Split a list of people into balanced random teams, with optional fixed captains and editable names.
Dividing people into teams is one of those small tasks that always takes longer than it should — and someone always suspects the split was not random. This tool takes a plain list of participants, one per line, and splits it into teams in a single click. You can either say how many teams you want, or how many players each team should have, in which case the number of teams is calculated for you.
The distribution is balanced by design. The list is shuffled with the Fisher-Yates algorithm, using crypto.getRandomValues with rejection sampling for the randomness, and then dealt out so that the sizes differ by at most one player. Eleven people in three teams become 4-4-3, never 5-3-3 or 4-4-2 with someone left over: the remainder is spread across the first teams instead of being dumped on one of them. Every participant has the same chance of ending up in any team, and clicking again produces a completely fresh draw.
Two extras cover the usual real-world cases. The captains option treats the first N names on the list as fixed captains and gives one to each team — useful when a few people must be spread out rather than randomised together, like team leaders, senior players or the students who always sit together. Team names are editable: start from Team 1, Team 2… or from colours, then type over any title to use real names, and the copyable text updates as you type. The whole draw runs in your browser, so names of employees, students or players are never sent anywhere.
With P participants and T teams, each team gets floor(P / T) members and the first (P mod T) teams get one extra, so no two teams differ by more than one player. When splitting by players per team S, the number of teams is ceil(P / S) and the same balancing rule is then applied.
The leftover players are spread one per team across the first teams, so sizes never differ by more than one — eleven people in three teams become 4-4-3.
Yes. The list is shuffled with the Fisher-Yates algorithm driven by the browser cryptographic random generator, so every participant is equally likely to land in any team.
Tick the captains option and the first names on your list — as many as there are teams — are each assigned to a different team, one per team, while everyone else is shuffled normally.
Yes. Click any team title and type over it. You can also start from colour names instead of numbers, and the copyable result reflects your names immediately.
No. The list and the draw stay in JavaScript on your device. Nothing is transmitted or stored, which makes it safe for lists of employees, students or players.
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Vai.la is not responsible for how the tools are used or for decisions made based on their results.