Contest Winner Picker
A free contest winner picker that produces more than a name: a winner your sponsor, your community, and your future self can verify. Paste your validated entrants (usernames, emails, or entry IDs, one per line), weight anyone who earned bonus entries, and draw winners and ranked backups in a single run. Every draw records a 256-bit seed, a SHA-256 hash of the exact entrant list, and a step-by-step selection log: the paper trail a prize competition needs. It runs entirely in your browser, with no signup, no upload, and no entrant database.
Giveaway type
Weighted entries: Ava*5 gives five tickets. Blank lines are skipped, and you choose how many winners in the next step.
Import YouTube comments
Newest 200 free · up to 10,000 with Premium
Leave out past winners
People who won an earlier draw on this device
Replace the current list
Off adds the comments to what is already there
Filters Premium
One entry per person
Extra comments from the same account don't count
Leave out the channel owner
Your own replies aren't entries
Top-level comments on public videos only (replies are not entries). Uses each commenter's public display name; nothing is stored. Instagram import is coming next.
Why use this tool
- Paste names, emails, usernames, or entry IDs, and mixed lists are welcome
- Draw winners and ranked backup alternates in one run
- Reward bonus actions with *N weighting (referrals, shares, tiers)
- Cinematic reveal + downloadable winner card for announcements
- Seed + SHA-256 entries hash: the audit trail sponsors ask for
- Entrant emails never leave your browser: fully client-side
Common uses
- Hashtag and UGC contests. Paste the usernames of valid entries, draw a winner, and share the winner card with the verification hash for transparency.
- Email signup sweepstakes. Drop entrant emails, pick a winner locally so the list never leaves your browser, and keep the seed for your records.
- Referral contests. Weight entrants by referrals ('jordan*8' for eight successful referrals) so odds scale with effort, fairly and auditably.
- Discord and community giveaways. Paste active members or entry IDs and draw winners live on a voice call with screenshare.
- Tiered prize pools. Set a custom winner count to award first, second, and third place plus runners-up, revealed one by one.
In-depth guide
What is a contest winner picker?
A contest winner picker is a tool that randomly selects winners from a list of contest entrants. You paste the validated entries (usernames, emails, or IDs) and the tool draws one or more winners at random, optionally weighting entries that earned bonus chances.
Beyond drawing a name, this tool gives you a defensible result: a verification hash and selection log you can hand to a sponsor or compliance reviewer, plus an animated reveal for the announcement.
Running a fair, compliant contest draw
Contests with prizes often carry rules: official terms, eligibility checks, and sometimes regional sweepstakes law. The mechanical part you control is the draw: validate eligibility first, finalise the entrant list, then pick with a verifiable random source.
Paste your finalised, eligibility-checked list here and draw. Keep the seed and verification hash with your contest records; because any change to the entrants changes the entries hash, the proof is bound to the exact list you drew from, which is exactly what a sponsor or auditor wants to see.
Weighting bonus actions correctly
Many contests award extra entries for actions like referring a friend, sharing a post, or buying a higher tier. Pasting a name multiple times works but is hard to audit; weighting is cleaner. Give each entrant one line with a weight equal to their total entries: 'sam*4' for four entries.
The picker uses Efraimidis–Spirakis weighted sampling without replacement, so multi-winner draws bias each pick by weight while guaranteeing distinct winners across your prize tiers.
From raw entries to a defensible winner list
The draw is the easy part; the list is where contests go wrong. Work in one direction: collect entries, remove duplicates, screen eligibility against your official rules (age, region, employees and their families), disqualify rule-breakers, and only then freeze the list and draw. Because the verification hash is computed over the exact entrant list, any edit made after the draw is visible as a different list, which protects you as much as it protects entrants.
Draw your backups in the same run by setting the winner count to prizes plus alternates. A ranked list drawn once looks like a plan; a second, separate draw run after a winner is disqualified looks like an opportunity to steer the result, even when it wasn't.
Announcing winners and handling disputes
Announce with the winner card and the verification hash, and give winners the response window your rules promised. If a winner doesn't respond or fails a final eligibility check, promote the next alternate in the drawn order; the selection log already shows the order was fixed before anyone knew the names.
File the seed, the entries hash, the final list, and the selection log with the rest of the contest records. Months later, that file is what answers a 'it was rigged' complaint, a sponsor's audit, or a platform's promotion-rules question in minutes instead of arguments.
How to use contest winner picker
- Finalise your entrants. Validate eligibility, then copy your entrant names, emails, or IDs.
- Paste and weight. Paste one per line. Add *N to reward referrals, shares, or higher tiers.
- Set winner count. Choose one winner or a custom number for tiered prizes and backups.
- Draw and document. Pick the winners, then save the seed and verification hash with your contest records.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I pick a random contest winner?
- Paste your validated entrants, one per line, choose how many winners you need, and hit Pick Winner. The tool draws randomly and shows the reveal. Each draw publishes a verification hash so the result can be independently checked.
- Can I give bonus entries for shares or referrals?
- Yes, with *N weighting. Add '*5' after an entrant to give them five times the odds, which is ideal for rewarding referrals, shares, or higher entry tiers. The weights are folded into the verification hash, so a weighted contest draw is just as reproducible.
- How do I prove the contest draw was fair to a sponsor?
- Each draw reveals a 256-bit random seed, hashes your exact entrant list with SHA-256, and publishes a verification hash plus a selection log. A sponsor re-runs the same algorithm with the seed and list and confirms the identical winners, with no trust required.
- Can I draw winners for several prize tiers at once?
- Yes. Set a custom winner count; winners are drawn without replacement and revealed from the lowest tier up to the grand prize, so one run produces your whole ranked winner list.
- Should I draw backup winners?
- Yes. Set the winner count to your prizes plus a few alternates and draw once. Winners and backups come out in a fixed, logged order, so if someone is unreachable or ineligible you promote the next alternate instead of running a second draw that invites suspicion.
- How should I handle duplicate or ineligible entries?
- Clean the list before you draw: dedupe entrants, apply your eligibility rules, and remove disqualified entries. The verification hash freezes the exact pool you drew from, so doing the screening first keeps the recorded list identical to the announced rules.
- Is entrant data (like emails) kept private?
- Yes. The picker is fully client-side: no account is needed and it keeps no entrant database, so emails and usernames are never uploaded. Close the tab and the list is gone.
Free random spinner from SpinOfLuck, with no signup and no ads, running entirely in your browser.