Games like Jackbox: 11 free alternatives, compared
Which is free, which needs a download, which uses phones as controllers, and which fits your group. Ours is in the list; so is everyone else.
Quick picks
- Around a TV, free, phones as controllers: Join Me Games, Gaming Couch, PadlessBox
- On a video call: GameBuddies (video chat built in), Game Night Central (biggest free library)
- Drawing: Gartic Phone, Skribbl.io, or Doodle Roar here when you are short of players: bots fill the seats
- A quiz: Kwishetwel (quiz show on the TV), Kahoot! (write your own), or Knockout Trivia here (nobody writes it, nobody hosts it)
- A word game: Codenames Online, or Codewords here
- The biggest library, paid monthly: AirConsole
- Bluffing: Fib Fact here. The actual Jackbox jokes: buy from Jackbox; nothing free matches that writing yet
All of them, side by side
| Site | Free? | Download? | Phones as controllers? | Shared screen | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Join Me Games | Free, with ads; optional Party Pass | None | Yes | Optional | A room or a call that wants to compete, not perform; mixed ages and languages; two people, or one |
| Gaming Couch | Free | None | Yes, by QR code | Required | A living room with a TV and a group that would rather race than write |
| GameBuddies | Free; optional premium (no ads, cosmetics, extras) | None | Each device is a full player, not a controller | Not needed | Remote groups who want the call and the game in one tab |
| Game Night Central | Free, no purchase | None | Each device is a full player | Not needed | Video-call game nights with a big group |
| PadlessBox | Unknown: its site does not say it is free | None | Yes | Optional | Small groups around a TV |
| Kwishetwel | Free tier; paid plans for more | None | Yes, by QR code | Required | Pub-quiz people, family quiz nights |
| Gartic Phone | Free | None | Each device draws; no shared screen | Not needed | Drawing chaos with any size of group, over a call |
| Skribbl.io | Free | None | Each device is a full player | Not needed | A quick round with no setup at all |
| Kahoot! | Free for a small group; paid personal plans above that | None; apps exist | Yes, by game PIN | Usually; optional with a setting | Classrooms and offices; a quiz you write yourself |
| AirConsole | A free weekly selection; the full library needs the Hero subscription | None; TV apps exist | Yes, the original | Required | A big library on a living-room TV, if you will pay monthly |
| Codenames Online | Free | None | Each device is a full player | Not needed | Two teams, one word game, any distance |
Each one, honestly
Join Me Games
Arcade, puzzle, word & party, drawing, trivia, writing & bluffing and card games games in one room, each on your own phone, every one playable solo with bots
Ours, so read the rest of this page before this line. The host starts a room from a phone, the room stays open between games, and no TV is needed because every phone shows the game. Every game plays three ways: a party in one room, friends from anywhere, or solo with bots. The arcade and puzzle games are played with thumbs rather than typed; the newest games are in beta, which means a free sign-in to host one, and the strategy & adventure kind is on the way. The head-to-head with Jackbox is on its own page.
Gaming Couch
Arcade party games on a big screen, phones as controllers
The closest thing to our own pitch: free, browser only, arcade rather than trivia, and a QR code to join. Up to eight players. Games like a multiplayer Pac-Man chase, space racing and arena brawlers. It wants a shared screen, so it is a living-room site; over a call, the host shares the screen.
GameBuddies
A room of browser party games with built-in video chat
Over twenty games in one room, and the thing nobody else here has: video chat built into the page, so a remote group does not need Discord open beside it. Most games take two to ten players, and some up to twenty.
Game Night Central
45-plus browser party games in one room
The biggest free library in this tier, built for Discord and video-call groups rather than a TV. Guests join by room code.
PadlessBox
Classic games (Snake, 2048, Minesweeper, Memory) on a TV, a laptop or just the phones
Open it on a TV, a projector, a laptop or just everyone’s phones, and play. One to six players. A smaller catalogue of classics than the others here.
Kwishetwel
A quiz show on the TV, phones as answer pads
Nine round types and a penalty wheel, aimed squarely at the quiz night rather than the whole Jackbox spread. It has no drawing games; it is a quiz, first to last. If trivia is the reason you liked Jackbox, this is the specialist.
