Slido vs Poll Everywhere: meeting Q&A vs lecture-hall polling
Slido is the better pick for corporate meeting Q&A and polls: best-in-class upvoted audience Q&A and deep PowerPoint, Google Slides, Teams, Zoom, and Webex integration, with a free plan allowing 100 participants per event but only 3 polls and 1 quiz. Poll Everywhere is the better pick for live polling embedded directly in PowerPoint or Keynote lectures, with SMS voting and wide question types, but its free plan caps audiences at 40 (after a 30-day boost) and includes no reporting. Choose Slido for meeting Q&A, Poll Everywhere for slide-embedded lecture polls.
Slido and Poll Everywhere are both live audience-engagement tools, and they're frequently compared because they overlap on polling. But their centers of gravity differ: Slido is a meeting companion whose headline is upvoted Q&A, while Poll Everywhere is a polling tool that lives inside your slides, with deep roots in university lecture halls. The choice tracks closely to whether you're running meetings or presenting from a deck.
| Slido | Poll Everywhere | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 100 participants per slido (event); 3 polls and 1 quiz per event; no Q&A moderation; no data exports; 1 member account | 40 max audience (boosted to 700 for first 30 days); unlimited questions; no reporting; no attendance management; 10 AI prompts/month; single user |
| Paid from | $12.50/mo (Engage, billed annually at $150/yr) — 200 participants, unlimited polls and quizzes, exports | $10/mo (Present, billed annually at $120/yr) — 700-response capacity, reporting, 100 AI prompts/month |
| Standout features | Best-in-class upvoted live Q&A, deep PowerPoint/Slides/Teams/Zoom/Webex integration, fast code/QR join | Deep PowerPoint/Keynote/Google Slides embedding, SMS/text voting, clickable images and competitions |
| Best for | Audience Q&A and polls in corporate meetings and events | Live polling embedded directly in PowerPoint lectures |
How do the free plans compare?
Both free tiers are restrictive, in different shapes. Slido allows up to 100 participants per event but limits content to 3 polls and 1 quiz per event, with no Q&A moderation or data export. Poll Everywhere gives unlimited questions but caps the audience at 40 after an initial 30-day boost to 700, and crucially includes no reporting at all on free. So Slido free suits a single event needing a few polls and Q&A for a decent-sized crowd; Poll Everywhere free suits many questions for a very small audience where you don't need to analyze results afterward.
Audience Q&A
Slido wins clearly. Its upvoted live Q&A is the category benchmark — attendees post questions, the room upvotes, and the most-wanted rise to the top so speakers address what matters. This is the reason Slido dominates town halls, all-hands, and conference panels. Poll Everywhere supports Q&A too, but it's not the centerpiece; its identity is polling embedded in slides. If running audience questions is your primary need, Slido is purpose-built for it (note that Q&A moderation controls require Slido's higher Professional tier).
Slide embedding and lecture use
Poll Everywhere wins here. It embeds polls directly into PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides so a poll appears as a native slide in your deck — ideal for lecturers who present linearly and want results to surface mid-slide. It also supports SMS/text voting alongside web, useful in rooms with patchy data, plus wider question types like clickable images and competitions. Slido integrates with slides and meeting platforms too, but Poll Everywhere's in-deck polling and text voting are its established strength in education.
Watch the free plan's reporting gap on Poll Everywhere — there's none at all until you pay. If you need to keep or analyze results, even basic counts, the free tier won't give them to you. Slido's free plan also blocks exports. For either tool, decide before your event whether you need the data afterward; if you do, you're effectively on a paid plan from the start.
Pricing and integrations
Pricing is close at the entry level. Poll Everywhere's Present plan starts at $10/month (billed annually at $120/year), adding 700-response capacity and reporting. Slido's Engage plan starts at $12.50/month (billed annually at $150/year, no monthly option), adding 200 participants, unlimited polls and quizzes, and exports. On integrations, Slido — owned by Cisco — embeds deeply across PowerPoint, Google Slides, Teams, Zoom, and Webex; Poll Everywhere focuses its integration on PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides embedding plus SMS voting. Teams in a Webex or Teams-heavy org will lean Slido; presenters wedded to PowerPoint or Keynote may prefer Poll Everywhere's in-deck feel.
Choose Slido if…
- Upvoted audience Q&A is your core need for town halls, all-hands, or panels
- You work in PowerPoint, Google Slides, Teams, Zoom, or Webex and want deep embedding
- A larger free single-event audience (up to 100) matters
- Corporate meetings and events are your main setting
Choose Poll Everywhere if…
- You want polls embedded as native slides in PowerPoint or Keynote
- SMS/text-message voting helps in rooms with weak data or no-app audiences
- You lecture or present linearly and want results to surface mid-deck
- Wider question types like clickable images and competitions appeal to you
Where Formkii fits
Formkii is the free option when both tools' caps get in the way. Slido limits free events to 3 polls and 1 quiz, and Poll Everywhere caps free audiences at 40 with no reporting — whereas Formkii's live polls and audience Q&A are free with no participant cap, and every vote is saved and exportable to CSV, so even a quick live poll doubles as real data. You also get surveys, forms, and auto-scored quizzes in the same account. For a classroom, meetup, or all-hands where you want to poll the room and take upvoted questions without a limit or a reporting paywall, it covers the job at no cost.
Formkii is not the right pick if you need Poll Everywhere's native in-PowerPoint slide embedding and SMS voting, or Slido's deep integration inside Teams, Zoom, and Webex. If your polls must appear as slides in an existing deck or live inside a specific meeting platform, those tools are built for it; Formkii participants join a shared link or QR code instead. It's the no-cap, keep-your-data free choice rather than a slide-embedding specialist.
The verdict
Pick Slido for meeting Q&A and Cisco-stack integration; pick Poll Everywhere for polls embedded in your slides and SMS voting in lecture-style settings. Their polling overlap is real, but each leans into a different venue. If the free caps or Poll Everywhere's missing free reporting are your blockers, a free uncapped tool that keeps the data is worth trying first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Slido better than Poll Everywhere?
They optimize for different settings. Slido is better for corporate meeting Q&A with best-in-class upvoting and deep Teams, Zoom, and Webex integration. Poll Everywhere is better for polls embedded directly in PowerPoint or Keynote lectures, with SMS voting. Choose Slido for meeting Q&A, Poll Everywhere for slide-embedded lecture polls.
What are the free plan limits for Slido and Poll Everywhere?
Slido's free plan allows up to 100 participants per event but only 3 polls and 1 quiz, with no exports. Poll Everywhere's free plan gives unlimited questions but caps the audience at 40 after a 30-day boost to 700, and includes no reporting at all. Both push you to paid plans for data and larger or richer events.
Does Poll Everywhere have reporting on the free plan?
No. Poll Everywhere includes no reporting capabilities on its free plan — reporting starts with the paid Present tier at $10/month billed annually. If you need to keep or analyze results, the free tier won't provide them, so plan for a paid plan from the outset if data matters.
Which integrates better with PowerPoint?
Both integrate with PowerPoint, but Poll Everywhere is known for embedding polls as native slides directly in PowerPoint and Keynote, which suits linear lecture-style presenting. Slido also embeds in PowerPoint and goes deeper into Teams, Zoom, and Webex. For in-deck polling specifically, Poll Everywhere's approach is its established strength.