Wheel of Names Alternative — Free, Private, No Signup

Quick Comparison: SelectAWheel vs Wheel of Names

Both tools spin a wheel. Both are free. But they make very different choices about accounts, data, and how your lists are stored. Here's an honest, side-by-side breakdown.

Note: Wheel of Names is a well-built, well-loved tool with a larger feature set in some areas (music library, image search, multi-language UI). We recommend it in situations where those features matter. We recommend SelectAWheel when you want zero signup, zero cloud storage, and a faster, ad-light experience.

5 Reasons Users Switch to SelectAWheel

1. No signup, ever

Some tools nudge you toward an account the moment you want to save or share a wheel. SelectAWheel never asks. Your list is saved automatically in your browser as you type, and restored the next time you open the page. No email, no password, no password reset emails.

2. Your lists never leave your device

Every entry you type stays in your browser's local storage. There is no backend, no database, and no server-side copy of your student names, viewer handles, or giveaway entrants. For teachers working with student data under FERPA and COPPA guidelines, that distinction matters.

3. Fast, light, and offline-capable

SelectAWheel is built with pure HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. No frameworks, no bundlers, no third-party trackers. After the first page load, the tool keeps working with no internet — handy on flaky classroom Wi-Fi or at events where the venue network is overloaded.

4. Cryptographically secure randomness

Both SelectAWheel and Wheel of Names use the browser's crypto.getRandomValues() API instead of the weaker Math.random(). This means every spin is genuinely unpredictable — statistically fair, not just "close enough."

5. Weighted entries with a simple syntax

Instead of clicking a slider for each name, you just type Ali x3 to give Ali three times the chance. Perfect for streamer giveaways where subscribers get bonus tickets, or for teachers who want to gently nudge the wheel toward students who need more practice.

What Wheel of Names Does Well

We're not here to knock the market leader. Wheel of Names has earned its audience for good reasons:

• Huge audio library. Over 150 licensed music tracks and sound effects. If you want a specific mood on stream, they have it.
• Image search integration. Built-in Unsplash search and image uploads for slice visuals. Great for branded wheels.
• Multi-language UI. Available in 65 languages, which SelectAWheel is not (yet).
• Proven randomness. They also use crypto.getRandomValues() and even publish a tool to run 10,000 spins and prove distribution.
• Large public gallery. Thousands of community-created wheels you can browse and copy.

If any of those features is essential to your workflow, use Wheel of Names. If they aren't, you'll likely prefer SelectAWheel's no-signup, no-cloud model.

How to Migrate from Wheel of Names to SelectAWheel

1. Copy your entries. On Wheel of Names, select all lines in the entries panel on the right and copy them.
2. Paste into SelectAWheel. Open our homepage wheel spinner and paste the names into the sidebar. Your list is saved to your browser immediately.
3. Spin. Press SPIN, click the canvas, or hit Spacebar. Everything else works the same way — including weighted entries, which use a simple x3 suffix instead of a slider.

If you have a CSV or TXT export from another tool, use the Import button in the sidebar to load the first column directly.