The honest difference
Mentimeter’s word cloud is a live audience tool: you ask a question, people answer from their phones, and the cloud grows on screen as answers arrive. WordCloudSpark is not that. It does not collect answers from other people, has no join code and no presenter mode. You paste text or a list of words yourself, and it turns what you pasted into an image you can download.
So the choice is simple:
- If you want an audience to type words in during a session, use a live polling tool such as Mentimeter, Slido or similar.
- If you already have the words (from a form, a chat export, a spreadsheet, a document or a transcript) and want a clean image, a table of counts and an export you own, WordCloudSpark is a lighter, free option that needs no sign-up.
Side by side
| Live polling tools such as Mentimeter | WordCloudSpark | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience submits words live | Yes, that is the point | No |
| Account needed | Normally yes, for the presenter | No |
| Where your text goes | To the vendor’s servers, under their terms | Stays in your browser; nothing is uploaded |
| Input | Answers typed by participants | Text you paste, a file, or a word and count list |
| Phrases | Depends on the tool and settings | Two-word and three-word phrase counting |
| Shapes | Depends on the tool | Eight shapes |
| Export | Depends on the plan and the tool | SVG, PNG (with transparent option) and a CSV of counts |
| Counts visible | Depends on the tool | Frequency table with counts and shares |
| Price | Check the vendor’s current plans; free tiers usually have limits | Free, supported by advertising |
The right-hand column describes this site; for the left-hand column, check the tool’s own website, because features and plan limits change.
A middle route: collect elsewhere, visualise here
If you only need the final picture, you do not need live voting. Collect the words with any form tool, a shared document or a chat, copy the answers, paste them into the generator and download the image. A few things make that work well:
- Ask for one word or short phrase per answer and put each answer on its own line.
- Paste the lines into the generator. For one-word answers set the common-word language to None, so words like not are not removed.
- Fix obvious spelling differences before you generate (colour and color count separately).
- Use the frequency table to read out the top answers, and download the SVG or PNG for your slides.
For classroom use, the teachers and students page covers privacy and activity ideas. For slides, see adding a cloud to PowerPoint or Google Slides.
More word cloud tools and guides
Frequently asked questions
- Is WordCloudSpark a live word cloud tool?
- No. It does not collect answers from an audience. You paste text or a word list and it produces an image.
- Do I need an account?
- No. There is nothing to sign up for.
- Can I use it with a class or an audience?
- Yes, in two steps: collect the answers somewhere else, then paste them in. The words are not shown live to participants.
- Is it really free?
- Yes. It is free to use, with no watermark. The site is supported by advertising.