A Wheel of Names alternative without ads or accounts
Wheel of Names is a good tool and the most popular one in this category. If you are looking for something else, it is usually for one of three reasons: the ads, the account, or wanting nothing stored anywhere. This page is an honest comparison, including the parts where Wheel of Names is the better choice.
SpinForFun is a free Wheel of Names alternative with no ads, no account, and no data stored on a server — your options live in your browser and in the share link. Wheel of Names has more features: cloud saves, images on slices, a large sound library, and an API. Pick SpinForFun if you want the simplest, quietest version; pick Wheel of Names if you need those extras.
How they compare
Checked 2026-07-30. Both are actively developed, so verify anything that matters to you before relying on it.
| SpinForFun | Wheel of Names | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no paid tier | Free, no paid tier |
| Ads | None | Yes — fewer than most sites, dismissible for a session |
| Account required | No account exists | Optional; needed for cloud saves |
| Where your list is stored | Your browser and the share link only | Your browser, or the cloud if you choose |
| Random source | crypto.getRandomValues | crypto.getRandomValues |
| Verify the odds yourself | Yes — built-in fairness test | Yes — built-in spin test |
| Share a wheel by link | Yes, no account either end | Yes |
| Elimination mode | Yes | Yes |
| Images on slices | No | Yes |
| Sound library | Two sounds | 150+ tracks and effects |
| Pre-filled themed wheels | 41 | Community gallery |
| API | No | Yes |
When Wheel of Names is the better choice
Being straight about this is more useful than pretending otherwise, and it is a bigger list than ours.
- You want wheels saved to an account. Wheel of Names saves to the cloud and to your device. Our wheels are saved as links you bookmark, which is fine for a handful and awkward for fifty.
- You want images on the slices. We do text only.
- You want a big sound and theme library. They have one; we have a tick and a fanfare.
- You are drawing from thousands of entries. They handle very large lists explicitly. Our share links start to strain past roughly 130 full names, and while you can paste more in directly, the wheel gets crowded.
- You need an API. They have one. We do not.
When SpinForFun is the better choice
- You are presenting to a class or an audience. Wheel of Names funds itself with ads — fewer than most sites, and dismissible for a session, but present. We run none at all, so there is nothing to dismiss before a projector goes on.
- You do not want a class roster on anyone's server. Names you enter here never leave your browser. There is no account to make, which means there is no account to have a data policy about.
- You want to hand someone a working wheel. Press Share and the options are encoded in the link itself. Whoever opens it needs no account and no setup.
- You want a specific tool rather than a blank wheel. We have 46 pre-filled wheels — truth or dare, workouts, chores, what to watch — so there is often nothing to type at all.
Is one of them more random than the other?
No, and be suspicious of anyone claiming otherwise. Both draw
from crypto.getRandomValues, the browser's cryptographically secure generator,
rather than Math.random. Both give every option an equal slice. Wheel of Names
publishes a tool that lets you run thousands of spins and inspect the distribution; so do we,
at our fairness test. That is
the right standard for both of us to be held to, and we adopted it because they set it.
Frequently asked questions
Is SpinForFun really free, or is there a paid tier coming?
Free, with no paid tier. The site is static files on shared hosting with no per-user cost, which is the actual reason — the full explanation is on why it is free. Some alternatives in this category do have paid plans, so it is a fair thing to check before you commit a class or a campaign to any of them.
Can I move my wheels over from Wheel of Names?
There is no import tool, but there is rarely much to move. Copy your list of names, paste it in one per line, and press Share to get a link you can bookmark in place of the saved wheel.
Which is better for teachers?
It depends on which problem you have. If you juggle many class lists and want them saved and organised, Wheel of Names handles that better. If your main concerns are that nothing gets shown on the projector that should not, and that a register of children's names is not sitting on a third party's server, that is what we are built for. Both handle the actual picking equally well.
Do you have elimination mode?
Yes. Turn on Elimination and the winner is removed after each spin, so you can draw several winners in order or work through a whole class without repeats. Wheel of Names has the equivalent.
Related tools
- Random name picker — the closest equivalent
- Classroom wheel — pre-set for student selection
- Giveaway wheel — for draws with an audience
- Best free wheel spinners compared — the wider field