Slido alternative · Async today · Live in P1

A free Slido alternative — async polls today, live polling shipping in P1.

Pulseware ships free async polls, word clouds, ranked-choice and unlimited votes today. The presenter-driven live mode (join codes, lobby, real-time results, Q&A board) lands in P1, four weeks after the P0 async launch. If your event is async-first, you can use Pulseware now; if it is presenter-first, join the live early-access list.

Make a free poll Live mode — coming in P1

Free async polls today · Live mode in P1 · mentioned competitor names are trademarks of their respective owners. Pulseware is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Build a poll in 30 seconds

Type a question, share a link. No sign-up needed to start.
Live presenter mode with join codes, lobby and sub-750ms result updates ships in P1 (weeks 5–8). Want a heads-up? Email us to join the early-access list — single message when it lands, no marketing drips.

Pulseware vs Slido

A fair comparison.

Slido is the gold standard for presenter-driven in-meeting polls, particularly inside Webex, Zoom and Google Meet. Pulseware Polls is async-first today with a presenter mode shipping in P1. The comparison below is most useful when you want web-embeddable, open polls — not in-meeting integration.

Feature Pulseware Slido
Free poll creation ✓ Yes ✓ Yes
Free participant cap Slido Basic limits participants per event; Pulseware Free limits total monthly votes. 1,000 votes / month (fair use) 100 participants / event
Free question types 9 (single, multi, yes/no, rating, NPS, image, open, ranked, word cloud) Limited subset
Async poll mode (vote any time) Slido is presenter-driven; Pulseware is async-first with presenter view in P1. ✓ Yes partial
Live presenter view P1 (weeks 5–8 after launch) ✓ Yes
Q&A board P1 ✓ Yes
Word cloud Slido offers word clouds on paid plans; Pulseware ships them on Free. ✓ Yes partial
Ranked-choice voting yes (Pro) partial
PowerPoint add-in ✕ No ✓ Yes
Zoom / Webex / Meet integration Slido is owned by Cisco and ships deepest inside Webex. ✕ No ✓ Yes
Microsoft Teams integration P2 (Slack + Teams apps) ✓ Yes
8 embed styles for any website ✓ Yes partial
Server-generated QR per poll ✓ Yes ✓ Yes
CSV / Excel export on Free ✓ Yes partial
Anonymous by default ✓ Yes ✓ Yes
AI question drafting on Free ✓ Yes ✕ No
AUD billing ✓ Yes ✕ No

When Pulseware is a better fit

  • You need web-embedded or QR-shared polls, not in-meeting overlays.
  • You want word clouds and ranked voting on a free plan.
  • You want AUD pricing and Australia-built privacy posture.
  • You want AI question drafting included on the Free plan.
  • Your audience answers async, not all at once during a meeting.

When Slido may still be a better fit

  • Your polls run inside Webex, Zoom, Google Meet or PowerPoint and you need a deep integration today.
  • You need a polished live presenter view with Q&A right now (not in 4 weeks).
  • You are buying for an enterprise already standardised on Cisco / Webex.
  • You need SSO, audit logs, and advanced governance now (Pulseware: enterprise sales-led).

Plan details last checked: 3 June 2026. Source: official Slido page . Recheck the official page before making a purchase decision.

Slido is a trademark of its owner. Pulseware is not affiliated with or endorsed by Slido.

What Pulseware deliberately does not do.

We are not a Webex add-in. We do not ship a PowerPoint add-in. We do not target enterprise SSO, audit governance, or formal certification programmes in P0–P3. If those are deal-breakers, Slido is the right tool today. Pulseware is for web-embedded, async, and open polls — and the live presenter mode that ships in P1 will handle most non-Webex live events without buying Cisco's stack.

Keep exploring Pulseware

A few more ways to use the survey maker, each one designed for a different moment.

Common questions

Specifically about switching from Slido — pricing, features, integration gaps.

What can I do today versus what is on the roadmap?
Today (P0): async polls — single-choice, multi-select, yes/no, NPS, rating, image, open-text, ranked, word cloud — with public results, embeds, QR codes and CSV export. In P1 (weeks 5–8): presenter view, join codes, QR check-in, lobby, open/close votes, Q&A. P2: Slack and Teams apps, AI summaries, webhooks.
How does Pulseware pricing compare to Slido?
Pulseware Free plan covers 5 active polls and 1,000 votes/month. Creator (A$19/month) goes to 25 polls and 10,000 votes. Pro (A$49/month) to 100 polls and 50,000 votes. Slido charges per-event for live polling above the free participant cap; Pulseware's Event Pass options (A$99 mini, A$299 webinar, A$799 conference) are one-off purchases for a single event.
What does Pulseware NOT have that Slido has today?
No PowerPoint add-in, no Zoom App, no Webex integration, no native Microsoft Teams meeting-side panel (the Teams app is P2). Slido is more polished for in-meeting integration; Pulseware is better for web-embedded, async, and open polls.
Can I import my Slido polls?
Not at launch. The AI builder can recreate a Slido deck from a description in under a minute. A direct importer is on the backlog.
How does Pulseware handle Q&A?
Q&A is a P1 activity type with an upvote queue and a moderator view. Until then, use an open-text poll question with the word-cloud renderer disabled — voters can submit questions and you can moderate from the dashboard.
Is anonymous mode supported?
Yes, by default. Pulseware does not collect voter names, emails, or raw IPs unless you explicitly add a lead-capture step. See the anonymous poll maker page for the privacy specifics.

How this page was created

This page was written and reviewed by the Pulseware product team. We crosschecked every comparison row against Slido's published pricing page on the date below. Where Slido's plan tier changes, we update the row at the next quarterly review.

Last reviewed:

A free Slido alternative, honest about the gaps.

Async polls today, live presenter mode in P1. AUD pricing. Free for unlimited votes within fair use.

Make a free poll Live mode — coming in P1