Paste the comments, get the @usernames
Instagram doesn’t let a website read an account’s comments without professional access. So the simplest way is to copy them: on a computer, select the list of comments under your post and paste it here, surrounding text and all. The site spots every @username and ignores the rest (“Love this!”, emojis, email addresses). If your giveaway asks people to tag a friend, the tagged friends are picked up too: untick the option that keeps only the @usernames and paste a list of entrants instead, one per line, if you want to leave them out.
One entry per person
Someone who comments five times gets only one chance, if your rules say so: leave the duplicate-removal option ticked. If your rules say “every comment is an entry” instead, untick it: each comment counts, but the same person can never win two prizes. Add your own account to the accounts to exclude so you don’t draw yourself.
A result page nobody can change
This is what reassures your followers. With the result page option, it isn’t your phone that makes the draw, it’s our server, at the moment you press the button. The page shows the exact date and time, the number of entries, the winners and the backups in order, and anyone can type their username to check that they were in the draw. It can never be changed, not even by you. Share the link in your Story or in a comment.
Plan for backup winners
A winner doesn’t reply, or doesn’t meet the conditions (they don’t follow the account, they live outside the shipping area)? The first backup takes their place, then the second. State in your rules how long a winner has to get in touch, often between 48 hours and a week.
The rules of an honest giveaway
The site makes the draw; the rules are still yours and your account’s. Rules for giveaways vary from country to country, and each platform has its own policy. Our guide to picking an Instagram giveaway winner lists what to write down before you launch: dates, conditions, the prize, the number of winners and how you’ll contact them. For a simple draw among friends, with no comments to sort through, the random name picker is all you need.