YouTube Comment Picker
Draw one or more winners from the comments of a YouTube video. Apply the rules of your giveaway, one entry per person, a required hashtag, names that cannot win, and let a cryptographically secure random draw decide. The draw happens in your browser and no list is stored.
- Private by default
- No sign-up
- Free to use
One entry per line: a name, or “name: comment”. Loading comments straight from a video needs the YouTube Data API, which is not set up on this site; copy the comments from the video page instead.
Winners
The draw uses your browser’s cryptographic random generator; every eligible entry has the same chance. Draw again for a replacement winner.
How to use YouTube Comment Picker
- Load the comments of your video, or paste the comments or names, one per line.
- Set the number of winners and the rules: one entry per person, a required word, excluded names.
- Select Pick a winner.
- Announce the winner; draw again if a winner does not respond or does not qualify.
YouTube Comment Picker features
Fair draw
Uses the browser’s cryptographic random generator with rejection sampling, so every eligible entry has exactly the same chance.
One entry per person
Repeat comments by the same person count once.
Keyword rule
Only comments that contain a required word or hashtag take part.
Excluded names
Keep your own channel and your team out of the draw.
Several winners
Draw up to 100 different winners at once.
Transparent
Shows how many entries were eligible and how many were removed by each rule, with the time of the draw.
When to use YouTube Comment Picker
- Choosing the winner of a giveaway announced in a video.
- Picking a viewer question to answer in the next video.
- Selecting testers or guests from volunteers in the comments.
- Drawing winners from any list of names.
YouTube Comment Picker FAQ
Is the draw really random?
Yes. Winners are chosen with crypto.getRandomValues, the browser’s cryptographically secure generator, and the selection method removes the small bias that a simple remainder calculation would introduce. No entry is favoured by its position in the list.
How do I get the comments into the tool?
If this site has the YouTube Data API configured, paste the video link and select Load comments; up to 1,000 public top-level comments are loaded. Otherwise, copy the comments from the video page, or export them from YouTube Studio, and paste them, one per line.
Are replies included?
No. Only top-level comments are loaded, which is how most giveaways are defined. Replies in threads are left out.
What does “one entry per person” compare?
The display name of the commenter, ignoring upper and lower case. Several comments by the same name count as one entry. When no names are given, identical comments are treated as duplicates.
Does YouTube have rules for giveaways?
Yes. YouTube’s contest policies require that the contest is free to enter, follows applicable law, has official rules that you publish, and that you, not YouTube, are responsible for it. You may not ask viewers to give up rights or use the contest to inflate engagement artificially.
Is the list of commenters stored?
No. Loaded comments stay in your browser’s memory for the draw and are gone when you leave the page. The site keeps no record of entrants or winners.
Running a giveaway people can trust
A giveaway in the comments is one of the simplest ways to thank an audience, and trust is what it runs on. Viewers take part because they believe everyone has the same chance. Choosing a winner by scrolling and pointing does not give them that: comments near the top are seen more, and the choice is visibly personal. A random draw with stated rules removes the doubt.
Fairness has a technical side. A computer’s everyday random function is designed for speed, not for unpredictability, and naive ways of turning a random number into a position in a list favour some positions slightly. This picker uses the cryptographic generator built into browsers and discards numbers that would cause that bias. The result is a uniform draw: with a thousand eligible entries, each has a chance of exactly one in a thousand.
Rules matter as much as randomness. Decide before the draw who is eligible and say so in the video: one entry per person, a required phrase, a closing date, any country restrictions. Then apply those rules to the list and nothing else. The summary under the draw button shows how many entries each rule removed, which you can share if anyone asks.
After the draw, contact the winner publicly by replying to their comment, and set a deadline for claiming the prize. If they do not respond, draw a replacement. Keep a note of the date, the number of eligible entries and the rules used. Never ask a winner for payment or sensitive details in public comments, and warn your viewers that only your official channel will contact them: impersonators target giveaways.