Showhands vs Mentimeter

Both run live polls and quizzes that an audience answers from their own phones, with no app to install. They are built for different jobs. This is an honest comparison, including where Mentimeter is the better choice.

Choose Mentimeter if you want

A mature presentation tool with many question and slide types
Audience Q&A alongside polls
Built-in AI to draft presentations and questions
To import existing PowerPoint, Keynote or PDF slides
Enterprise features such as single sign-on

Choose Showhands if you want

Scored rounds that show each participant which topics they missed
A tool built for large remote cohorts on everyday home connections
To bring questions across from a spreadsheet
Free use while it is in beta, with no monthly participant allowance

Side by side

	Showhands	Mentimeter
Joining	Code or QR in any browser. No app, no account	Code or QR in any browser. No app, no account
Free use	Free while in beta, with generous participant limits	Free plan with 50 participants a month, plus one unlimited session a month
Paid plans	None yet	Basic and Pro priced per presenter and billed yearly; Enterprise priced on request
Question types	Multiple choice, word cloud, 1–5 rating, open text	Many question and slide types, including Q&A and surveys
Quizzes	Scoring, leaderboard and answer reveal. Decks can be split into named blocks, each with its own scores	Quiz competitions where results across a presentation add up to one final winner
Feedback by topic	At the end of each block, participants see their score by topic; the presenter sees where the room is weakest	Results and insights after the session
Audience Q&A	Not available	Yes, with moderation on Pro
Bringing content in	Import questions from a spreadsheet (CSV)	Import PowerPoint, Keynote or PDF slides on paid plans
Export	Every answer, and quiz scores, as CSV	Excel and PDF export on paid plans
AI	A connector that lets you build and run decks from Claude	Built-in Menti AI to create presentations and suggest questions
Slides	PowerPoint and Google Slides add-ins, installed manually; not yet in the Microsoft or Google stores	Embed slides from PowerPoint Web, Google Slides and Miro
Enterprise	An early-stage product	Single sign-on, SCIM and participant verification on Enterprise

Mentimeter details are taken from Mentimeter's public plans page in September 2026. Plans change; check their site for current terms.

Where Showhands is built differently

Scoring that tells people what to revise. A deck can be split into named blocks, such as a mock test in two parts. When a block ends, each participant sees their own score for that block, broken down by topic, and the presenter sees the room's weakest topics first. The point is to show people what to work on, not only where they rank.

Built for audiences at home. Showhands was shaped by sessions where hundreds of people joined remotely, each on a different home connection. If a participant's live connection drops, their answers keep arriving through an automatic fallback, so one weak connection does not stall the room.

Moderation that looks past English. Open-text answers can be held for approval before they reach the screen. The filter catches disguised spellings and covers several languages beyond English.

Where Mentimeter is stronger

Breadth and maturity. Mentimeter has far more question and slide types, audience Q&A, templates and years of refinement. Showhands has four question types.

Presentation building. Importing existing slides and drafting with built-in AI make Mentimeter a full presentation tool. Showhands is focused on the interactive moments within a session, not on building the whole deck.

Organisations. Single sign-on, user provisioning, workspace collaboration and dedicated onboarding are available on Mentimeter's higher plans. Showhands is at an early stage and does not yet offer an enterprise tier.

Switching

There is no direct import from Mentimeter. If your questions are in a spreadsheet, or can be put into one, Showhands imports them in one go. Participants need nothing new: they still join with a code or QR in their browser.

Questions

Is Showhands a drop-in replacement for Mentimeter?

For polls, word clouds and scored quizzes, yes. If you rely on audience Q&A, slide import or many specialised question types, not yet.

Is Showhands free?

Yes, while it is in beta. Paid plans will come later, and beta users will be told before anything changes.

Does it work with remote audiences?

Yes. It was built for sessions where most participants join from home, and it keeps answers flowing when individual connections are weak.

Can I use it inside PowerPoint?

There is a PowerPoint add-in that shows live results in a slide. It is installed manually for now, as it is not yet listed in Microsoft's store. You can also keep the presenter view open in a browser window alongside your slides.

Try it in your next session

Free while in beta. Build a deck, put the code on your slide, and see how the room responds.

Open the console

Also compared: Showhands vs Slido.

Mentimeter is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify the product being compared. Showhands is not affiliated with Mentimeter. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at hello@showhands.app.