EngageLive vs Slido — Full Feature Comparison
Here is an honest, detailed comparison of every feature that matters for live audience engagement in meetings, training sessions, and events.
| Feature | EngageLive ✅ | Slido |
|---|
| Free participants | ✅ Up to 50 (boosts to 5,000) | 25 per poll on free plan |
| Account required | ✅ No — host in under 60 seconds | Yes — account required |
| Activities per session | ✅ Unlimited — all 11 types | 3 polls on free plan |
| Live polls | ✅ 6 poll types with images/videos | ✅ Basic |
| Q&A with upvoting | ✅ + hand raising, moderation, replies | ✅ Basic upvoting only |
| Hand raising in Q&A | ✅ Free | ❌ Not available |
| Q&A moderation | ✅ Free | Paid plan only |
| Participant replies | ✅ Free | ❌ Not available |
| Word clouds | ✅ Free — 4 themes | Paid plan only |
| Quizzes with leaderboard | ✅ Free — timer, images | Paid plan only |
| Surveys (9 question types) | ✅ Free — up to 20 questions | Paid plan only |
| Hotspot image activities | ✅ 3 sub-types — free | ❌ Not available |
| Match the Following | ✅ Free | ❌ Not available |
| Ranking activities | ✅ Free | ❌ Not available |
| Announcements broadcast | ✅ Free | ❌ Not available |
| Images/videos in polls | ✅ Free — all activity types | Paid plan only |
| PDF & Excel export | ✅ Free | Paid plan only |
| QR code join | ✅ Instant — no code typing | ✅ Available |
| Event branding | ✅ Free — logo, colours, font, bg | Paid plan only |
| Session templates | ✅ growing free template library | Limited on free |
| Microsoft Teams integration | ✅ Free — native tab + side panel | Paid plan only |
| PowerPoint add-in | ✅ Free — QR on slide, ribbon button | Paid plan only |
| Data stored on servers | ✅ No — privacy-first architecture | ❌ Yes — server stored |
| Price for 100 participants | ✅ ₹199 per session (~$2.50) | $15+/month minimum |
💬 Q&A — Features No One Else Offers Free
EngageLive's Q&A goes far beyond basic question collection. These features are typically locked behind enterprise plans at Slido and Mentimeter:
✅ Hand raising — participants raise hand digitally, host sees live list of raised hands
✅ Participant-to-participant replies on questions
✅ Host replies publicly to any question
✅ Moderation mode — host approves questions before they go public
✅ Question limit per participant — host sets max questions allowed
✅ Upvoting — participants upvote best questions, auto-sorted by votes
✅ Anonymous or named submissions (host chooses)
✅ Pin top questions to top of list
✅ Mark questions as answered
✅ Kick/remove disruptive participants
✅ Host reveals/replays any activity at any time
All 9 Activity Types — All Free
EngageLive is the only free tool that includes all of these activity types with no limit on activities per session, no limit on questions, and no limit on responses. Add images and videos to every single activity type at no cost.
📊Live Poll
Types: Single choice, Multiple choice, Image-choice poll, True/False, Rating scale, Ope
- Add images or video links per option
- Correct answer marking
- Anonymous or named responses
- Timer per poll
- Participants can reply to each other's responses
- Live bar chart results instant update
💬Q&A (Slido-style)
Types: Anonymous Q&A, Named Q&A, Moderated Q&A
- Participants upvote questions
- Hand raising — any participant can raise hand, host sees raised hands live
- Participants can reply to other participants' questions
- Host can reply to any question publicly
- Host moderation — approve questions before they appear publicly
- Host can set maximum questions per participant
🎯Quiz with Leaderboard
Types: Single choice questions, Multiple correct answers, True/False questions, Image q
- Up to 15 questions per quiz
- Add images or video links per question
- Timer per question (custom)
- Live leaderboard after each question
- Host controls leaderboard — show, hide, or replay anytime
- Correct/wrong feedback with explanations
☁️Word Cloud
Types: Live growing word cloud
- Custom prompt
- Max words per person (host-controlled)
- Word exclusion list
- 4 colour themes (multicolour, warm, cool, mono)
- Add image or video links to prompt
- Live animated cloud updates
📋Multi-Question Survey
Types: Single choice, Multiple choice, Open text, Star rating, Yes/No, Slider, Dropdown
- Up to 20 questions per survey
- Add images or video links per question
- Required fields
- Progress bar
- Download analytics as Excel or PDF
⭐Rating & NPS
Types: Stars 1-5, Stars 1-10, NPS 0-10 with detractor/promoter/passive breakdown, Slide
- Live distribution chart
- Full analytics download Excel or PDF
- Detractor/promoter/passive breakdown for NPS
🏆Ranking / Prioritisation
Types: Drag-and-drop reorder
- Up to 12 items
- Add images per item
- Weighted aggregate scores shown live as ranked chart
- Host reveals leaderboard anytime
🎯Hotspot / Image Activities
Types: Click-to-Reveal — invisible hotspot on image, participants click to find hidden
- Upload images or add image/video links
- Drag-and-drop hotspot editor for hosts
- 3 unique sub-modes
- Rare feature — most competitors don't offer this
- Industry-specific use: safety drills, product spotting, map reading, training
🔗Match the Following
Types: Drag-and-drop matching pairs
- Up to 10 pairs
- Add images per pair
- Immediate correct/incorrect feedback
- Score shown on completion
- Full session analytics Excel or PDF
📢Announcements
Types: Text announcements, Image/GIF announcements, Link announcements
- Broadcast instantly to all participants
- Add image or GIF URL
- Add clickable link with custom label
- Appears as overlay on participant screen
✏️Collaborative Whiteboard Pro+
Types: Real-time shared canvas for all participants
- All participants draw simultaneously on one canvas
- Multiple pen colours and erase tool
- Perfect for brainstorming and visual collaboration
- Canvas saved to host account after session
⊞2×2 Priority Grid Pro+
Types: Effort vs Value, Urgency vs Importance, or custom axes
- Participants place items on a 2×2 matrix
- Aggregate heatmap shows crowd consensus
- Perfect for strategy sessions and retrospectives
- Custom axis labels
🔌 Microsoft Teams & PowerPoint Integration — Both Free
EngageLive provides native integrations for Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint. Both are completely free — no paid plan required. No Microsoft store approval needed for internal deployment.
