A free Kahoot alternative for friends: trivia with a fight in it
Kahoot! is the quiz for a classroom. This is the one for a living room or a call.
The short version
Kahoot! is the best-known quiz tool there is, and it was built for teachers and trainers first: somebody writes a quiz, or picks one from an enormous library, puts it on a big screen or shares it on a call, and the room answers on phones. If that is your evening, a class, a team meeting, a quiz about your own subject, use Kahoot!. Nothing here replaces it.
Knockout Trivia is for the other occasion: friends who want to play trivia tonight without anyone preparing a quiz or standing at the front. Everyone answers on their own phone, the host plays too, and a wrong answer is not just a lost point: at the bottom of the ring it puts you in a 20-second arcade or puzzle duel for your place in the game. It is free, with nothing to install.
Side by side
| Knockout Trivia | Kahoot! | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Friends: a living room, a group chat, a call | Classrooms, training and events |
| Price | Free, with ads. Optional Party Pass. | Free for a small group; paid plans above that |
| The questions | Ten packs of 200+ each, written for the site | Write your own, or pick from an enormous library of ready-made quizzes |
| Where the question shows | On every phone; a TV is optional | On a big screen or a shared screen the host provides; it can be shown on players’ devices as well |
| How players join | A link, a QR code or a short code, in the browser | A game PIN, a link or a QR code, in the browser or the app |
| Somebody to run it | Nobody: the host plays too | A host launches the quiz and presents it, or sets it as a self-paced challenge |
| A wrong answer | At the bottom of the ring, a 20-second arcade or puzzle duel for your place | No points for that question |
| Who wins | The last boxer left in the ring | The most points. In the classic game a faster right answer scores more; an accuracy mode scores on being right alone |
| Players | 2 or more, no set limit; bots fill seats, and it plays solo | Ten to thousands, depending on the plan |
| Accounts | None. Guests are in with one tap. | None for players; an account for whoever hosts |
What is different about the game
In a quiz, a wrong answer costs you points and the leaders pull away. Here there are no points. Everyone starts in the ring; when someone in the ring gets one wrong, there is a duel, twenty seconds of an arcade or puzzle game drawn at random, and the loser goes to the bench. The bench keeps answering, and a right answer from the bench when the ring gets one wrong is a fight to get back in. The last boxer standing wins.
So the person who knows the most does not simply win, and the person who knows the least still has a way through: be quick with your thumbs. That is the point of it for a mixed group, the trivia buff, the kid and the one who came for the snacks.
When Kahoot! is still the right pick
- You are teaching or training. It is built for that, and the quiz is yours to write.
- The questions have to be about your subject. A lesson, a product, a wedding couple. Ours come from fixed packs.
- The room is huge. A conference hall, a school assembly. Knockout Trivia has no player limit, but every phone talks to the host’s, so a crowd that size is Kahoot!’s ground.
- You want a score for everyone at the end. A quiz ranks the whole room; a knockout crowns one.
When Knockout Trivia is the right pick
- Nobody wants to be the quizmaster. There is nothing to prepare and nobody stands at the front. The host picks a pack and plays.
- There is no shared screen. Every phone has the question, so it works round a table, in a car park, or on a call with nobody sharing. When there is a screen, any browser on it will do.
- The group is mixed. The duels give the ones who do not know the capital of anywhere a way to stay in.
- You are two, or one. Alone, a bot steps in, and the host can add up to three, each with a subject it knows and one it does not.
- You want something else afterwards. The room stays open; the host picks another game and nobody rejoins.
The questions
Ten packs. Each has a page with twenty of its questions to try, the answers a tap away:
Questions
- Is there a free Kahoot alternative for playing trivia with friends?
- Knockout Trivia on Join Me Games is free: ten packs of questions, everyone on their own phone, nothing to install and no account. It is made for a group of friends rather than a class. For a classroom or a training session, Kahoot! itself is the better tool.
- Can I write my own questions?
- Not here. The questions come from ten packs written for the site, 200+ in each. If the point is your own quiz, about your subject or your company, use Kahoot!: that is what it is built for.
- Do we need a TV or a shared screen?
- No. Every phone shows the question and its four answers, so it works on a sofa, round a table or on a call with nobody sharing a screen. If there is a TV, any browser on it shows the ring, the bench and every duel.
- How many people can play?
- Two or more, with no set limit: everyone in the room when the host starts plays. Alone, a bot steps in so there is someone to fight, and the host can add up to three. Kahoot! caps the room by plan: a small group on its free plan, and into the thousands on its paid ones.
- Is it suitable for children?
- Every question is family-safe, and there is a Kids pack pitched for younger players. The arcade duels are the same games that are on the rest of the site.
- Is this made by Kahoot?
- No. Kahoot! is a trademark of its owner. Join Me Games is an independent site by Be Apped, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Kahoot!.
Try it
Open Knockout Trivia, press Play, and share the code. For the wider field, quiz tools included, every free alternative compared; and if it was Jackbox’s trivia you were after, the Jackbox comparison.
Kahoot! is a trademark of its owner; Join Me Games is not affiliated with it. Its plans and features are as described in Kahoot!’s own help pages on 3 October 2026 and may change; prices are on their site.