Showhands vs Slido

Both let an audience answer live polls and quizzes from their own devices. Slido is built around audience Q&A and meetings; Showhands is built around training sessions. This is an honest comparison, including where Slido is the better choice.

Choose Slido if you want

Audience Q&A at the centre of your sessions, such as all-hands meetings and conferences
Polls that run inside Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Webex
A vendor with published ISO and SOC 2 compliance
A one-time plan for a single event

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

Side by side

	Showhands	Slido
Joining	Code or QR in any browser. No app, no account	Participants join from any device
Free use	Free while in beta, with generous participant limits	Core features free
Paid plans	None yet	One-time plans for single events, annual plans, education plans and Enterprise. No monthly billing
Formats	Multiple choice, word cloud, 1–5 rating, open text	Live polls, Q&A, word clouds, ideas, quizzes and surveys
Quizzes	Scoring, leaderboard and answer reveal. Decks can be split into named blocks, each with its own scores	Live quizzes
Feedback by topic	At the end of each block, participants see their score by topic; the presenter sees where the room is weakest	Analytics on popular questions, topics and audience insights
Audience Q&A	Not available	A core feature: participants ask questions from any device and vote for the ones they want answered
AI	A connector that lets you build and run decks from Claude	Slido AI suggests polls and refines their wording
Integrations	PowerPoint and Google Slides add-ins, installed manually; not yet in the Microsoft or Google stores	PowerPoint, Google Slides, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex
Enterprise	An early-stage product	Part of Webex by Cisco, with published ISO and SOC 2 compliance

Slido details are taken from Slido's public website and help centre 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.

Questions from a spreadsheet. If your questions already live in a spreadsheet, Showhands imports them in one go rather than having you rebuild them by hand.

Where Slido is stronger

Audience Q&A. Q&A is at the heart of Slido: participants submit questions and vote on them, which makes it a natural fit for town halls, all-hands meetings and conferences. Showhands does not have Q&A.

Meeting integrations. Slido works inside Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex as well as PowerPoint and Google Slides. If your sessions happen inside a meeting tool, that matters. Showhands participants join in a browser alongside the call.

Enterprise assurance. Slido is part of Webex by Cisco and publishes ISO and SOC 2 compliance, which can make procurement at large organisations straightforward. Showhands is at an early stage and does not yet offer an enterprise tier.

Switching

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

Questions

Is Showhands a drop-in replacement for Slido?

For polls, word clouds and scored quizzes, yes. If your sessions revolve around audience Q&A, or you need polls inside Teams, Zoom or Webex, 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.

Can I use it during a video call?

Yes. Share the code on your screen and participants answer in a browser alongside the call. It was built for sessions where most people join from home.

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 Mentimeter.

Slido and Webex are trademarks of their owners, used here only to identify the products being compared. Showhands is not affiliated with Slido or Cisco. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at hello@showhands.app.