Frequently Asked Questions

Declair is a decision-clarity platform that helps you rank options using pairwise comparison. Instead of picking from a long list, you compare just two options at a time. The platform aggregates everyone's choices into a clear, fair ranking — making group decisions transparent and surprisingly easy.

You're shown two options at a time and simply pick which one you prefer. After enough comparisons across all participants, Declair calculates a ranking using the Condorcet method — a proven approach from decision science that determines which option would beat every other option in a head-to-head matchup.

In Pairwise mode, you compare two random options side by side and pick your favorite. In Champion mode, the current "champion" option stays on screen and challengers appear one by one — if you prefer the challenger, it becomes the new champion. Both modes produce reliable rankings; Champion mode feels faster while Pairwise mode gives more balanced coverage.

It depends on the poll. Poll creators can enable anonymous voting, which lets anyone participate without signing in. For polls that require authentication, you'll need to create a free account. Creating an account also lets you create your own polls and track your participation.

Sign in to your account, go to your dashboard, and click "Create New Poll." Give it a title, add your options (at least two), choose a voting mode (Pairwise or Champion), and publish it. You'll get a shareable link you can send to participants right away.

Yes! The free plan lets you create up to 5 active polls at a time with full access to all voting features, live results, confidence scores, and more. Archived polls don't count toward your limit, so you can run as many polls as you need over time.

Not as many as you might think! Declair uses distributed voting — each participant sees a manageable subset of comparisons, and the platform combines everyone's responses to build the full ranking. The exact number depends on how many options the poll has, but it's designed to never feel overwhelming.

Yes. If you're not sure which option you prefer, you can skip that pair. Skipped comparisons go to the end of your queue and may appear again later. Skipping doesn't affect the fairness of the results.

Yes — you have a 4-second undo window after each vote. You can also press the Z key on your keyboard to undo. After the window closes, your choice is locked in to maintain result integrity.

During voting, press 1 to choose the left option and 2 to choose the right option. Press Z to undo your last vote (within the undo window). Press Escape to leave the voting session. These shortcuts make voting faster, especially when comparing many options.

No — each person can only participate once per poll. This ensures fair results by preventing any single person from having outsized influence on the ranking.

Your progress is saved automatically. When you return to the same poll, you'll pick up where you left off. Any comparisons you've already completed are already counted toward the results.

No. Each comparison you complete contributes to the ranking immediately. You don't have to finish the entire set — even partial participation improves the results. That said, completing more comparisons helps increase the confidence score.

Rankings are calculated using the Condorcet method, a well-established technique from social choice theory. The platform looks at every pair of options and determines which one was preferred more often across all voters. The option that wins the most head-to-head matchups ranks highest. This produces fairer results than simple popularity votes.

Confidence scores tell you how reliable the current ranking is. They're based on three factors: how many possible pairs have been compared (pair coverage), how balanced the votes are (vote balance), and how many total votes have been cast (sample size). A high confidence score means you can trust the ranking; a low score means more votes would help.

This means the poll hasn't reached its minimum vote threshold yet. The ranking shown is based on the votes so far, but it may shift as more people participate. Once enough votes come in, the status changes to "Final results" — indicating the ranking is stable.

Yes — rankings are live and update in real time as new votes come in. You can watch the results page and see positions shift as more participants contribute. Once the confidence score reaches "High" and enough votes are in, rankings tend to stabilize.

Yes. Poll creators can export results as a PDF report that includes the full ranking, confidence scores, win/loss records, and demographic breakdowns if collected. The report is branded and ready to share with stakeholders.

The minimum depends on the number of options in your poll. The formula accounts for how many pairs need to be compared to produce a reliable ranking. You can see the current progress toward the threshold on the results page. Even before the threshold is met, early results are shown.

Yes. Your individual votes are anonymous by design. The results page only shows aggregated rankings — no one, including the poll creator, can see which specific options you chose or the order of your comparisons.

