Short answer: it depends on what you're doing. If you need a quick online poll for your Discord server or Reddit community, StrawPoll is fine. If you need feedback collection in a physical space (conference room, classroom, restaurant, event), QR Poll is built specifically for that.

They solve different problems. Here's where they differ.

The ads thing

StrawPoll's free tier shows ads to your poll respondents. You can't control which ads appear. To remove them, you need a paid plan, and even then you get a monthly quota of "ad-free votes" (500 on Basic, 5,000 on Pro, 50,000 on Business). Go over the quota and the ads come back.

QR Poll doesn't show ads on any plan. Free included. Your respondents see the poll and nothing else.

If you're polling friends about where to eat Friday, ads don't matter. If you're collecting feedback from clients or students with your brand on the line, they do.

QR-first vs. link-first

StrawPoll is designed to share a link online. You create a poll, copy the URL, paste it in a chat or forum. That workflow makes sense for online communities.

QR Poll is designed around the QR code. You generate a poll, print the code, stick it on a table tent or a slide deck or a feedback station. The response page is optimized for mobile because that's how people will access it — standing up, phone in hand, probably in a hurry.

StrawPoll does have QR codes, but it's a secondary feature. QR Poll is the whole product.

Pricing comparison

StrawPoll:

Free: Unlimited polls, unlimited votes, ads shown to respondents
Basic: ~$8/mo (annual), 500 ad-free votes/month
Pro: ~$28/mo (annual), 5,000 ad-free votes/month, CAPTCHA, remove branding
Business: ~$52/mo (annual), 50,000 ad-free votes/month, custom logo

QR Poll:

Free: 3 active polls, 250 responses/month, no ads
Starter: $6/mo, unlimited polls, 1,500 responses/month, no ads
Pro: $15/mo, unlimited polls, 10,000 responses/month, no ads
Business: $40/mo, unlimited responses, team features, no ads

StrawPoll is cheaper at the low end if you're fine with ads. QR Poll is cheaper at every paid tier if you're not.

Duplicate detection

StrawPoll blocks VPN users and bots by default. They offer CAPTCHA on the Pro tier and above.

QR Poll uses a layered approach: localStorage for hard blocking of obvious repeats, browser fingerprinting to flag suspicious responses, and IP rate limiting. Flagged responses aren't deleted. Poll creators can toggle them on or off, so you never lose legitimate data. This matters a lot in supervised environments like classrooms where shared devices are common.

Data and privacy

StrawPoll is a German company and takes GDPR seriously. On paid plans with ads removed, they note that no cookie banners are needed because there's no tracking. On the free tier with ads, tracking scripts from ad networks will load.

QR Poll doesn't run ads on any tier, so there are no third-party tracking scripts on response pages at all. We do lightweight fingerprinting for duplicate detection, but we're not building user profiles or selling data.

When to use StrawPoll

You're sharing a poll link in a chat, forum, or social media post
You don't care about ads showing up
You need something quick and disposable for online audiences
You want meeting scheduling (they have a Doodle-style tool built in)

When to use QR Poll

You need feedback collection in a physical location
Your audience will scan a QR code from a printed sign, slide, or table tent
You want a clean, ad-free experience for respondents
You care about looking professional in front of clients, students, or guests
You need control over duplicate detection without losing legitimate responses

Bottom line

StrawPoll is a solid online poll tool that's been around since 2007. If your polling happens on the internet and you don't mind ads, it works.

QR Poll exists because polling in physical spaces is a different problem. The QR code is the entry point, not an afterthought. No ads, fast load times, and a response page that respects the person filling it out.

Try QR Poll free — no credit card, no ads, takes about 30 seconds.

QR Poll vs StrawPoll: Which One Should You Use?