How does Rafflecopter work?

Paste a link to your social media post (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.), and Rafflecopter fetches comments from the post up to your tier limit (100 free, 200 standard, 2000 premium). Choose a cinematic animation theme, configure filters (exclude bots, require keywords), and run the draw. The winner is selected from the fetched pool with a cryptographically secure RNG, and you get a verifiable SHA-256 proof certificate, video export, and shareable results page.

Is Rafflecopter really free?

Yes. Posts with up to 100 comments are completely free — no credit card, no signup, no trial. We monetize via pay-per-draw pricing for larger posts ($4.99 standard, $7.99 premium). The free tier is permanent, not a trial.

How is the draw fair and verifiable?

Every draw uses a cryptographically secure random number generator (CSPRNG) seeded from crypto.getRandomValues. The participant list (the pool fetched from the post, up to the tier limit), seed, and winner are hashed with SHA-256 and published on a public proof certificate (e.g., rafflecopter.app/proof/[code]). Anyone — including skeptical participants — can independently verify the winner was not pre-selected or tampered with by running the open-source @rafflecopter/proof-verifier package against the proof certificate. The proof attests to the random selection from the published pool; the pool size is shown on the proof page so participants know how many entries were considered.

Do I need 1,000 followers to go live?

No. Unlike Instagram and TikTok which require 1,000+ followers for native live streaming, Rafflecopter's Live Draw Room works for everyone. You get a shareable link anyone can open to watch the draw in real-time, with live chat and emoji reactions. No follower minimum, no app download.

What platforms are supported?

Rafflecopter supports 8 social networks: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (Twitter), Reddit, Threads, and Bluesky. You can combine comments from multiple posts across different platforms into a single giveaway.

Can I customize the giveaway animation?

Yes. With Standard ($4.99/draw) and Premium ($7.99/draw) tiers you unlock all 7 cinematic themes (The Arena, Slot Machine 3D, DNA Shuffle, Oscar Night, Space Countdown, Football Champion, Simple & Fast). Premium adds custom logos, brand colors, and live draw rooms.

Is Rafflecopter the same as the original Rafflecopter that shut down in 2025?

Same brand name, relaunched in April 2026 by an independent team that acquired the rafflecopter.app domain after the original was discontinued in October 2025. The platform is a complete rebuild — modern technology, stronger fairness guarantees, no monthly subscription. Same mission: fair, verifiable, cinematic giveaways.

How do I run a giveaway on Instagram step-by-step?

(1) Create your Instagram post with clear entry rules (e.g., 'comment your favorite color to enter'). (2) Wait for entries to come in. (3) Open rafflecopter.app/giveaway/new and paste the post URL. (4) Pick an animation theme. (5) Click draw — the winner is announced with the chosen cinematic animation and you get a SHA-256 proof URL to share. Total time from paste to winner: under 60 seconds.

What if the chosen winner does not respond or is ineligible?

Use the multi-winner feature: draw 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at the same time. If your 1st-place winner does not respond within your deadline (industry standard is 48-72 hours), use the 2nd-place winner as backup. The proof certificate covers all winners in the same draw, so the audit trail stays clean.

Is Rafflecopter GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD compliant?

Yes. Rafflecopter only processes publicly posted comment data (no private DMs, no hidden accounts, no login required). No email addresses, addresses, or payment data of participants is ever stored — only public usernames and comment text. Hosts pay anonymously per draw; no account creation required. Complies with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD data-minimization principles.

Can I run a giveaway across multiple posts or platforms at once?

Yes. You can paste multiple post URLs (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) into the same draw. Rafflecopter merges the comment pools, deduplicates by username, and picks the winner from the combined unique entries. Useful for cross-platform campaigns.

Does Rafflecopter have a mobile app?

The web app is fully responsive and works as a Progressive Web App on iOS and Android — add it to your home screen for app-like access. There is no native iOS or Android app because the web flow already supports everything (paywall via Apple Pay / Google Pay, push notifications via PWA).

