Poll Everywhere

Overview

Poll Everywhere is live audience-response software for presentations, classes, meetings, and events. It is best suited to presenters who want questions and feedback to become part of the session, rather than waiting until afterward. Its broad range of interaction formats is a strength, but the free audience cap and steep jump to some paid tiers make plan choice important.

Key features

Audience participation

Live polling, Q&A, quizzes, and anonymous responses cover more than quick opinion checks. Poll formats include charts, word clouds, competitions, Likert scales, attendance, media, and clickable images, giving presenters options for gathering feedback, inviting questions, and checking understanding. Responses update in real time, which makes the results useful during a presentation, not just as a record afterward.

Participants can respond from a phone or laptop through a custom URL, without an app download, login, or account. That reduces the steps needed to join, especially for event audiences. Reporting can track participation, summarize results, review questions, and export data as CSV, useful when a presenter needs to examine responses after the session.

Presentation and organizational tools

Poll Everywhere works with PowerPoint, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, Canva, PDFs, and other presentation formats; official integrations also include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Zoom. This breadth makes it a practical fit for organizations that already run sessions across different tools. Enterprise adds shared polls, teams, custom audience sizes, and SAML single sign-on, while support ranges from a help center and FAQ to email, phone, and dedicated success management.

The service says it supports audiences from 30 to 10,000 or more, with enterprise plans offering unlimited audience sizes. Its security measures include AES 256-bit encryption at rest, TLS 1.2 in transit, hashed and salted passwords, and US-only AWS cloud storage. It states WCAG 2.2 AA compliance and lists ISO/IEC 27001, 27701, and 42001 certifications, plus a SOC 2 Type 2 report.

Pricing

The free Intro plan costs $0.00 per free and includes unlimited questions and 10 AI prompts monthly. Its normal maximum is 40 audience members; a 700-person limit applies for 30 days. That is useful for small groups or a short large-audience need, but not a lasting substitute for a paid plan when sessions regularly exceed 40 people.

Present costs $10/month when billed annually at $120 per year, or $10 a month with monthly billing. It raises the audience-response limit to 700, includes 100 AI prompts per month, and has one seat. This is the clearest step up for an individual presenter who needs a larger audience than the free tier allows.

Engage costs $588 a year when billed annually, or $99 a month with monthly billing. It includes 700 audience responses, unlimited AI prompts, and two users. Teams costs $999 a year billed annually, or $249 a month monthly, with the same stated 700-response limit, unlimited AI prompts, and two included users. Engage suits users who need more AI prompts and a second user; Teams is a much larger price commitment without a higher stated response cap, so its fit depends on team needs beyond those shared limits.

Enterprise has custom pricing and is the option for custom audience sizes, teams, shared polls, and SAML SSO. A 30-day trial is available. Accounts can be upgraded or downgraded at any time, with changes usually taking effect at the billing-cycle end. Credits for removed presenters are prorated but not refundable, a relevant restriction for teams changing seats mid-term.

Platforms

Poll Everywhere supports Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. Its presentation integrations also make it relevant to people who build sessions in common slide and meeting tools.

Who it's for

Poll Everywhere is a strong fit for educators, trainers, event hosts, and corporate presenters who need varied audience interactions and live results. It is less compelling for a small group that can stay within 40 participants on the free plan, or for organizations seeking a higher stated audience-response limit without moving to custom-priced Enterprise.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Participants join by URL without an app or account, reducing friction for one-off audiences.
• Pros: Polls, Q&A, quizzes, anonymous responses, and varied question formats support different kinds of participation in one service.
• Pros: Reporting includes participation tracking, question review, summaries, and CSV export for follow-up.
• Cons: The free plan normally caps audiences at 40, making the 700-person allowance temporary rather than a permanent free option.
• Cons: Engage and Teams cost substantially more than Present while retaining a stated 700-response limit; Teams includes only two users.
• Cons: Removed-presenter credits are prorated but not refundable, which limits flexibility when seat needs fall.

Alternatives

EngageSlide is worth considering for a very small audience: its free plan supports up to 10 live participants, with unlimited audiences per month and all slide types. AhaSlides offers a free plan for up to 50 participants, with five quiz questions and three poll questions, a closer fit for modest groups wanting a free option above Poll Everywhere's regular cap. StreamAlive has a free plan with unlimited sessions but only five participants per session, so it suits small recurring sessions better than larger audiences.

Socrative may suit classroom use where the free limits of five quizzes, one room, and 50 students per activity are sufficient. ClassPoint is another option for PowerPoint-centered teaching, with a Basic plan capped at 25 participants and five questions per presentation. Crowdpurr offers a free plan for 20 participants and 15 questions, making it an option for smaller experiences.

Vevox has a free tier for 100 participants and one user, which may be preferable when the audience is larger than Poll Everywhere's usual free cap. Mentimeter offers 50 participants per month and 23 slide types on its free plan, an alternative for presenters comparing free presentation formats.

Browse Interactive Presentation Software, Audience Response Systems, Student Response Systems, Polling Software, and Interactive Classroom Software for more category options.

Verdict

Choose Poll Everywhere if live participation, varied question types, and reporting matter across presentations, classrooms, or events. Its low-friction joining and broad integrations are the main reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if the free 40-person cap is too restrictive or if the higher paid tiers do not justify their cost for a 700-response limit.