Gartic Phone
The drawing-telephone game: write, draw someone else’s prompt, caption the drawing
One of the most played free party games there is. One mode, done perfectly, and it scales to big groups until people drift off. Nothing to install and no account. The reveal at the end is the whole game, so it is best where everyone can see one screen or share one on a call.
Skribbl.io
Pictionary in the browser: one draws, the rest type guesses
Simpler than Gartic Phone and quicker to start: a private room, a word list if you like, and go. Works on a phone or a laptop. It is one game, not a platform, and it looks its age; it also does not care.
Kahoot!
Quiz tool: questions on a shared screen, answers on phones
The best-known quiz tool, built for teachers and trainers first. The free tier is for a small group and the library of ready-made quizzes is enormous. It is a quiz, not a party pack, and the party feel depends on the host.
AirConsole
A console in the browser: 150-plus games on PC, phones as game pads
The site that made phones-as-controllers a category, with by far the largest catalogue here and native apps for smart TVs and cars. It moved to a subscription for most of it, which is why so many of the sites on this page exist. If you want breadth and do not mind paying, it is still the one.
Codenames Online
The official, free Codenames
The real board game, free, from its publisher. Nothing else to it: make a room, share the link, pick sides. Our own Codewords is the same shape of game with a room that moves on to other games afterwards; if Codenames is the only game you want, play the original.
Which one for which group
- Six people, one sofa, a TV. Any of the phones-as-controllers sites. Join Me Games and Gaming Couch if the group wants to compete; Kwishetwel if it wants a quiz; AirConsole if someone already subscribes.
- The same six on a call. GameBuddies or Game Night Central were built for exactly this. Gartic Phone for the drawing. Join Me Games works too, because every phone shows the game.
- Kids, grandparents, or two languages at the table. The games with no reading: Join Me Games’s arcade and puzzle games, Gaming Couch. Drawing games are next best.
- A classroom or an office. Kahoot! first; Kwishetwel for a night that should feel like a show.
- Two people, or one. Most party sites want more. Two can open a Codenames Online room, though a proper game wants four; every game on Join Me Games plays two, or one with bots, the drawing and trivia games included.
Questions
- What is the best free alternative to Jackbox?
- It depends on the room. Around a TV: Join Me Games or Gaming Couch, both free with phones as controllers. On a video call: GameBuddies (it has video chat built in) or Game Night Central (the biggest free library). For drawing: Gartic Phone, or Doodle Roar on Join Me Games when you are short of players, because bots fill the seats. For a quiz: Kwishetwel or Kahoot!, or Knockout Trivia on Join Me Games when nobody wants to write one or host it.
- Which games like Jackbox need no download at all?
- All of the sites on this page run in the browser with nothing to install. Kahoot! and AirConsole also offer apps, but neither needs one to play.
- Which ones use phones as controllers with a TV, the way Jackbox does?
- Join Me Games, Gaming Couch, PadlessBox, Kwishetwel, Kahoot! and AirConsole. Join Me Games and PadlessBox also work with no TV at all, and Kahoot! can show the questions on players' devices; Join Me Games is the one whose race games show every other player's board on your phone.
- Can these be played over Zoom or Discord?
- Yes, all of them. The ones built for it (GameBuddies, Game Night Central, Gartic Phone, Skribbl.io, Codenames Online) need nothing extra. The TV-shaped ones (Gaming Couch, Kwishetwel, Kahoot!, AirConsole) work when the host shares the big-screen page on the call. Join Me Games works either way.
- Is Jackbox itself ever the right pick?
- Sometimes. Fib Fact on Join Me Games covers the fake-answer kind, but for Quiplash-style jokes nothing free matches Jackbox's writing yet. Jackbox sells packs of games and some single games; prices are on their site.
About this list
Everything above was read off each site on 30 September 2026. Prices and player counts change; if one has, the contact page reaches the person who will fix it. Join Me Games is ours, and the page that compares it with Jackbox directly says where each is better. Jackbox and The Jackbox Party Pack are trademarks of Jackbox Games, Inc.; the other names belong to their owners; none of them is affiliated with Join Me Games.