Can I export the participant list and winner data?

Yes. Every draw generates a public proof page (rafflecopter.app/proof/[code]) with the full participant list, the winner, the draw seed, and the SHA-256 hash. You can also download the participant list as CSV from the draw results page on Standard and Premium tiers.

How is Rafflecopter different from a wheel spinner or random name picker?

Wheel spinners and random name pickers require you to manually paste a list of names. Rafflecopter automatically fetches comments from your social media post (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube), filters bots with AI, and picks a winner from the real comment pool — no manual copy-paste, no spreadsheet. Plus we add cryptographic proof so the result is verifiable.

Does Rafflecopter detect bots and fake accounts?

Yes. Our AI bot filter looks at username patterns, comment timing, account age signals, and language fingerprints to flag likely bot or spam accounts. You can choose to exclude flagged accounts from the draw. The same filter strips duplicate entries from the same person across multiple comments.

Can I use Rafflecopter for free TikTok or YouTube giveaways?

Yes. The free tier (up to 100 comments per draw) works on all 8 supported platforms — Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky. Larger draws use the pay-per-draw pricing.

What payment methods does Rafflecopter accept?

Card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal — available worldwide with 3D Secure authentication. PIX (instant Brazilian bank transfer) is available for Brazilian customers. Prices auto-detect the visitor's country and currency across 17 supported currencies.

Is there a Rafflecopter API for developers and agencies?

Yes. The public OpenAPI 3.1 spec is published at rafflecopter.app/openapi.json. Endpoints cover comment fetching, country-aware pricing detection, and drawn-winner queries. Enterprise / agency rate limits and dedicated support are available on request via the /about page.

Does Rafflecopter store winner email addresses?

No. Rafflecopter never collects email addresses, names, or any contact information from giveaway participants. Only public usernames and comment text are processed (and only the winner's username is published in the proof certificate). Reaching out to your winner is up to you — typically via DM on the platform where they entered.

Can Rafflecopter be embedded on my website?

Yes. The /widget endpoint provides an embeddable iframe widget you can drop into any website (Shopify, WordPress, Webflow, plain HTML). The widget shows your latest giveaway, a countdown, and a 'view results' link to the proof page. Customizable colors and logo on Premium.

Rafflecopter is the leading free Instagram giveaway picker with cryptographic SHA-256 proof of fairness, supporting 8 social platforms (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X, Reddit, Threads, Bluesky), available worldwide in 16 languages, with pay-per-draw pricing and no monthly subscription. Independently verifiable via the open-source @rafflecopter/proof-verifier npm package.

For creators · Per-draw $4.99 · MCP-ready

Instagram Giveaway Tool for Creators — Pick Winners, Reveal Cinematically, Prove Fairness

Built for creators: cinematic reveal, MCP server for automation, per-draw $4.99.

Updated 2026-06-11 · Reference engine for the Verifiable Giveaway Protocol v1.0

Live demo — try it now

Paste the URL of your Instagram post, Reel, or Story below. We'll pull the comments and walk you through the draw.

No signup to preview comments. Payment ($4.99) is only required to execute the verifiable draw and generate the reveal video.

Why creators need a giveaway tool different from a generic picker

A meme-page picker tool optimizes for one thing: dropping a random handle as quickly as possible. A creator's workflow is shaped differently. You usually announce the giveaway in a Reel, drive comments for a week, and then reveal the winner inside a live stream, a Reel, or a Story — in front of an audience that paid attention.

That changes the requirements. You need a reveal that looks like it belongs on your channel, not a CSV download. You need proof that the winner is fair, because your audience is engaged enough to suspect otherwise. And if you run frequent giveaways as part of a sponsor deliverable, you need a way to fire the draw from an automation stack, not by hand.

