Do people need a Doodle account to answer?

No, answering a shared link does not require an account, though the answer page will usually show adverts or upsells.

How many options should a Doodle poll have?

Three or four. Response rates fall sharply as the grid gets wider, especially on a phone.

Can I make a Doodle poll without giving an email address?

Creating a poll asks for a name and email. If you would rather not give one, our date poll asks for neither.

How to make a Doodle poll, and how to make one people answer

Doodle has been the default group poll for years. Making one takes two minutes; getting a group of eight to answer it takes considerably longer, and most of that is down to choices you make while setting it up.

Setting one up

Choose a group poll, give it a title and a location if it needs one, then pick the dates — and times, if the hour matters. Add your name and email, and Doodle gives you a link to share. You can turn on options like hidden answers, a single-vote limit or a maybe option.

Offer three or four options, not ten. More choices means fewer answers.
Turn on 'maybe' only if you are prepared to interpret it.
Set a deadline in the title if the tool's own one is behind a paywall for you.

Sharing it so people reply

Paste the link into the group chat rather than emailing it, say when you need an answer by, and name the people you are waiting on. A poll link with no deadline and no named audience is a poll that sits at 3 out of 8 for a week.

Reading the answers and closing it

Doodle shows a grid of who can do what. Pick the row with the most yeses, then post the decision back into the chat — the poll itself will not tell anybody what happened.

What the free plan does and does not include

The basics are free: create a poll, share a link, collect answers. Adverts on the answer page, custom branding, automatic reminders and some deadline and notification controls sit on the paid tiers, and the exact split moves around. If you hit a paywall for something that used to be free, a no-account date poll does the same core job.

Common questions

Do people need a Doodle account to answer?: No, answering a shared link does not require an account, though the answer page will usually show adverts or upsells.
How many options should a Doodle poll have?: Three or four. Response rates fall sharply as the grid gets wider, especially on a phone.
Can I make a Doodle poll without giving an email address?: Creating a poll asks for a name and email. If you would rather not give one, our date poll asks for neither.