Run a live audience poll on YouTube Live
YouTube Live viewers can vote from their phone while you stream, and the results show up as a chart on top of your video. They scan a QR code or tap a link in chat — nothing to download, nothing to sign up for.
The overlay moves the moment a vote lands, so you are not scrolling back through chat to count answers or reading the options aloud. On your side it is one OBS browser source.
How to set it up
- Create an event and write the question and its options. Pick a bar, line or pie chart for each question
- Paste the URL from “Place this in OBS” in the console into an OBS Browser source, at 1920 × 1080. The page has no background, so it sits straight on top of your game or camera
- In the Browser source properties, turn off “Shutdown source when not visible” and “Refresh browser when scene becomes active”
- Press “Copy for chat” in the console, post the join link in chat and pin it. The join QR code and URL also show on the overlay
- While you are live, step through standby, open, close and reveal from the console
Before the stream, use “Rehearse” in the console to run the whole thing through OBS and a phone. Rehearsals do not use tickets (up to 5 devices for 30 minutes).
Where it fits on YouTube Live
- Game streams: put up a question during a loading screen or a respawn
- Just chatting: split the room on a two-way question, then talk about whichever side won
- VTuber streams: put the outfit, the BGM or the next segment to a vote
- Keep the count hidden until you close voting, then reveal it all at once
- Members-only streams: let the members who are watching vote (you make the stream itself members-only)
One vote per person is decided per device. A private window or a second device lets someone vote again, so it is not suited to deciding prizes or rankings.
Frequently asked questions
Do viewers need an app or an account?
No. Scanning the QR code or opening the chat link brings up the voting page in their browser. The voting page comes in English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese and Korean, follows the browser language, and has its own language switcher.
How do viewers who are watching on their phone vote?
They cannot scan a QR code on the same phone, so they use the join link in chat. “Copy for chat” in the console gives you a line ready to paste. Pin it so people who arrive late can join too.
Will stream delay make people miss the vote?
Viewers see your stream a few seconds to about 20 seconds after you do (15 seconds or more on YouTube’s “Normal latency”). Give each question 60 seconds or more, set the latency to “Low latency” or “Ultra-low latency” in YouTube Studio, and call out “10 seconds left” before you close.
Can I limit voting to channel members?
Livote cannot check whether someone is a YouTube member. Make the stream itself members-only and show the join QR code and URL only on stream. Votes are accepted only between “open” and “close”, so keeping that window short means a leaked QR code does little.
Is there a free plan?
Yes. The free plan covers up to 50 people at once, for 30 minutes per stream, 2 times a month. The OBS browser source and all 5 themes are on the free plan; in exchange, a small logo sits in the corner of the overlay. Removing it takes a paid plan.