How to use it
- Paste the entrantsType or paste one entrant per line, or import a .txt or .csv file. Add Name *2 only when your published rules give someone extra chances.
- Set the winnersGive the draw a clear title, set how many winners you want under Winners in Options, and leave the verifiable draw switched on.
- Draw and sharePress Draw the winner. Within seconds the winners appear in order, with a proof link you can post beside your announcement.
What the giveaway picker does
- Works as a random winner generator: paste the entrants, set how many winners you need, and they come out in order.
- Runs a random drawing with a public proof: the verifiable draw is on by default and gives a link anyone can recheck.
- Draws spares in the same go, so a winner who never replies can be replaced without a second draw.
- Has no giveaway wheel: winners appear as a list. For a winner wheel on screen, the raffle picker can spin up to 200 entries on a raffle wheel.
What happens when you press the button
With the verifiable draw on, as it is when you arrive, the picker does three things in a row. It freezes your entry list and computes a SHA-256 fingerprint of it. It claims one upcoming round of the drand public randomness beacon, a few seconds away. When that round is published, it derives the winners from the beacon value and the fingerprint.
The order of those steps is the whole trick. The beacon value did not exist while you were fixing the list, so neither you nor the site could have steered the outcome by adjusting names. The whole thing usually takes under ten seconds, and nothing about your entries is sent to the beacon, only the round number is requested.
When the draw finishes, the panel under the picker names the winners, the beacon round and a shortened fingerprint, and offers Open the proof page and Copy proof link. Copy the link straight away: the Results tab keeps it on this device, but a cleared browser would lose it. Each press of the button starts a new draw with a new proof, which is why your announcement should say that you draw once.
Get the entry list right before you draw
The draw is only as good as the list behind it. Export entrants from your form, newsletter tool or spreadsheet, and paste one per line. A name, an email handle or an order number all work, as long as each line is something you can identify later. Entries are cut at 200 characters.
Use Remove duplicates if the same person might appear twice, and delete anyone who is not eligible: staff, family of the organizers, entries after the deadline. Do this before the draw, never after. Changing a single character afterwards produces a different fingerprint and, almost certainly, different winners.
Keep the list to a few thousand lines at most. The proof link carries the whole list inside it, so a very long list makes a very long link. A 300-entry newsletter giveaway is comfortable; a list of fifty thousand is better split into smaller draws or handled with a different tool.
Several winners, in order, plus spares
The Winners setting in Options accepts 1 to 50. Winners are always different people: once a name is drawn it leaves the pool for the next place. The result lists them in the order they were drawn, so you can tie first place to the biggest prize and say so in advance.
Plan for no-shows. If you have three prizes, set Winners to five and announce that places four and five are reserves who move up if a winner does not reply by a stated date. Everything comes from the same beacon round and the same proof, so there is nothing extra to explain.
Weights are available too: a line such as Sam *2 doubles Sam's chance on the first pick. That is useful for a loyalty bonus, but only if your public rules say so. A hidden advantage defeats the purpose of a draw people can check. For instant prizes at a booth, with odds and stock per prize, use the prize wheel.
When you turn the proof off
The verifiable draw is optional. With it off, the picker rolls through the names and lands on the winners, still drawing on the browser's secure random generator, still settling the result before the animation starts. That suits an office coffee run or a quiz night where nobody needs evidence.
For anything with a prize people care about, keep it on. The extra wait is a few seconds, and the proof link turns a claim of fairness into something a skeptical entrant can test for themselves. Results from this page also stay in the Results tab on your device, with a proof link beside each verifiable one.
A worked example: three prizes, 300 entrants
Say a bakery runs a newsletter giveaway: a cake gift card, a box of pastries and a mug. Sign-ups close on Sunday at 20:00, and the export holds 312 addresses. Before drawing, the owner removes two duplicates, deletes the two staff addresses and two late sign-ups, and ends up with 306 lines. She keeps only the part of each address before the @ sign in the list, so the proof link will not expose full emails.
She sets the title to Spring newsletter giveaway, because the title becomes part of the fingerprint and shows on the proof page. Winners is set to five: three prizes and two reserves. At 20:15 she presses Draw the winner on a video call, reads out the five names in order, and pastes the proof link into the same newsletter thread. Total effort: about ten minutes, with a record that outlasts the call.
Announce first, then draw once and in public
A proof has no way of telling how many attempts came before the one you published. The remedy is procedural. Post your rules ahead of time: the closing date, who may enter, the number of winners, the hour of the draw and where the result will appear. Then draw once, ideally live on a stream or a video call, and paste the proof link in the same place straight away.
A doubtful entrant can open the link on the verification page and rebuild the outcome. If you want a longer explanation of reading a proof, the guide on how to verify a draw covers every field. For a general look at why the picking itself is unbiased, see the page on whether spin-the-wheel tools are random.
Run it responsibly
TwirlPick picks entries; it does not run your promotion. Giveaway regulations differ by country, state and platform, and the duty to comply rests with you, covering the places your entrants live as well, including age limits, prize taxes and any wording the platform you post on requires.
Keep entry free. If people must pay or buy something to be included, many places treat the draw as a lottery that needs a license, and this tool is not meant for that. Be careful with personal data too: because the proof link carries every entry, consider drawing from handles, initials or ticket codes rather than full names and emails. If entrants ask whether an online pick can be trusted at all, point them to is spin the wheel random, which runs thousands of draws on demand.
Questions
How do I pick a winner for a giveaway fairly?
Fix the rules and the closing time first, build one clean list of eligible entrants, then draw once with a method others can check. Use a verifiable draw: it fingerprints the list, takes its randomness from a public beacon, and hands you a link for recomputing the result. Post the result together with that link.
How do I pick a random winner from a list of names?
Paste the names into the entries box, one per line, open Options and set Winners to the number you need, then press Draw the winner. Each name has an equal chance unless you gave it a weight with *n. The winner is chosen before the reveal animation, using the browser's cryptographic randomness.
Can anyone check that the winner was random?
Yes, provided the verifiable draw was on. The proof link holds the entries and the beacon round, and the checking page recalculates the winners from the public round value. A match shows that the names follow from that list. Whether you drew once or ten times stays invisible to it, so announce a single draw beforehand.
Can I draw backup winners at the same time?
Yes. Raise Winners in Options above your prize count. The winners come out in order from one draw, so the extra names are your reserves. State in your rules how long a winner has to reply before the next name moves up.
Does the giveaway picker store or send my entrants' names?
The entries stay in your browser, and your device remembers the last list so that a closed tab does not lose it. A verifiable draw requests only a round number from the public beacon. Note that a proof link or a shared wheel link carries the entries, so whoever receives it can read them.
Is it legal to run a giveaway with this tool?
It depends on the country or state you and your entrants live in, and on the platform where you post. Free entry with clear rules is the usual safe pattern, while charging for entry can make a draw an unlicensed lottery. TwirlPick only picks randomly and gives no legal advice, so check local and platform rules.
Can I draw the same giveaway twice if I am not happy with the result?
You can, but each press makes a new draw, and a new proof, so re-running looks like shopping for a result you prefer. Decide the rules before drawing. Redraw only for a stated reason, such as a winner failing the eligibility check, and say so publicly.