A Wheel of Names alternative for teachers

Wheel of Names is the best-known spinning wheel online, and it does its job well. If you teach, Classroom Wheels does the same job with no ads at all, a class list you save once, and a group maker, seating chart and timers in the same place.

Updated 9 October 2026 by Talha Shahid. Classroom Wheels is not affiliated with Wheel of Names.

Open the name wheel Try the spinner wheel

What is a wheel of names?

A wheel of names is a digital spinning wheel with one name on each slice that stops on a name at random, so a choice looks fair to everyone watching. Teachers use a wheel of names to pick who answers next, choose helpers or decide who goes first. The best-known site is Wheel of Names at wheelofnames.com, a general spinner used for raffles, meetings, live streams and classrooms. Classroom Wheels is an independent alternative made for teachers, and it isn't connected to that site. Its name wheel loads a class list saved once in the teacher's browser, leaves absent students off and can take each winner off until everyone has had a turn. The winner is chosen with the browser's cryptographic random number generator before the wheel moves. Present mode shows only the wheel on a projector, the site shows no ads, and no account is needed. The same class list also feeds a group maker, a seating chart and classroom timers.

How does Classroom Wheels compare with Wheel of Names?

Classroom Wheels and Wheel of Names, feature by feature
Feature	Classroom Wheels	Wheel of Names
Price	Free	Free
Ads	None, on any page	Ads on the page. You can close them for the session, and fullscreen shows none.
Account	None. There is nothing to sign up for.	Optional. Log in to save wheels to its cloud, or save them as a file.
Where names are kept	Only in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.	In its cloud database (US data centres) if you save there, or in a file on your device.
Class lists	Save a class once. The name wheel, name picker, group maker and seating chart all use it, with absent students left off.	Each wheel keeps its own list of entries.
Other classroom tools	Group and team makers, seating chart, timers, noise meter, scoreboard, bingo cards and a grader	Spinning wheels only
On the board	Present mode: just the wheel and the Spin button, on any device	Fullscreen mode, except on iPhone
Fair picks	The browser's cryptographic random number generator	The browser's cryptographic random number generator
Weighted entries	No	Yes
Pictures on the wheel	No	Yes: your own photos or Unsplash images
Share a wheel by link	No	Yes, with a short link
Languages	English	65 languages

Wheel of Names details come from its own homepage and FAQ, checked on 9 October 2026. Its features may have changed since.

When is Wheel of Names the better choice?

Wheel of Names is the better pick when:

you want some entries to be more likely than others (weighted entries)
you want pictures, a logo or a background image on the wheel
you need to send the wheel to someone else as a link
you need the wheel in a language other than English
you spin on a live stream (it works as a browser source in OBS and Streamlabs)
you run a raffle with thousands of entries

What if Wheel of Names is blocked at school?

Some school web filters block Wheel of Names, which is why so many people search for "wheel of names unblocked". If that happens at your school, ask your IT team to look at Classroom Wheels: every page loads from classroomwheels.com alone (plus optional, cookieless Cloudflare analytics), there are no ads and nothing that other people upload. The For schools page lists the domains for an allow list and explains where data goes.

How do you move your names from Wheel of Names?

In Wheel of Names, click in the entries box, select all the names (Ctrl+A, or Cmd+A on a Mac) and copy them.
Open the name wheel and paste the names into the box, one per line. The wheel is ready to spin straight away.
To keep the list for next lesson, open Your classes, add a class and paste the names there. Every tool then uses that class.

Wheel of Names alternative questions

Is Classroom Wheels part of Wheel of Names?

No. Classroom Wheels is an independent site made by Talha Shahid. It isn't affiliated with, or endorsed by, Wheel of Names or wheelofnames.com. Both are free spinning wheels; Classroom Wheels is built only for classrooms.

Is there a wheel of names with no ads?

Yes. Classroom Wheels shows no ads on any page, so nothing appears next to the wheel on your projector. On Wheel of Names you can close the ads for your session, and its fullscreen mode doesn't show them.

Can I use a wheel of names without an account?

Yes, on both sites. Classroom Wheels has no accounts at all: a saved class stays in your browser, and you can download a backup file. Wheel of Names also works without logging in, and asks you to log in only to save wheels to its cloud.

Which is better for teachers, Wheel of Names or Classroom Wheels?

It depends on the job. For pictures, weighted entries, share links or other languages, Wheel of Names. For one saved class that every tool uses, absent students left off, winners taken off until everyone has had a turn and a projector with no ads, Classroom Wheels.

Is the Classroom Wheels name wheel really random?

Yes. The winner is picked with your browser's cryptographic random number generator before the wheel moves, the same kind of generator Wheel of Names uses, so every name has exactly the same chance.

How many names can the wheel hold?

The Classroom Wheels name wheel holds up to 300 names per class, which covers any class or year group. For raffles with thousands of entries, Wheel of Names shows up to 1,000 at a time and still picks from the full list.