How are winners chosen?

The full entry list is shuffled uniformly at random using a cryptographic RNG. The first N entries after the shuffle are the winners; the next M are alternates.

If a winner is ineligible, cannot be contacted, or declines, alternates take their place in order. Drawing alternates upfront keeps the process transparent.

Does case matter for duplicate removal?

No. With Remove duplicates on, "Alice", "alice", and "ALICE" all collapse to one entry.

Is this fair enough for a real prize draw?

The randomness itself is high quality. For binding draws (legal raffles, regulated promotions) check local rules — you may need a witnessed draw or audited service in addition to fair randomness.

No. The list lives in your browser tab and is gone once you reset or close the page.

Giveaway Randomizer

Draw winners and alternates from a list of entries with optional duplicate removal.

Written by Golam Rabbani, Founder & Lead Engineer

This interactive tool requires JavaScript. Read the formula and worked example below; you can compute the result by hand.

How to use this giveaway randomizer

Paste your full entry list, one entry per line.
Set how many winners you need.
Set how many alternates to draw (in case a winner cannot be reached).
Tick Remove duplicate entries if the same name should not be counted twice.
Press Draw winners to see the winner and alternate lists.

About this giveaway randomizer

The giveaway randomizer shuffles your entry list using a Fisher–Yates pass backed by crypto.getRandomValues, then takes the top N as winners and the next M as alternates. The shuffle is provably uniform — every entry has an equal chance of being chosen — and the alternates are drawn from the same shuffle in order, so they are deterministic backups if a winner cannot be contacted.

Duplicate handling is opt-in: when the Remove duplicates option is on, entries are compared case-insensitively (so "Alice" and "alice" count as one), and only the first occurrence of each entry remains in the pool. This matters for social-media giveaways where the same account could be captured twice. With duplicates allowed, entrants who comment multiple times get proportionally more chances.

For example, with 50 unique entries, 3 winners, and 2 alternates, the tool would produce a numbered list of 3 winners and a separate numbered list of 2 alternates — total 5 distinct entries. Copy gives you a plain-text version you can paste into a wrap-up announcement.

FAQ

How are winners chosen?: The full entry list is shuffled uniformly at random using a cryptographic RNG. The first N entries after the shuffle are the winners; the next M are alternates.
Why have alternates?: If a winner is ineligible, cannot be contacted, or declines, alternates take their place in order. Drawing alternates upfront keeps the process transparent.
Does case matter for duplicate removal?: No. With Remove duplicates on, "Alice", "alice", and "ALICE" all collapse to one entry.
Is this fair enough for a real prize draw?: The randomness itself is high quality. For binding draws (legal raffles, regulated promotions) check local rules — you may need a witnessed draw or audited service in addition to fair randomness.
Are entries saved?: No. The list lives in your browser tab and is gone once you reset or close the page.