Random Decision Wheel

The Random Decision Wheel is a free spin-the-wheel random picker that turns a list of options into a colorful segmented wheel and lands on one at random when you spin it. Type your choices one per line, press Spin, and watch the wheel decelerate smoothly before announcing a winner — with every draw happening locally in your browser and nothing ever saved or sent to a server.

What is a decision wheel?

A decision wheel, sometimes called a wheel of names or a random name picker, is a spinner divided into equal colored segments — one per option — that rotates and stops on a random slice to choose for you. Because outcomes are driven by JavaScript's Math.random and rendered on an HTML <canvas>, each spin is independent and unbiased, so every option has the same chance of winning no matter where it sits on the wheel.

This tool runs completely client-side. The wheel is drawn and animated with the Canvas API and requestAnimationFrame, the result is picked on your own device, and your list of options never leaves the tab.

How to use the decision wheel

1. Enter your options in the textarea, one per line — the wheel redraws automatically as you type.
2. Press Spin the Wheel and watch it accelerate, ease out, and slowly settle on a segment.
3. Read the winner announced above the wheel and in a quick on-screen message.
4. Enable Remove the winner if you want to draw picks one at a time without repeats.
5. Shuffle the list to reorder the segments, or Clear to start a fresh wheel.

Why use a spin-the-wheel picker?

A wheel makes a random choice feel fair and fun in a way a bare list never does — everyone watching sees the same suspenseful spin and the same visible result, which is exactly why teachers, teams, and streamers reach for one. It is perfect for settling "where should we eat?", picking a raffle winner, choosing who goes first, or assigning tasks without anyone claiming the draw was rigged.

• Fully private: your options are processed on your device and never transmitted.
• Truly random: each spin uses Math.random, so the landing segment is independent of the last.
• Smooth animation: an eased deceleration on requestAnimationFrame makes the stop feel natural.
• Draw without repeats: optionally remove each winner so you can work through a whole list.
• Zero dependencies: pure vanilla JavaScript and Canvas, so it loads fast and works offline.

When to spin versus generate

Reach for the wheel when you already know your candidates and just need to pick one fairly among them. When you instead need the ideas themselves, a generator is the better fit: stuck on what to build next, you can spin up concepts with the Business Idea Generator, and when you are simply bored and want something to do, the Random Anti-Boredom Activity picker suggests an activity on the spot. Feed either tool's suggestions back into the wheel to narrow a shortlist down to a single choice.

The wheel is also handy for quick classroom and workshop moments — pair it with placeholder copy from the Lorem Ipsum Generator when mocking up a slide about random selection, or drop in unique identifiers from the UUID / GUID Generator if you want anonymous entrants instead of names. Because the wheel accepts any plain text lines, it happily spins on names, emojis, numbers, or codes alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the spin actually random?

Yes. Each spin picks a winning segment with JavaScript's Math.random, so every option has an equal chance and the result does not depend on previous spins. The animation only visualizes the outcome that was already chosen fairly.

Are my options saved or uploaded anywhere?

No. The entire tool runs client-side in your browser. Your list of options stays in the page, the wheel is drawn locally on a canvas, and nothing is stored, logged, or sent to any server.

How many options can I add?

You can add as many lines as you like. The wheel divides evenly into one segment per option, and longer labels are shortened on the wheel face for readability while the full text is still used to announce the winner.

Can I remove a winner after each spin?

Yes. Turn on the Remove the winner option and each chosen entry is deleted from the list after it wins, which lets you draw names or picks one at a time with no repeats.

Does it work offline?

Once the page has loaded it works without an internet connection because there are no external libraries or server calls. The wheel, the animation, and the random pick all run entirely in your browser.