Different tools for different jobs — here's how to tell which one is yours.
Both tools run live polls. The experience diverges quickly from there. This comparison covers integrations, security, classroom and enterprise use, pricing constraints, and what users actually say after using each one.
Poll Everywhere is the better choice for recurring use, PowerPoint-native workflows, LMS integration with grade passback, and organizations that require enterprise security compliance. Poll Everywhere's 2.0 visuals are a dramatic upgrade into Mentimeter's class of strong aesthetics historically. Mentimeter is a great choice for polished, one-off presentations where visual quality, spare European aesthetics, and low setup time matter most. The integration gap is significant: Poll Everywhere's focuses on working everywhere with the Live app and PPT integrations; Mentimeter's integration has improved but typical workflows expect you to upload your presentation to Menti.
| Feature | Poll Everywhere | Mentimeter |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Enterprise deployment, higher ed, recurring PowerPoint-native sessions | Polished one-off presentations with minimal setup |
| Free audience limit | ~40–50 participants | 50 participants (monthly response cap) |
| Paid audience limit | Up to 700 (basic paid) | "Unlimited" responses (basic paid) |
| Native PowerPoint plug-in | Yes — native, stable plug-in | Add-in available; widely reported as unstable |
| LMS / LTI support | LTI 1.3 Advantage; Canvas Partner | LMS/LTI integrations, including Canvas, Moodle, D2L, and Blackboard. |
| Security certifications | SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 + 27701 | SOC 2, ISO 27001 certification |
| Q&A moderation | Supported; advanced moderation in Q2 roadmap | Basic moderation supported |
| Anonymous participation | Supported | Supported — well-reviewed for anonymous feedback |
| AI-assisted creation | Available; best used in preparation, not live | Available on free and paid plans |
| Choose Poll Everywhere if… | Choose Mentimeter if… |
|---|---|
| Polling needs to run natively inside PowerPoint or Google Slides without switching apps | Your use case is occasional, standalone presentations where visual polish matters most |
| LMS integration with grade passback is required (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle) | Ease of use for non-technical presenters is the top priority |
| SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO 27001 certification is a procurement requirement | Deep LMS grade-passback maturity and multi-year enterprise governance track record aren't the deciding factor (Mentimeter now offers LMS/LTI integration and SOC 2 + ISO 27001) |
| Sessions are recurring and content needs to be reused and tracked over time | Setup time needs to be under a minute with no slide deck integration |
Both tools can handle basic polling. The differences show up in specific conditions. Below is a direct comparison across the six use cases covered in our hands-on testing.
| Scenario | Poll Everywhere | Mentimeter |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching a class | Yes — LaTeX supported, native slide integration, reusable polls, no per-question caps. LMS grade passback available. | Yes for small/infrequent classes — but monthly response caps constrain regular or large-section use. LMS/LTI integration is now available (Canvas, Moodle, D2L, Blackboard), though grade passback maturity should be confirmed against Poll Everywhere's. |
| All courses at a university | Yes — LTI 1.3, Canvas Partner, SSO available, SOC 2 certified. Scales for departmental deployment. | Improved — LTI integrations now support Canvas, Moodle, D2L, and Blackboard. Mentimeter also lists SOC 2 alongside ISO 27001, narrowing the certification gap with Poll Everywhere for institutional procurement. |
| Team meeting | Yes — works well for professional meetings. PowerPoint-native reduces context switching. Best used with prep. | Very well — one of Mentimeter's strongest use cases. Templates and AI setup make it fast and polished for small meetings. |
| Company-wide Q&A | Yes — scales to large audiences. Voting and ranking features work. Advanced AI moderation in Q2 roadmap. | Best for curated, design-forward sessions — not built for high-volume open-ended Q&A. |
| New employee onboarding | Yes — sessions reuse across cohorts, engagement data reviewable. Setup can feel heavy for very small groups. | Yes — low prep and polished look work well for icebreakers and small onboarding groups. |
| Conference presentation | Yes — reliable at scale. Audience joins via QR or link, no accounts needed. Know your participant count. | Yes — especially when visual polish matters and audience size is predictable. Monthly limits can spike at large events. |
Unedited first-time recordings of both tools — no scripts, no retakes.
