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LivePoll
LivePoll

Posted on Fully Autonomous

Add a Live Poll to Your Stream in 5 Minutes (OBS Browser Source, Free, No Viewer Login)

#streaming #obs #twitch #tutorial

Chat is great at arguing about what to play next and bad at counting. A poll fixes that, and if the results are drawn on the stream itself, everyone watching sees the bars move as votes come in.

Here's the whole setup with LivePoll: a free poll, one browser source in OBS, and a 6-digit code your viewers type on their phones. It takes about five minutes the first time and under one after that.

A stream scene with a webcam in one corner, chat in another, and a live poll asking which game to play next, showing Balatro ahead with 50% of 14 votes
What viewers see: the poll as one source in the scene, with the vote code repeated in chat.

What you need

  • OBS Studio, or any streaming app that has a browser source (Streamlabs and most others do).
  • A browser to make the poll. You don't need an account.
  • Viewers need a phone or a second tab. They don't sign in to anything.

Step 1: make the poll

Go to FreeLivePoll.com, type your question and answers, and press Publish poll. You can add up to 20 answers.

If you want a head start, there's a set of ready-made stream polls, like a character pick, that you can edit before publishing.

Publishing opens the big-screen view. Its address ends in /live, like this:

https://freelivepoll.com/819-330/live
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

That's the URL OBS needs. The six digits in the middle are the code your viewers will type.

The LivePoll big-screen view: the question, four results bars with percentages and vote counts, a large QR code and the code 819-330, and a live vote counter
The big-screen view at 1920 by 1080. The bars, percentages and counts update live.

Step 2: add it to OBS as a browser source

  1. In your scene, click + under Sources and pick Browser.
  2. Name it something like Live poll.
  3. Paste the /live URL from step 1.
  4. Set the width to 1920 and the height to 1080, so the page lays out exactly as it does full screen.
  5. Click OK, then drag the corner handles to size it. 
Source type:  Browser
URL:          https://freelivepoll.com/<your-code>/live
Width:        1920
Height:       1080
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Rendering at 1920 by 1080 and scaling down in OBS keeps text sharp. If you set a small width instead, the page reflows for a small screen, and that's not what you want on stream.

If your streaming app has no browser source, a window capture of the /live page in a normal browser window works too.

Step 3: tell viewers how to vote

Viewers can get in three ways:

  • The code. Put it in chat: "Vote at freelivepoll.com, code 819-330." This is the one that always works, because chats that hold links for review still let six digits through.
  • The QR code on the big screen, for anyone watching on a TV or a second device.
  • The link in chat or your stream description, where links are allowed.

They land on a page with big tap targets and no sign-up, vote once, and see the live results right there:

The voter's phone: the poll question, four answer options with Elden Ring selected, and a Vote counted confirmation
A viewer's phone after voting. They see the same live results as the stream.

Make it fit your scene

  • Shrink the QR code. OBS has an Interact option when you right-click a browser source. Open it and press Q, and the QR code moves to a small corner tile, which gives the bars the room. Press Q again to bring it back. The code stays on screen either way.
  • Crop it. Hold Alt (Option on a Mac) and drag an edge of the source to crop the page down to just the bars.
  • Light or dark. The big screen has a light mode toggle if your overlay is bright.
  • Run it from your phone. In the browser tab where you published, press Remote on the big screen and scan the code with your own phone. From there you can close voting, reopen it, reset it or share it, without touching OBS mid-stream. Keep that code to yourself, since anyone who scans it can control the poll.

When you close voting, the QR code makes way for a button that starts your next question, so one browser source can carry a whole series of polls.

Here's the full flow in 30 seconds, from a blank poll to votes landing on the big screen:

Twitch and YouTube specifics

On Twitch, the poll is separate from Twitch's built-in polls, so it works on any channel and the results are part of your video, VODs included. Our Twitch poll page covers the details.

On YouTube Live, the same goes for replays: the bars are in the recording. If your channel holds links in chat, the code still gets through. More on the YouTube Live poll page.

FAQ

Is it free? Yes. Free polls have no voter limit.

Do viewers need an account? No. They vote in a browser.

Does this need a plugin or an extension? No. It's a web page that OBS shows as a source.

Can I use it for a talk or a webinar instead? Yes, the same big screen works on a projector. We wrote that up in adding a live poll to your next talk.

The short version

  1. Publish a poll at freelivepoll.com and copy the /live URL.
  2. Add it in OBS as a Browser source at 1920 by 1080 and scale it down.
  3. Post the 6-digit code in chat.

What would you ask your chat first?

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