Overview

Poll Everywhere combines live polls, Q&A and quizzes with presentation integrations and reporting tools. It suits educators, presenters and meeting organizers who want audience input without requiring participants to install an app or create an account. Its appeal is breadth: responses can take many forms and update live, though the free audience cap and paid-plan terms deserve close attention.

Key features

Audience participation

Participants join from a phone or laptop through a custom URL, and can respond anonymously. Live polls, Q&A and quiz mode cover common ways to gather opinions, questions or check understanding. Additional formats include charts, word clouds, competitions, Likert scales, attendance, media and clickable images, giving presenters more options than a basic poll tool.

Responses update as they arrive, which makes the service useful for adjusting a session around audience input. Reporting can track participation, summarize results and questions, and export data as CSV. The audience scale ranges from smaller groups to 10,000 or more participants; enterprise plans support custom, including unlimited, audience sizes.

Presentation and meeting integrations

Poll Everywhere integrates with PowerPoint, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Webex and Zoom, and supports Canva, PDFs and other presentation formats. That breadth is useful for organizations already working in those tools, though the free plan's much smaller audience limit may rule it out for larger events.

Security and support

The service uses AES 256-bit encryption at rest, TLS 1.2 in transit, hashed and salted passwords, and AWS storage located in the United States. It lists ISO/IEC 27001, 27701 and 42001 certifications and a SOC 2 Type 2 report, and states WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. Support ranges from a support center and FAQ to email, phone and dedicated success management. Enterprise phone and email support runs 12 hours a day, Monday through Friday, from 5am to 5pm Pacific Time.

Pricing

Poll Everywhere has a free plan and a 30-day trial. The free Intro plan allows 40 audience members, or 700 for 30 days, 10 AI prompts per month and unlimited questions. It is a useful starting point for small sessions, but the regular 40-person cap is restrictive for larger classes or events.

Present costs $10/month, billed annually at $120 per year, and includes 700 audience responses, 100 AI prompts per month and one seat. It suits an individual presenter who needs a larger audience allowance, but requires annual billing for the listed annual option. Present Monthly is also $10/month.

Engage costs $99/month or $588 per year billed annually. It includes 700 audience responses, unlimited AI prompts and two users. The annual price is substantially lower than paying monthly over a year, making the billing choice important for teams able to commit annually.

Teams costs $249/month or $999 per year billed annually, with 700 audience responses, unlimited AI prompts and two users. It is aimed at teams needing a shared plan, but its audience allowance matches the lower paid plans, so a larger audience may call for Enterprise instead. Enterprise has custom pricing and adds custom audience sizes, teams, shared polls and SAML single sign-on.

Accounts can be upgraded or downgraded at any time, with changes usually taking effect at the end of the billing cycle. Credits for removed presenters are prorated but not refundable.

Platforms

Poll Everywhere supports Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows, alongside its presentation and meeting integrations. Participants can respond on phones or laptops through a URL without downloading an app.

Who it's for

Poll Everywhere is a strong fit for higher education, K–12, corporate presentations, meetings, training and events where real-time audience participation matters. Its varied response formats and integrations suit presenters who need more than a simple vote. Small groups can begin on the free plan; larger or more frequent use may require paid seats or an Enterprise audience arrangement.

Pros and cons

Broad interaction formats: polls, Q&A, quizzes and formats such as word clouds and Likert scales support different session goals.
Low-friction participation: a custom URL lets participants respond without an app download, login or account.
Useful reporting: participation and results can be reviewed and exported as CSV.
Free-plan ceiling: 40 audience members is modest outside small sessions, with 700 available only for 30 days.
Paid-plan audience limit: Present, Engage and Teams each include 700 audience responses, so larger audiences may need custom Enterprise pricing.
Annual commitment matters: the Present annual option is billed at $120 per year, while other plans also show much lower annual totals than their monthly rates.

Alternatives

StreamAlive is worth considering for sessions capped at five participants: its free plan offers unlimited sessions and all interaction types, but that participant ceiling is far below Poll Everywhere's standard free allowance.

LessonUp may suit teachers who want interactive lesson features and saved lesson results on a free account.

Socrative is an option for quiz-led classroom use; its free plan allows five quizzes, one room, 50 students per activity and 30-day report history.

Slidea may fit users seeking a free presentation-oriented option, with up to 250 participants per month, five live quizzes and PPT/PDF imports under its free plan.

BrainCraft is a lower-cost alternative for small, occasional sessions: its free plan allows 20 participants per session and five sessions per month.

MeetingPulse has a 14-day trial with a 25-attendee limit, so Poll Everywhere's free plan is the more generous starting point for ongoing use.

EngageSlide offers a free plan for up to 10 live participants, with unlimited audiences per month and all slide types; it may suit very small groups.

AhaSlides is another free option, allowing up to 50 participants, five quiz questions and three poll questions per presentation.

Compare options in Interactive Presentation Software, Audience Response Systems, Interactive Classroom Software, Polling Software and Student Response Systems.

Verdict

Choose Poll Everywhere if you need flexible live audience interaction that works across common presentation and meeting tools, with reporting to carry results beyond the session. Its free tier is best for small groups, while paid plans provide more prompts and users but retain a 700-response allowance; readers expecting larger audiences should weigh custom Enterprise pricing or consider a different fit.

	Poll Everywhere	StrawPoll
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	$10/mo	Free
Platforms	Android, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows	Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$10/mo
Live polling	Yes	Yes
Live Q&A	Yes
Quiz mode	Yes
Audience limit	700 participants
Anonymous responses	Yes	Yes
Slide integrations	Yes

Poll Everywhere vs StrawPoll

Poll Everywhere

StrawPoll