0:00 Okay, it's time for Poll Everywhere. I'm on a casual Friday here — not the same day as the other recordings. I'm already familiar with this product, so it's not really fair for me to do a blind run-through, but I'll do my best to do a stream-of-consciousness walkthrough.
0:20 We're starting out after sign-up and login. We're going to ask about turtles again — that's our running theme. We'll go for a Competition, which is the gamified version with leaderboards.
1:09 We could make a series of polls as well. These questions are AI-generated — trivia about the Ninja Turtles theme song. Not quite what we wanted, but we can run through it. You could edit the questions or adjust the AI prompt to improve output.
2:00 For the purpose of comparison I'm going to go ahead and present, and I'm joining with another device. Responding as "the helpful zebra." Let's see — Donatello — and the helpful zebra is in the lead.
2:48 My mistake — I started on the final slide. Let me jump back. Okay, so now we have the competition loaded. Leo. Zebra is ahead. Points are allotted based on response time. The radar visualization looks good.
3:37 You get confetti and a leaderboard at the end. There are a lot of little things you can do in a competition — showing who's connected, for example. You can also export polls to PowerPoint, view questions and correct responses, and pull reporting.
4:48 Let's look at billing quickly. We're on the Teams trial for the first 30 days, then we drop to Intro — 40-person audience size, some AI prompts per month, unlimited questions. Higher tiers increase audience size, reporting capabilities, AI access, and branding. Pricing feels fairly competitive with the others we've tested.
5:36 That's Poll Everywhere.
0:00 Today we're using Mentimeter. I've set up an account and I'm logging in. Mentimeter has always been really well-designed — attractive software. Excited to take a look.
0:23 We're a company, Strategy and Executive Leadership. Okay, we want to explore. People who respond each month resets every month — looks like we get 50. We can present once a month. We'll get started with free and see how it works.
1:00 Some templates here — some require a Pro plan. I'm going to do something sillier. I could start with AI — let's try that.
1:26 A pop-up window. We'll say lighthearted, just the four turtle characters, hanging out, some polls. Let's see how long this takes.
2:30 Coming pretty quick — seven slides. Who's the best, vote and debate. All-time favorite, best leader, funniest, coolest invention, favorite turtle in one word, and a thanks-for-voting slide. These look really good. I like the white on black — definitely my style.
3:24 Starting the presentation. Joining on another device. Phillip Leo — I need to submit. Next slide: who's the best leader? Raphael.
4:24 That's making a poll with Mentimeter. It looks great. Easy to join. The AI implementation was thorough — probably more polished slides than I would have gotten with shorter prompts. It's really upfront about usage: I used one participant so far this month, and it shows me when I'll reset. That's Mentimeter.
Poll Everywhere's free plan supports up to ~40–50 participants. The basic paid plan scales to 700 participants and includes LMS integrations and reporting. Enterprise plans add SSO, SCIM, advanced admin controls, and dedicated support. The free plan never expires and needs no credit card.
Mentimeter's free plan imposes monthly response limits (not per-session), which constrains regular or large-group use. Paid plans unlock "unlimited" responses, expanded sharing, and branding. SSO is available on higher tiers. Enterprise procurement is required for SCIM and advanced governance.
Procurement typically enters when SSO, security certifications, centralized billing, or audience sizes beyond ~700 are required. Mentimeter now lists both SOC 2 and ISO 27001, which should ease — though not eliminate — friction in institutional and enterprise procurement conversations. Confirm audit type (Type 1 vs. Type 2) and scope when comparing side by side.
Content created in Mentimeter (slides, questions) does not import directly into Poll Everywhere. The rebuild is straightforward for most question types — the main investment is time, not complexity. Users coming from Mentimeter often note the initial setup of the PowerPoint plug-in takes a few minutes but is stable once in place.
Poll Everywhere content does not export to Mentimeter format. If your use case is shifting toward occasional, low-prep standalone sessions rather than recurring LMS-connected ones, the tradeoff is losing grade passback and native slide integration in exchange for faster setup.
Get started with Poll Everywhere — no credit card required.