Ready-made lists
Decision wheel lists you can load in one click
The wheel comes with 8 ready-made lists of 8 or 10 options, and every list can be edited. A loaded list replaces your current options, and the Undo button in the message brings them back.
What to do tonight
- Movie night
- Board games
- Cook something new
- Go for a walk
- Read a book
- Call a friend
- Video games
- Early night
Weekend plans
- Hike a local trail
- Visit a museum
- Picnic in the park
- Bike ride
- Try a new restaurant
- Farmers market
- Movie marathon at home
- Day trip to a nearby town
- Reset and tidy the house
- Beach or lake day
Which game to play
- Charades
- Card game
- Board game
- Trivia quiz
- Twenty questions
- Hide and seek
- Video game
- Word game
- Drawing guessing game
- Would you rather
Movie genre
- Comedy
- Action
- Animated
- Horror
- Romance
- Sci-fi
- Documentary
- Thriller
- Musical
- Fantasy
Where to go
- Park
- Library
- Coffee shop
- Museum
- Zoo
- Bookstore
- Arcade
- Aquarium
- Shopping center
- Mini golf
Date night
- Cook dinner together
- Picnic
- Stargazing
- Bowling
- Paint night at home
- Dinner out
- Board game night
- Sunset walk
- Dessert tasting
- Live music
Workout
- Run
- Bike ride
- Yoga
- Strength training
- Swim
- Brisk walk
- Dance workout
- Stretching
- Hike
- Rest day
Chore to do first
- Dishes
- Laundry
- Vacuum
- Take out the trash
- Clean the bathroom
- Tidy the bedroom
- Water the plants
- Wipe the counters
- Mop the floors
- Fold clothes
The wheel opens with “What to do tonight”. Food choices have their own page: the what to eat wheel has lists for dinner, takeout, breakfast and desserts.
Quick start
How to use the decision wheel
Load a list or type your options, set any weights, and press Spin. Every feature of the main random wheel works here too, from share links to full screen.
Add the options
Press a ready-made list such as “Weekend plans” under the wheel, or type your own in the Entries box, one per line.
Favor an option
Raise the weight of any option you want more often. The chance column updates as you change it.
Narrow it down, if you like
Tick “Narrow it down” to knock options out one spin at a time until one is left.
Spin and act on it
Press Spin, click the wheel or press Space. Remove in the popup takes that option off the list.
Weights
Decision wheel weights, with real odds
An option's chance equals its weight divided by the total weight of all options. Weights make sense when options are not equal, such as a favorite you want often or a costly plan you want rarely.
The “What to do tonight” list, weighted
Here is the list the wheel opens with, after 4 changes in “Favor an option”. Movie night goes to 3×, Board games and Call a friend to 2×, and Early night to ½×. The other 4 options stay at 1×.
The weights add up to 11.5. Movie night gets 3 ÷ 11.5 = 26.1%, and Early night gets 0.5 ÷ 11.5 = 4.3%. Each 1× option keeps 8.7%, down from 12.5% on an equal wheel.
The menu offers ½×, 1×, 2×, 3× and 5×, and “Make all equal” resets them. For any other value, open “Weights, colors & images” in the Entries tab and type a weight from 0.01 to 1,000.
- Movie night 3×26.1%
- Board games 2×17.4%
- Call a friend 2×17.4%
- Cook something new 1×8.7%
- Go for a walk 1×8.7%
- Read a book 1×8.7%
- Video games 1×8.7%
- Early night ½×4.3%
Typing an option twice also doubles its chance, because each line gets its own slice unless you switch off “Count duplicates separately” in Customize. Skip weights when every option is genuinely fine: an equal wheel is the fairest way to break a tie.
Narrow it down
Narrow a decision wheel down to one option
Turn on “Narrow it down”, and each spin knocks out the option it lands on until one is left. The last option standing is the decision. Your list stays unchanged, and “Start a new round” brings every option back.
A list of n options takes n − 1 spins, so “Weekend plans” takes 9. On an equal wheel each option has the same 1 in n chance of being last, the same as one plain spin. This suits lists of 10 or more, where a single spin can feel too sudden. Each knockout also shows you which options you were glad to lose.
