How to run a YouTube giveaway

Updated 12 November 2026 · By the Vast team

YouTube allows giveaways run through your videos if you follow its contest policies: entry must be free, you need official rules with the contents YouTube lists, and you can't inflate views, likes or subscribers or suggest YouTube is involved. A common entry is a comment on the video, sometimes with a subscribe or a code you say on camera. Draw from a clean list of entrants and contact the winner privately.

Vast is our product, so weigh that. We read YouTube's contest policies, its fake engagement policy and its Community Guidelines page on November 11, 2026, and Vast's own code for what its YouTube actions check. Policies change, so read the linked pages before you launch.

What do YouTube's contest policies require?

YouTube's contest policies and guidelines apply to "all contests run on YouTube or that use YouTube." They also say "YouTube does not allow contests to be run through ad units." The general rules:

YouTube says you must have official rules, and that they must:

  1. Link to YouTube's Community Guidelines and say that entries that don't comply will be disqualified.
  2. State every disclosure the law requires where you run it.
  3. Be consistent with YouTube's Terms of Service.
  4. Say clearly that YouTube isn't a sponsor, and require entrants to release YouTube from any liability.
  5. Include "a legally compliant privacy notice" that explains how you'll use the personal data you collect.

You then have to run the giveaway and award the prizes as your rules say.

This isn't legal advice; check with a lawyer for your country and prize.

Can you ask people to subscribe to enter?

YouTube doesn't answer that directly. Two of its pages bear on it:

Our reading: a video with a real subject that mentions a giveaway differs from a video that exists only to trade a prize for subscribers. If you ask for a subscribe, offer a free entry beside it that doesn't touch your channel's numbers, such as a comment or a code. Never buy subscribers or swap them with other channels, which the policy calls "sub4sub."

Which entry methods work best?

EntryHow it worksWhat you can checkWatch out for
Comment on the videoViewers answer a question in the commentsThe comment is there when you drawOne person with several accounts
SubscribeViewers subscribe to your channelHard to check for each personYouTube's fake engagement policy
Secret codeYou say a code in the video, and viewers type it on a giveaway pageThat they typed the right codeCodes get shared
Giveaway pageViewers follow the link in your descriptionDepends on the toolMore effort than a comment

A comment that answers a question, such as "What should we build next?", gives you something to read as well as an entry. In your rules, say each person's comments count as one entry.

How do you pick a winner from YouTube comments?

  1. Close on time. Stop counting at the end time in your rules, with the timezone.
  2. Make the list. Every commenter once, by channel name. Leave out your team and anyone your rules exclude.
  3. Draw at random. Paste the list into our free winner picker with "Remove duplicate entries" on. It runs in your browser and uploads nothing.
  4. Record it. Screenshot the draw with the entry count and the time.
  5. Check the winner, then reply to their comment and ask them to contact you. Draw a backup if they don't reply within your claim window.
  6. Keep details private. Don't ask for an email or address in a public reply.

Our guide to picking a giveaway winner covers weighted draws, bots and how to announce the result.

How do Vast's YouTube actions work?

Vast is our product, so weigh this section as a vendor's description.

A Vast giveaway is a page with a list of actions, each worth a number of entries, linked from your video description or a pinned comment. For YouTube there are two actions:

Vast doesn't check YouTube actions today. A channel visit doesn't tell Vast whether the player subscribed, and Vast doesn't check whose channel a submitted video is on. There's no comment action. Treat YouTube entries as taken on trust, and check winners yourself.

What Vast does check:

Winners are drawn at random from everyone who entered when the giveaway ends, and actions worth more entries improve a player's odds. You can't win your own giveaway, nobody wins twice, and you can mark entries invalid and re-draw. See How winners are picked.

What should you add to Vast's generated rules?

Vast drafts official rules for every giveaway. Their third-party disclaimer already says the giveaway isn't sponsored by, or associated with, YouTube, and they include the minimum age and countries you set in the builder. YouTube asks for more, so add these in Additional terms before you publish:

If people send you videos, read the rules' license clause, which asks entrants for a worldwide, perpetual license to use their entry, next to YouTube's rule about entry rights. You can edit the details or use your own rules; our rules template has fill-in wording.

YouTube actions work on the free plan, which runs one giveaway a month with one prize and one winner. As of November 11, 2026, Basic costs $15 a month or $108 a year and allows up to 30 winners. See our plans comparison or the plans page.

Run a YouTube giveaway with a secret code from your video, official rules drafted for you and a random draw. Start a giveaway

FAQ

Are giveaways allowed on YouTube?

Yes, if you follow YouTube's contest policies: free entry, official rules with the contents YouTube lists, no manipulation of views, likes or subscribers, and nothing that suggests YouTube is involved. They can't run through ad units.

What must official rules for a YouTube giveaway include?

A link to the Community Guidelines with a line that entries that don't comply are disqualified, a statement that YouTube isn't a sponsor, a release of YouTube from liability, the disclosures the law requires, and a privacy notice.

Can I make subscribing the only way to enter?

YouTube doesn't say directly. Its contest policies ban manipulating subscriber counts, and its fake engagement policy bans content that exists only to incentivize engagement. Offer a free entry that doesn't involve your channel's numbers, such as a comment.

Does Vast check YouTube subscriptions or comments?

No. Vast's YouTube actions are a channel visit and a video link, and neither is checked today. A secret code action is checked against your code.

Sources

More guides