Use the free Group Splitter below: your data never leaves your browser — all work happens on your device, and nothing is uploaded to any server.
Splitting a class, a workshop, or a party into groups sounds easy until you try it. Counting off one-two-three gives uneven groups, friends cluster together and leave one person alone, and the strongest players all land in the same team by pure luck. The Group Splitter is built to fix the specific job of dividing a list into equal groups, and it is deliberately different from a simple random team shuffler. A team shuffler just mixes names and cuts the list. This tool lets you control the group size or the number of groups, keeps the groups as equal as possible, repeats a split with a seed, and can even balance groups by skill.
That difference matters in real rooms. A teacher with twenty-eight pupils wants seven groups of four, not six groups of varying sizes. A workshop leader with twenty people wants five groups of four for table work, not a random split that leaves one table with two people and another with six. A sports coach wants balanced teams, not a lucky draw that puts all the strong players together. This tool handles all three cases, and it says plainly which method it used, so nobody can claim the split was fixed.
To use it, type one name per line. If you want balanced groups, add a skill number after a name, like Ana:8, where a higher number means a stronger player. The numbers are only relative, so 8, 5 and 3 work just as well as 80, 50 and 30. Then choose Split by: group size or number of groups. If you pick group size 4 with ten people, you get groups of four, four, and two, because ten cannot be split into equal fours. If you pick number of groups 3 with ten people, you get groups of four, three, and three, which is the equal split most people actually want.
Next, choose a method. Shuffled uses a random shuffle, and a seed number makes that shuffle repeatable, so the same seed and names always give the same groups. Keep my order splits your list exactly as typed, which is useful when the list is already in a sensible order, such as seating order. Balanced by skill number sorts players from strongest to weakest and deals them one at a time to the group with the lowest total skill, which spreads strength evenly instead of clustering it. The result shows each group, its size, and, for balanced splits, its total skill.
Here is a worked example. Eight players with skills 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3, split into two balanced groups, give totals close to each other instead of one group holding the 9, 8 and 7. That does not guarantee a fair game, because skill numbers are guesses, but it removes the worst unfairness, which is all the strong players landing together by chance. If your skill numbers are rough, say so openly. Players accept a balanced split far more happily when they know the numbers were honest estimates, not secret rankings.
A few tips help. First, decide the group size before you reveal the split, because changing the size after seeing the groups looks like favouritism. Second, if the group must stay together for a whole project, balance by skill and by friendship: put close friends in different groups only if the task needs it, and say why. Third, for very large lists, split by number of groups rather than size, because it guarantees the equal sizes people expect. Finally, always check the last group: with an uneven total, the last group is the one that ends up smaller, and a quick swap can fix it.
People often ask how this differs from the random team generator already on this site. The answer is control. The team generator shuffles a list and cuts it into teams, which is perfect for a quick game. The Group Splitter adds equal-size control, a choice between size and count, a repeatable seed, and a skill-balancing method that the team generator does not offer. If you just want a fast random split, use the team generator. If you need equal groups, a repeatable draw, or balanced strength, use this tool.
The tool runs entirely in your browser, so your names never leave your device and nothing is uploaded anywhere. It is for fun, classrooms, workshops, and friendly games. Try it with a small list first, compare a shuffled split with a balanced split, and you will see immediately which method fits your room. Equal groups are not just tidier. They feel fairer, and fair groups work better together.