Speakers and lecturers who want a long-established polling tool that works alongside their slides.

Sendsteps

Best for: Presenters who live in PowerPoint and want polls and questions added without leaving it.

SlidesWith

Best for: Team leads running small, friendly sessions who want slides, polls and word clouds with a free plan for small groups.

Slido

Best for: Meeting hosts and event teams who care most about collecting audience questions and quick votes.

Vevox

Best for: Organisations that run hybrid meetings and want polling and questions that connect with their video call tools.

Wooclap

Best for: Educators and company trainers who want many question types and links with their presentation and learning tools.

What to compare when you look at Mentimeter alternatives

Think about a typical session first, because it'll shape everything else. How many people are in the room, how long are you talking, and what do you want them to do? A two-minute vote in a team meeting is a different job from a half-day workshop, and a tool that suits one can feel clumsy in the other.

• Audience size. Free plans often limit how many people can take part, so match the limit to your biggest session, not your average one.
• Question formats. Multiple choice and word clouds are common. Check for open text, ranking, scales, quizzes and anonymous questions if you need them.
• Where your slides live. Some tools have their own slide editor. Others plug into PowerPoint, Google Slides or your video call software.
• Anonymity. Honest answers often depend on people knowing nobody will see their name. Check what the tool shows to you and to the room.
• Exports and reports. If you need results after the session, look at what you can download and whether the free plan allows it.
• Joining. The best experience is a short code or a QR code, with no account for the audience.

Which Mentimeter alternative fits which kind of session

• Q&A-first tools suit town halls, webinars and conference talks where the main job is collecting and sorting questions.
• Slide add-ons suit people who already have a deck they like and just want to bolt questions on to it.
• Workshop platforms suit facilitators who mix several activities in one session.
• Trivia and event tools suit social evenings, team days and community events.
• Classroom-leaning tools suit teachers and trainers who also want quizzes and learner results.

If your sessions run on video calls, you'll probably also want to capture the conversation. My guide to meeting note takers looks at that side, and booking links for sessions covers getting people into the calendar in the first place.

Planning a live poll that people want to answer

A poll works when it's quick and clearly useful. Ask one thing at a time, keep the wording plain and give people three to five options at most. If the question is sensitive, say up front that answers are anonymous, and then make sure that's true in the tool you chose.

Warm up with an easy question before the real one. Something light, like how people got to work today, tells everyone how joining works and gets the first answers flowing. Then show the results and talk about them. A poll that nobody discusses is just a chart, and that's a wasted chance.

• Test the join code and the display on the screen you'll really use.
• Have a spoken fallback ready, such as a show of hands, in case the wifi misbehaves.
• Keep a short list of follow-up questions for when the answers surprise you, and don't rush past them.
• Close each poll before you move on so late votes don't change the story, and you'll keep the room focused.

Moving your polls away from Mentimeter

1. List the question types you use most, such as scales, word clouds or ranking.
2. Check that each shortlisted tool offers an equivalent for those question types.
3. Rebuild your three most-used presentations first and leave the rest for later.
4. Run a rehearsal with two or three colleagues joining on their own phones.
5. Check what you can export from your current account so past results aren't lost.
6. Update any links, QR codes or slides that mention the old join address.

Many presenters also keep their notes and agendas in one place. My guides to tools for notes and agendas and simple trackers for session feedback can help with that.

Common slip-ups when choosing a Mentimeter alternative

• Picking a tool for one clever feature and then finding the free plan doesn't include it.
• Forgetting that your largest audience may be bigger than the free limit.
• Using too many question types in one session so people lose track of how to answer.
• Leaving the audience staring at a join code for minutes while you fix a setting.
• Skipping a rehearsal on the actual projector or video call setup.

Do you make live polling or audience engagement tools? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

Narrowing down your Mentimeter shortlist

Choose two tools that match the sessions you run most. Build the same three-question poll in each, join from your own phone, and see how it feels on a projected screen or a shared video call. Keep the one that makes you feel calm at the front of the room, and make a copy of your questions somewhere safe.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Mentimeter?

Yes. Every tool on this page describes a free plan or free account on its own website or help pages. They differ on audience size, number of questions and exports, so check the current limits.

Do my audience members need an account?

Usually not. Most live polling tools let people join with a code, a link or a QR code. Hosts normally need an account to build the session.

Can I run polls inside PowerPoint or Google Slides?

Some tools offer an add-in or integration for those apps, while others have their own slide editor. Check the help pages for the app you use before you commit.

How do I get honest answers to sensitive questions?

Use anonymous responses, say so before the poll starts, and keep questions short. Check how each tool shows names to you as the host.

How many questions should a live session have?

Fewer than you think. A handful of well-chosen questions, each followed by a short conversation, usually works better than a long run of quick votes.