About Pick a Winner
A fair, transparent way to run Facebook giveaways and pick winners from post comments.
Why We Built This
Running a Facebook giveaway should be simple. You create a post, people comment, and you pick a winner. In practice, it never works that way. Scrolling through hundreds or thousands of comments, checking who actually followed the rules, and selecting someone at random without bias is tedious, error-prone, and hard to prove was fair.
Pick a Winner was built to solve exactly that. Instead of spending hours manually reviewing comments, you paste a link to your Facebook post, define your eligibility rules, and click one button. The tool fetches every comment, applies your filters, and randomly selects winners in seconds. The entire entry list is preserved so you can show your audience that the draw was legitimate.
We believe contest winners should be chosen fairly, and that the process should be transparent enough for anyone to verify. That principle drives every feature we build.
How It Works
1. Connect your Facebook Page
You bring your own Facebook App credentials, which means you stay in full control of your data. Pick a Winner uses the official Facebook Graph API to access your Pages and read post comments. We never ask for your Facebook password, and you can disconnect at any time from your profile settings.
2. Create a contest with rules
Point the tool at any post on your Page by pasting its URL. Then configure the rules that matter to you: require commenters to have liked the post, shared it, tagged a certain number of friends, or included a specific keyword. You can set time windows so only comments posted within a date range are eligible, and optionally exclude page admins from winning to keep things above board.
3. Draw winners with one click
When you hit "Draw Winners", the system fetches all comments from the Facebook post in real time, filters them through every rule you set, and uses a random selection algorithm to pick your winners. The entire process runs in a background job so you never stare at a loading screen. Once complete, you see every participant, every winner, and their original comments in a clean, shareable format.
Features
Provably Fair
Every participant and their comment is recorded. Winners are selected at random from the eligible pool. The full list is available for your audience to verify.
Flexible Rules
Require post likes, shares, page follows, friend tags, keywords, and date ranges. Combine any rules to match your giveaway's terms and conditions.
Up to 12 Winners
Select multiple winners per contest, each ranked by position. Ideal for tiered prizes like first, second, and third place or multiple runner-up slots.
Email Notifications
Opt in to receive an email the moment your winners are drawn, with a full summary of results. No need to keep refreshing the page.
Time Window Filtering
Only count comments posted within specific dates. Perfect for promotions that run over a weekend, a holiday period, or any defined timeframe.
Public Results Pages
Every completed contest gets a shareable results page. Winners, participants, and entry requirements are all visible — building trust and letting everyone verify the draw was fair.
Who It's For
Small business owners
You run giveaways to drive engagement and grow your audience but don't have the time or budget for enterprise social media tools. Pick a Winner gives you a straightforward way to manage contests without monthly subscriptions or complex dashboards.
Social media managers
You handle multiple Pages and run promotions regularly. Having a dedicated tool that works directly with the Facebook API saves you from screenshot-scrolling through comment threads and manually counting entries.
Content creators and influencers
Your followers expect fairness. When you share a winner, you want to show the full participant list and prove it wasn't hand-picked. Pick a Winner records every entry so you can post results with confidence.
Community admins and nonprofits
Whether you're organizing a charity raffle or a community event, you need a tool that's easy to use and produces results your members can trust.
Privacy & Your Data
Your Facebook credentials stay under your control. Pick a Winner uses a "bring your own app" model: you create your own Facebook App at Meta's developer portal and enter the credentials yourself. We never see, store, or share your Facebook password. Access tokens are kept in your account and are used solely to communicate with Facebook's API on your behalf.
Contest data, including participant names, comment text, and winner selections, is stored securely in our database for as long as you keep your account active. You can delete any contest at any time, and if you close your account, all associated data is removed.
For full details, see our Privacy Policy.
Built With
Pick a Winner is built with modern, battle-tested open-source technologies chosen for reliability and speed:
Backend
Ruby on Rails 8 with PostgreSQL. Background jobs run on Solid Queue for responsive, non-blocking winner draws.
Frontend
Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus) for snappy page transitions. Tailwind CSS for a clean, responsive design that works on any device.
Facebook API
Koala gem for official Facebook Graph API integration. Comments, likes, and page data are fetched in real time with each draw.
Security
Devise authentication, CSRF protection, and encrypted credentials. Regular audits with Brakeman and Bundler Audit.
Ready to run your first contest?
Create an account, connect your Facebook Page, and draw your first winner in minutes.