How to Run a Live Poll on YouTube (and on Every Platform at Once)

Two ways to poll a YouTube live audience

You have two options:

YouTube's own live poll, which runs in the live chat. It is free, built in and takes seconds to set up.
An on-screen poll that is part of your video: a graphic with the options, live bars, a timer and a winner, which viewers answer on their phones or in chat.

The first is enough for a quick question. The second is for when the poll is part of the show, or when your audience is not only on YouTube.

YouTube's built-in live poll

YouTube lets the channel owner run a poll in live chat during a live stream or a Premiere. On a computer:

Start your live stream (or schedule it and open its live chat).
At the bottom of the chat window, click Create a poll.
Write your question and options, then select Ask your community.
To close it, click End poll in the banner at the top of the chat. The results appear in the chat.

If you go live from the YouTube mobile app, you can also add a poll as a sticker on the stream. Polls created in YouTube Studio on a computer or for an encoder stream do not appear as stickers.

According to YouTube Help at the time of writing, live polls:

Have two to four options.
Cannot be changed once a viewer has voted.
Show their results in the chat, not as a graphic on your video (the mobile sticker aside).
Do not appear in live chat replays.

Where it lives adds two more limits. Only people watching on YouTube can vote, so if you multistream, your Twitch and Facebook audiences are left out. And because it sits in the chat panel, viewers on a TV or with chat closed may never see it.

When YouTube's poll is enough: a YouTube-only stream, a quick question ("Should I play one more round?"), and a result you will read out rather than show.

When you want the poll on screen

An on-screen poll is worth it when:

The poll is a segment of the show. The question, the bars moving and the winner lighting up are things to watch, not a box in the corner of the chat.
You stream to more than one platform. One poll can take votes from YouTube, Twitch and Facebook chat, and from phones on any platform. See multistreaming to multiple platforms at once.
You want more control. Up to six options, a timer, the choice to hide results until the close, and votes people can change until voting ends.
You want it in the replay. The board is part of your video, so it is still there when people watch the stream back.

How to run an on-screen poll with playout.video

Polls run inside the Live Studio, the browser studio on playout.video, and are included on every plan.

Add the Poll board. In the Live Studio, add the built-in Poll board to your scene, or use your own graphic. It shows the question, live vote bars, a countdown, the vote count, the winner and a QR code to join. It adapts to 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1.
Set it to Poll. Select the board, open its inspector and set Content to Poll.
Write the question and options. Use 2 to 6 options, up to 80 characters each.
Set the voting time. Anything from 10 to 600 seconds. The default is 60.
Choose how results show. With Results while voting on, the bars and percentages move live. With it off, the board shows only the vote count until voting closes.
Choose a host. No host, an AI voice that reads the question and announces the winner, or You, with a prompter.
Confirm it. Press Use this poll.
Go live and open voting. In the Control panel in the studio's right rail, press Open voting. Press Close voting when you are ready, or let the timer close it. To ask again, press Vote again, then Open voting.

The help article run a live poll covers each setting.

How YouTube viewers vote

On a phone. They scan the QR code on the board, type a display name and tap an option. No app, no account. The Control panel also shows the link, so you can pin it in chat or add it to your description.
In chat. They type the letter (A, B, C) or the text of the option in YouTube chat. Chat votes count on Twitch and Facebook too. Viewers on Kick, TikTok or LinkedIn vote by phone.

Each viewer gets one vote, on their phone or in chat, and can change it until voting closes. At the close, the board lights the winning option (a tie lights every tied option), and phones show the result bars and "Winner:" followed by the option.

Live results or hidden until the close?

Show results while voting when the question is light and the movement is the fun: which snack, which map, which song. People watch the bars swing and vote to push their side.

Hide results until the close when you want honest answers. Live bars sway late voters towards whatever is winning, and a big early lead makes people stop voting. Hidden results suit predictions, product decisions and before-and-after polls, and they give you a reveal moment to play up.

Timing and options that work

Allow for delay. Chat voters only see the poll when their video shows it. YouTube says most viewers of a low-latency stream are less than 10 seconds behind, and normal latency is slower. Phone voters see it the moment voting opens. If you expect most votes from chat, stay at 60 seconds or more.

Match the time to the moment. 30 seconds is enough for a snap reaction while you keep talking. 60 seconds suits most questions. Two or three minutes works for a decision you want everyone in on, while you talk through the options.

Write options that do not overlap. "Under 18 / 18 to 30 / 30 and over" puts a 30-year-old in two boxes. Make each option clearly separate.

Keep options short. You have 80 characters, but two or three words read faster on a board and on a phone.

Read the options out with their letters. "A for the red one, B for the blue one." It helps chat voters, and people listening rather than watching.

Act on the result. If you ask what to do next, do it. A poll you ignore makes the next one quieter.

YouTube poll vs on-screen poll

	YouTube live poll	playout.video poll
Where it appears	In the live chat	On your video, as a graphic
Options	2 to 4	2 to 6
Who can vote	YouTube viewers in chat	Phones from anywhere, plus chat on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook
Changing a vote	Not allowed	Allowed until voting closes
Closing	You end it	A 10 to 600 second timer, or you close it
In the replay	Not in the chat replay	Part of the video
Cost	Free	Included on every plan; counts toward your interactive streams

What to try first

Run one YouTube chat poll on your next stream to see how your audience responds.
For your next show, add the Poll board with one question that decides something real.
Leave the time at 60 seconds and try it once with results hidden.
Say how to vote: scan the code, or type the letter in chat.

Need questions? There are plenty in live poll ideas for streamers. For the other ways to involve viewers, read what is an interactive live stream.

FAQ

How do I do a poll on YouTube Live?

For a quick question, click Create a poll at the bottom of your live chat, add the options and select Ask your community. For a poll on screen, add a Poll board in the Live Studio, set its content to Poll, fill it in and press Open voting when you are live.

Can viewers change their vote?

Not in YouTube's own poll. In a playout.video poll, yes: each viewer has one vote and can change it until voting closes.

How many options can a live poll have?

YouTube's live poll allows two to four. A playout.video poll allows two to six, up to 80 characters each.

Can I show the poll results on my stream?

Yes, with an on-screen poll. The Poll board shows live bars with percentages, or just the vote count if you hide results until the close. At the close it lights the winner.

Can I run one poll on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook at the same time?

Yes. Multistream from the Live Studio and run one poll: chat votes count on all three, and viewers on any platform can vote by phone.

Does a poll count toward my plan?

Yes. The first game on a stream counts as one interactive stream and covers every game on that stream for 2 hours on Free or 24 hours on paid plans, so several polls in one show count once. Free includes 4 interactive streams a month. See interactive streams and player limits.