Overview

Poll Everywhere adds live polls, Q&A, quizzes, and other audience prompts to presentations and group sessions. It suits educators, presenters, and teams that want participants to respond from a phone or laptop without installing an app or creating an account.

Its broad range of prompt formats and presentation integrations makes it useful across classes, meetings, and events, but the free tier’s 40-person cap is restrictive for regular larger sessions. Higher audience capacity starts at $10/month on an annual plan, while larger teams and custom audience sizes require more expensive or custom-priced plans.

Key features

Live participation and reporting

Polls, Q&A, quizzes, anonymous responses, and formats such as word clouds, Likert scales, competitions, attendance, media, and clickable images give presenters more ways to involve a group than a simple poll. Responses update in real time, which is useful for adapting a presentation as feedback arrives. Reporting can track participation, summarize results, review questions, and export data as CSV.

Presentation integrations

Poll Everywhere works with PowerPoint, Google Slides, Apple Keynote, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Zoom, as well as Canva, PDFs, and other presentation formats. That range can fit into existing presentation and meeting workflows; it is less compelling for someone who only needs a standalone, occasional poll.

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 that it is WCAG 2.2 AA compliant. 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 uses a freemium model and offers a 30-day trial. The free Intro plan costs $0.00 per free and includes unlimited questions, 10 AI prompts per month, and a 40-person audience cap; it allows 700 audience members for 30 days. That makes it useful for small groups or a short larger event, but the temporary higher cap is not a dependable basis for recurring large sessions.

Present costs $10/month, billed annually at $120 per year, and includes 700 audience responses, 100 AI prompts per month, and one seat. It is the entry paid option for an individual presenter who needs a larger audience and more AI prompts. Engage costs $99/month or $588 per year billed annually, with 700 audience responses, unlimited AI prompts, and two users. Teams costs $249/month or $999 per year billed annually, also with 700 audience responses, unlimited AI prompts, and two users. Those plans raise the AI allowance over Present, but the listed audience-response limit remains 700; the price jump is difficult to justify on audience capacity alone.

Enterprise has custom pricing and supports custom audience sizes, teams, shared polls, and SAML single sign-on, making it the relevant option for organizations that need those controls or audiences beyond standard plan limits. 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 is available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and the web. Participants can respond through a custom URL on a phone or laptop without an app download, login, or account, reducing setup friction for one-off audiences.

Who it's for

Poll Everywhere is a strong fit for higher education, K-12, corporate presentations, meetings, training, and events where a presenter wants live audience input within an existing slide or meeting workflow. Teams that need shared polls or SAML single sign-on should consider Enterprise. It is a weaker fit for a recurring large audience on the free plan, or for buyers who want more seats without moving to a plan that still caps responses at 700.

Pros and cons

Pros: Multiple prompt types, anonymous participation, and real-time results support more varied interaction than polling alone.
Pros: Participants can answer from a phone or laptop without an app, login, or account, which simplifies access during live sessions.
Pros: PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote, and meeting-platform integrations can fit the service into familiar workflows.
Cons: The free plan normally caps audiences at 40, so larger recurring sessions require a paid plan.
Cons: Present, Engage, and Teams all list 700 audience responses; the higher tiers add AI prompts or users, not greater listed audience capacity.
Cons: Present includes one seat, while Engage and Teams include two, so teams needing more collaboration may need Enterprise.

Alternatives

AhaSlides is worth considering for a free plan that allows up to 50 participants, five quiz questions, and three poll questions, or for buyers comparing a $23.95/month Essential plan. Socrative may suit classroom quiz use: its free plan includes five quizzes, one room, 50 students per activity, 30-day report history, and AI question generation.

Crowdpurr offers a free Basic plan with 20 participants, 15 questions, and three simultaneous experiences; it may suit smaller sessions that fit those limits. EngageSlide has a free plan for up to 10 live participants with unlimited audiences per month, all slide types, and live chat and email support, making it an option for very small groups.

Top Hat, LessonUp, VoxVote, and Maglr are alternatives to compare for different presentation or audience-response needs.

For broader comparisons, see Interactive Presentation Software, Audience Response Systems, Interactive Classroom Software, Polling Software, and Student Response Systems.

Verdict

Choose Poll Everywhere if you need varied live audience interactions embedded in presentations and want participants to join without an app or account. Its breadth of formats, integrations, and reporting is the central draw. Look elsewhere if you need a free recurring audience above 40, or if higher paid tiers must increase the listed 700-response limit rather than mainly add AI capacity or seats.

	OpenBoard	Poll Everywhere
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	—	$10/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, macOS, Windows	Android, iOS, macOS, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Interactive presentations	Yes	—
Quiz activities	Yes	—

OpenBoard vs Poll Everywhere

OpenBoard

Poll Everywhere