Alternatives
Their team picks the markets. You pick yours.
If you came looking for a Polymarket alternative because you wanted to bet a friend on something specific, the mismatch is structural. Polymarket is a prediction market on public events with a markets team deciding what gets listed. Poll is a private bet between people who know each other, on a question you write yourself.
Poll compared with Polymarket
Can you create your own market
Poll: Yes. Write any yes or no question and share the link.
Polymarket: No. A markets team creates them. You can suggest one, with no promised turnaround.
Who you are betting against
Poll: Your friends, in a private bet you shared with them.
Polymarket: Anyone on the order book. Polymarket is not the house.
Who resolves it
Poll: Everyone who wagered votes, and the majority decides.
Polymarket: The UMA optimistic oracle, with a bonded proposal, a challenge window, and token-holder voting if disputed.
Getting out early
Poll: The bet runs to its result.
Polymarket: Shares can be sold before the event resolves, so you can exit a position.
Where you can use it
Poll: Web, iOS and Telegram.
Polymarket: Two separate products: polymarket.com is unavailable in the US, and US users need the separate Polymarket US app.
Polymarket changes things from time to time. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
What Polymarket does better
Polymarket is a genuinely deep market with real liquidity and continuous pricing, so prices carry information and you can exit a position before the event resolves. Fees are published in detail, makers are never charged, and the crypto venue is non-custodial with exportable keys. For reading the odds on a public event, it is far better than anything a friend group can produce.
Pick Polymarket if
You want to trade a public event at a real market price, care about liquidity and getting out early, and are not trying to bet a specific person about a specific thing.
Questions people ask
Can I create my own market on Polymarket?
No. A markets team creates them, with input from the community. You can suggest a market, but there is no permissionless creation and no promised turnaround.
So what is the actual alternative?
If the thing you want to bet on is not a listed public event but an argument inside your group, a prediction market cannot serve it at any price. Poll lets you write that question and settle it with the people involved.
Is Polymarket available in the US?
Polymarket runs two separate products. The main site is for users outside the United States, and US users are directed to a separate Polymarket US app, with accounts that are not connected.
Other comparisons
How Poll stacks up against the rest, including where they win.
- ComparisonPoll vs WagerLabOne tracks the bet. One settles it.
- ComparisonPoll vs RounderSame argument. One of them pays out.
- ComparisonPoll vs FinalCallA tracker remembers. It does not pay you.
- ComparisonPoll vs BroThrowOne suspends you. One already has the money.
- AlternativeKalshi alternativeAn exchange lists contracts. You have an argument.
- No longer availableBetU alternativeThe app is gone. The bets do not have to be.
- ComparisonPoll vs BetOpenlyA scoreboard settles one. Your group settles the other.
- ComparisonPoll vs BettorEdgeNo house either way. Different other side.
Bet against your friends, not a bookmaker.
Open a private cash bet, share the link, and let the group settle it.