Weights work backwards in this mode. A heavy weight makes an option more likely to be picked, and here a pick means it's out. In the 4-option example, Movie night at 3× is the least likely to survive.
| Option | One spin | Last standing |
|---|---|---|
| Movie night 3× | 37.5% | 10.4% |
| Board games 2× | 25% | 20.2% |
| Go for a walk 2× | 25% | 20.2% |
| Early night 1× | 12.5% | 49.2% |
Better options
How to write options for a decision maker wheel
Make each option specific, doable today and acceptable to everyone deciding. The wheel only picks from what you give it, so the list does most of the work.
| Vague option | Why it stalls | Spin-ready version |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Nobody knows where to start | Walk to the lake |
| Go out | Opens a second debate about where | Bowling at 7 |
| Plan a vacation | Too big next to “Movie night” | Its own wheel, spun on another day |
| Something fun | The wheel can't pick for you twice | Board games, Mini golf, Picnic |
Rules for a list you'll accept
- Name a real action. “Walk to the lake” is easier to start than “Exercise”.
- Leave out anything you would refuse. If an option would make you spin again, delete it first.
- Keep options at the same scale. “Movie night” and “Plan a vacation” are different-sized decisions, so give them separate wheels.
- Split big choices into steps. Spin for “Stay in or go out” first, then spin a second list for the details.
- Notice how the result feels. If the result disappoints you, that tells you which option you wanted.
Groups
Use the wheel decision maker with a group
Let everyone add one option, agree to accept the result, and spin where everyone can see it. Agreeing first matters most, because a result nobody accepts settles nothing.
Count votes as weights
An option with 3 votes gets weight 3. In the example, Bowling wins 50% of spins: likely, but not certain.
Spin on a big screen
Full screen shows only the wheel and the Spin button on a TV or projector, so the whole room sees it land.
Decide 2 things at once
Add wheel creates a second wheel, such as “What” and “Where”, and Spin all turns both. A page holds up to 4 wheels.
Send the wheel ahead
Share creates a link with your options and weights, so the group can see the list before you meet.
Good fits
Which choices should a decision wheel make?
A decision wheel should make small choices where every option is acceptable. When any answer is fine, a spin ends the back-and-forth and takes one choice off your plate.
| Spin for it | Think it through | |
|---|---|---|
| Evenings | What to watch, which game, who picks dessert | Whether to take an evening job |
| At home | Which chore comes first | Whether to move house |
| Weekends | Park, museum or mini golf | How much to spend on a trip |
| Health | Run, yoga or a bike ride | Anything a doctor should weigh in on |
Keep big decisions for real thinking
A wheel cannot weigh facts, so keep decisions about money, health, work or safety for real thinking and real advice. Treat each result as a strong suggestion. If the wheel lands on something that feels wrong, you have learned what you did not want, and that is useful too.
Each pick is drawn by your browser's crypto.getRandomValues before the wheel turns, and only your weights and knockouts change the odds. See how the wheel stays fair, with a 10,000-spin test you can run.
Compared
Decision wheel or another picker?
People call it a wheel of decision, a decision wheel maker or a random choice generator. On this site, pick the tool by how many answers you need.
| Tool | Best when | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Decision wheel | You have a list of choices and maybe a favorite | 2 to 10,000, with weights |
| Yes or no wheel | One question with a yes or no answer | Yes and No, or add Maybe |
| Magic 8 ball | You want the answer in words, for fun | 20 classic replies |
| Random number wheel | The choices are already numbered | Any range up to 10,000 numbers |
FAQ
Quick answers about the decision wheel
Is the decision wheel free?
Yes. Every list and feature is free, with no account, sign-up or download.
Can I use my own options?
Yes. Type them in the Entries box, one per line, or edit a ready-made list. Your options stay in this browser and come back when you return.
How many options can a decision wheel hold?
Up to 10,000 options per wheel, though 3 to 10 options are easiest to read on screen. The weights menu lists the first 30.
Can I make one option more likely?
Yes. Set its weight in “Favor an option”. A 2× option is twice as likely as a 1× option, and the chance column shows the exact percentage.
Why did my favorite get knocked out first?
In Narrow it down, the wheel knocks out the option it lands on. A higher weight makes that more likely, so give a favorite a lower weight in this mode.
Can I save a decision wheel?
Yes. The wheel saves itself in your browser. Save keeps named copies, and Share makes a link that holds the whole wheel.
Should I use a wheel for big decisions?
No. Use it for choices where every option is fine. Decisions about money, health, work or safety need facts and advice, not chance.
What if I do not like the result?
Spin again, or take the option you hoped for. If the result disappoints you, that tells you which option you wanted.
Last updated · Written and tested by Melissa T. Brown