🟦 Microsoft Teams
Free
- Native Teams tab in channels and meeting sidebar
- Auto-fills host email from your Teams account
- QR code displayed in meeting window for participants
- One-click join link sharing in Teams chat
- No Microsoft store approval needed — sideload in minutes
- Company-wide via Microsoft 365 Admin Centre
- Works on Teams desktop, browser, and mobile
📊 PowerPoint Add-in
Free
- 🎯 EngageLive button in PowerPoint ribbon (Home tab)
- Insert QR code directly onto current slide — one click
- Host / Join / Session panel in sidebar
- Quick-launch Poll, Quiz, Q&A, Word Cloud from inside PPT
- Works on PowerPoint Online (office.com) — all versions
- Microsoft 365 desktop: Windows & Mac
- Company-wide via Microsoft 365 Admin Centre
🟦 How to install the Teams integration
2
For your own testing (sideload): Open Teams → Apps (left sidebar) → Manage your apps → Upload an app → Upload a custom app → select the zip file containing manifest.json, icon-192.png and icon-32.png from /engagelive/teams/
3
For company-wide deployment (IT admin): Go to admin.microsoft.com → Settings → Integrated Apps → Upload custom apps → upload the manifest.json. Deploys to all users automatically — no individual action needed.
4
EngageLive tab appears in Teams channels and meeting sidebar → enter email → session starts instantly with QR code for participants.
📊 How to install the PowerPoint add-in
2
PowerPoint Online (office.com — works on all versions): Open PowerPoint → Insert → Office Add-ins → Upload My Add-in → select manifest.xml → EngageLive panel opens immediately.
3
PowerPoint desktop (Microsoft 365 subscription): Insert → Get Add-ins → My Add-ins → Upload My Add-in → select manifest.xml.
4
Company-wide deployment (IT admin): admin.microsoft.com → Settings → Integrated Apps → upload manifest.xml → deploys to everyone automatically.
5
The 🎯 EngageLive button appears in the PowerPoint ribbon → click → panel opens → start session → click "Insert QR onto slide" → QR placed on your current slide automatically.
When to Use EngageLive Instead of Slido
- You need more than 3 activities per session (Slido free limits you to 3)
- You have more than 25 participants in your session
- You need Q&A moderation, hand raising, or participant replies for free
- You need word clouds, quizzes, or surveys without paying
- You want Teams or PowerPoint integration without a paid plan
- Your organisation cares about data privacy (Slido stores all responses)
- You run occasional sessions and don't want a monthly subscription
EngageLive's Key Advantages at a Glance
- No account or sign-up required — host in under 60 seconds
- Free for up to 50 participants forever
- No limit on number of activities per session
- No limit on number of questions per activity
- No limit on number of responses
- No limit on activity types — use all 11 types in one session
- Free images and videos in every activity type — polls, quizzes, surveys, hotspots
- QR code join — participants scan and join, no code typing
- Zero data stored on servers — all session data via Firebase, auto-deleted at session end
- PDF and Excel export — all analytics downloadable
- Event branding — logo, colours, fonts, background, welcome message
- Session templates — growing free template library, import/export .eljson packages
Pricing Comparison
✅
EngageLive Free
Free (50 participants, unlimited activities) — Boosts from ₹199 per session/session
💰
Slido
Free (3 polls, 25 participants) — Paid from $15/month
How to Switch from Slido to EngageLive
Switching is instant. EngageLive requires no account, no installation, and no migration.
🚀 Get started in 60 seconds
2
Click Host Free → — enter your email address (no password, no account)
3
Click + Add Activity to choose from 11 activity types — polls, quizzes, Q&A, word clouds, surveys, ratings, rankings, hotspot, match-the-following, whiteboard, 2×2 grid
4
Share the QR code or join link — participants join on any phone or laptop with no app download
5
Run your session — results update live, download PDF/Excel report at any time
Start Using EngageLive Free Today
No account, no credit card, no installation. 50 participants free. 11 activity types. Teams & PowerPoint integration included.
🚀 Try EngageLive Free →
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