When you create an account, we collect your name and email (via Clerk authentication). When you participate in polls, we store your comparison responses in aggregated form. If a poll includes optional demographics, that data is collected only if you choose to provide it. We also collect basic usage analytics to improve the platform.

No. Poll creators see aggregated results only — total rankings, win/loss records, and confidence scores. They cannot see individual voting patterns, the order of your comparisons, or link any specific vote to your identity.

Demographic data is entirely optional and is only shown as aggregated distributions (for example, "35% of voters were age 18-24"). Groups smaller than 5 respondents are automatically hidden to prevent anyone from being identified. Your individual demographic data is never shared.

No. Your personal data is never sold. We share data only with essential service providers (Clerk for authentication, Neon for database hosting) under strict data processing agreements. Aggregated, anonymized poll results may be visible on the platform, but your personal information is never included.

We use several layers of protection: each person can only vote once per poll, rate limiting prevents automated submissions, and our system detects suspicious voting patterns. For authenticated polls, account verification adds another layer of trust. These measures ensure that rankings reflect genuine preferences.

Yes. You can request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time. Once deleted, your account information, poll data, and participation history are permanently removed from our systems.

The free plan allows up to 5 active polls at a time. "Active" includes both draft and published polls. Archived polls don't count toward this limit, so you can archive completed polls to free up slots for new ones.

Archiving is a soft-delete that preserves your poll data while removing it from active view. Archived polls don't count toward your free plan limit. Think of it as putting a poll in storage — the data is safe, but it's out of the way.

Yes. You can restore any archived poll from your dashboard. Restored polls return with a "closed" status, and you can reopen them if needed. Just note that restoring a poll counts toward your active poll limit again.

Every poll has a unique link you can share directly. You can also use the built-in sharing buttons for Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Reddit — or use your device's native share menu. For targeted participation, you can send email invitations directly from the poll management page.

Yes. When creating or editing a poll, you can set it to private. Private polls don't appear in the public browse page and can only be accessed by people who have the direct link or receive an invitation.

Yes. If you need someone else to manage a poll, you can transfer ownership to another Declair user. The transfer requires confirmation from both parties to prevent accidental transfers. Once transferred, the new owner has full control over the poll.

Not yet, but this feature is planned. Currently, poll options are text-based. Image support for options is on our roadmap and will allow you to create more visual comparisons.

Only people who have completed voting on a poll and the poll creator can leave comments on the results page. This ensures that comments come from people who have actually engaged with the decision.

Yes. Every poll and comment has a report button. You can report content for reasons including spam, harassment, misinformation, hate speech, violence, or other concerns. Reports are reviewed by our moderation team.

When a comment receives 3 or more reports, it's automatically flagged and hidden from public view pending admin review. Our moderation team reviews flagged content and takes appropriate action. This system balances community self-governance with responsible oversight.

Yes. Type @ followed by a username to mention someone in your comment. Mentions appear as clickable links to that user's profile, making threaded discussions easier to follow.

Declair is available in English, Thai (with regional variants), German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Vietnamese, and Chinese (Simplified, Traditional, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). You can switch languages anytime using the language selector in the header.

Yes. Declair is fully responsive and works great on phones, tablets, and desktops. The voting interface is designed for touch — just tap the option you prefer. No app download needed.

Not currently. The API is used internally by the platform but isn't available for public access yet. Developer API access is something we're considering for a future release.

Yes! The free plan is free forever. No credit card required, no trial period. Upgrade to Pro only when you need more.

Not yet — we're keeping things simple with monthly billing for now. Stay tuned for annual savings in the future.

Yes. Cancel anytime from your account settings. You keep Pro access until the end of your billing period — no penalties, no hassle.

We accept all major credit cards through Stripe, our secure payment processor.

You keep Pro features until your billing period ends. After that, polls beyond the free limit are archived (not deleted) — upgrade again anytime to restore them.

We offer a full refund within 7 days of your first subscription. Contact us at support if you need help.