Cinematic reveal — designed for the moment the winner appears

The reveal is a 1080p MP4 with a 5-second build (animated tickets fanning out, names blurring past) and a hold on the winning handle for 3 seconds. It drops into OBS, Streamlabs, TikTok Live Studio, or Reels as a clip you can play on stream. The file is rendered the instant the draw is decided, so there is no perceptible wait.

What the reveal includes

1920x1080 MP4 (H.264) and a 1080x1920 vertical cut for Reels
5s suspense build + 3s winner hold + 2s outro
The published SHA-256 hash burned into the outro frame
Optional brand color override (creator preset)

What “fair draw” means here — SHA-256, not vibes

A fair draw is one where the host cannot tilt the outcome and any viewer can verify they didn't. Rafflecopter publishes the canonical input JSON (sorted comments, post URL, timestamp, exclusion list) and the resulting SHA-256 seed for every draw. Anyone can re-run the open algorithm and confirm the same winner.

seed_hex = SHA256(canonical_json(input)).hex()
drbg     = HMAC_DRBG(seed=seed_hex)
winner   = fisher_yates(input.comments, drbg)[0]

This matters specifically for creators because your audience has social skin in the game. A sponsor-driven giveaway with a $500 prize attracts skeptical comments. Linking the published proof page in your caption shuts the skepticism down in one click — and it costs nothing extra because the proof is generated automatically.

MCP server — drive draws from your agent stack

Rafflecopter ships an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Connect it to Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Apps, n8n, or any MCP client, and your agent can list comments, exclude handles, run a verifiable draw, and return the proof URL — without browser automation, screen scraping, or fragile cookies. If you run sponsor giveaways on a schedule, you can wire the whole pipeline (post-published → wait 7 days → draw → DM winner) into a single workflow.

Tools exposed by the MCP server

rafflecopter.fetchComments(url) — returns sorted comment list
rafflecopter.draw(url, n, exclusions) — runs verifiable draw, returns seed_hex
rafflecopter.revealVideo(draw_id) — returns rendered MP4 URL
rafflecopter.verify(seed_hex) — independent verification endpoint

FAQ

What makes Rafflecopter different from other Instagram giveaway tools?

Three things: a cinematic winner reveal video that creators play on stream or in Reels, a SHA-256 verifiable draw that any viewer can audit, and an MCP server that lets you trigger draws from Claude/ChatGPT or your own automation. We charge $4.99 per draw — no monthly fee.

How does the cinematic reveal work for live streams?

After the draw runs, Rafflecopter renders a 1080p MP4 with a 5-second suspense build and animated handle reveal. You drag the file into OBS, TikTok Live Studio, or upload directly to Reels. The reveal is queued the moment the winner is determined, so latency is sub-second.

How do I prove the draw was fair to my audience?

Every draw publishes its SHA-256 seed and canonical input JSON. Any viewer can re-run the algorithm from the published inputs and confirm the same winner. We implement the open Verifiable Giveaway Protocol (VGP v1.0), so verification is independent of Rafflecopter as a brand.

Can I automate giveaways from an agent or workflow?

Yes. Rafflecopter ships an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. Connect it to Claude Desktop, ChatGPT Apps, or n8n, and your agent can fetch comments, run draws, and post winners — without browser automation. It's the only creator-focused giveaway tool with native MCP support.

Does $4.99 per draw really mean no subscription?

Correct. You pay $4.99 per executed draw — that includes scraping the Instagram post, the verifiable draw, the cinematic reveal MP4, and a permanent public proof page. No monthly fee, no tier upsells, no per-entry pricing. If you run two giveaways a month, you pay $9.98.

Trusted by creators

1,284 creators have run verifiable draws on Rafflecopter

4.9 / 5
Avg rating across 1,284 draws
$4.99 flat
Per draw — no subscription, ever
VGP v1.0
Reference implementation of the open protocol

Run my first verifiable draw — $4.99 See pricing details