Prize wheel – spin to win with your own prizes
List your prizes, give the rare ones a smaller weight, and let visitors spin to win. The sample wheel has four prizes with weights adding up to 10, so the grand prize comes up on about 1 spin in 10. Change the prizes, colours and odds in seconds, then go full screen for your stand.
Press Spin, click the wheel, or press Ctrl + Enter.
Results
- Your results will appear here.
How to set up a prize wheel
List your prizes
Replace the samples with your own prizes. Keep a "Try again" or "High five" slice if not every spin should win something.
Show the weights
Open Settings and tick Use weights. A number box appears beside each prize, from 0.1 up to 100.
Work out the odds
Divide each prize's weight by the total of all weights. Write the results on a sign next to the wheel.
Spin in full screen
Press Full screen on a laptop or tablet and let each visitor tap the wheel.
How do weights work on a prize wheel?
A weight is the size of a slice compared with the others. A prize's chance is its weight divided by the total of all the weights. On the sample wheel the weights add up to 10:
| Prize | Weight | Chance per spin |
|---|---|---|
| Try again | 4 | 40% (4 in 10) |
| Sticker | 3 | 30% (3 in 10) |
| Free coffee | 2 | 20% (2 in 10) |
| Grand prize | 1 | 10% (1 in 10) |
Slices are drawn to scale, so visitors can see that the grand prize is a thin wedge. The weights on this page are already active; ticking Use weights just shows the numbers so you can edit them. Unticking it resets every prize to a weight of 1, which gives equal slices. The weighted pick uses the browser's secure random generator, described in our guide to spin wheel randomness.
How do I tell participants the odds honestly?
Put the real chances on a sign or in your post, for example "Grand prize: 1 in 10 spins". Odds apply to each spin, not to a queue of people, so ten visitors in a row can all miss the grand prize and two in a row can win it. Avoid promises like "every tenth person wins", which the wheel cannot keep.
Keep the wheel the same for the whole event, or update the sign when you change it. If staff or organisers want to check the setup, send them the share link: it carries the prizes and their weights, so they see exactly what visitors are spinning.
How do I stop a limited prize running out too early?
Weights set the chance per spin, not the number of prizes you hand out, so work backwards from your stock. Expected winners are roughly the number of spins times the chance. With five grand prizes and about 100 visitors, you want a chance of about 5%, or 1 in 20. Weights of 9 for Try again, 6 for Sticker, 4 for Free coffee and 1 for Grand prize add up to 20 and do exactly that.
Chance can still run ahead of your estimate. When a prize runs out, delete its slice with the × rather than leaving a prize on the wheel that nobody can claim.
Prize wheel ideas for events, shops and classrooms
- Trade show stand: pens, tote bags, a free demo slot, with a small chance of a bigger giveaway.
- Café or shop counter: a free cookie, a free size upgrade or 10% off the next visit.
- School fair: stickers, pencils, a bookmark, or an extra go on another stall.
- Classroom: rewards for a finished task; our classroom reward ideas list has plenty that cost nothing.
- Team meeting: first pick of the playlist, a coffee on the manager, or first choice of desk.
The wheel has no images or logos on its slices, but you can set each slice to your brand colours and give the wheel your own title.
Is a prize wheel gambling?
A free spin for a small prize is a common promotion. Charging people to spin for prizes, or taking bets on the result, can count as gambling or a lottery in many places and may need a licence, so keep spins free and never use the wheel to play for money. Promotions can have their own local rules too, so check them before a large campaign. For ticket-based draws, see the raffle wheel; for a pure bit of fun, try the fortune wheel.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make the grand prize impossible to win?
No, and you should not advertise a prize that cannot be won. The smallest weight is 0.1, so every slice keeps a real chance. If a prize is no longer available, delete its slice so the wheel matches what you can hand out.
Why are the slices on the prize wheel different sizes?
Each slice is drawn in proportion to its weight. Try again has a weight of 4 and the grand prize a weight of 1, so the Try again slice is four times wider and comes up four times as often.
Can I run the prize wheel on a tablet at a stand?
Yes. Open the page, press Full screen, and visitors tap the wheel to spin. The setup is saved in that browser, so it survives a reload. Avoid private browsing mode, which forgets the wheel when the tab closes.
Can I put my logo or prize photos on the wheel?
No. Slices show text only. You can match each slice to your brand colours, write the prize names in your own words and set a wheel title, which appears in the result pop-up.
Does the wheel count how many prizes I have given away?
The Results list records every spin in the current session, numbered in order. Press Copy at the end of each shift to keep a tally, because the list is cleared when the page reloads.