A Kahoot Alternative Built for Self-Paced Quizzes
Kahoot is excellent at live, energetic game sessions. If what you mostly need is a quiz generated from your own notes, PDF, or video that students take on their own time, without an account, SimpleQuizMaker does that with a free plan and a $2.99/month Student plan.
No credit card required · 5 free AI quiz generations/month
Quick answer: Kahoot or SimpleQuizMaker?
Choose Kahoot for live classroom games; choose SimpleQuizMaker for AI-generated, self-paced quizzes built from your own material that students take without an account.
Key differences
- Free plan: Kahoot: Yes (Kahoot! Go); SimpleQuizMaker: Yes, no card, no expiry
- Cheapest paid plan: Kahoot: Bronze, $36/year; SimpleQuizMaker: Student, $2.99/mo or $29.99/yr
- Top individual plan: Kahoot: Kahoot! One, $228/year (annual only); SimpleQuizMaker: Student, $29.99/yr
- AI generation on free plan: Kahoot: No; SimpleQuizMaker: 5 quizzes/month
- AI from PDF: Kahoot: Bronze: 3 pages; Silver/Gold: up to 150 pages; SimpleQuizMaker: Student plan (PDF, Word, images)
Why Teachers Switch From Kahoot
Where Kahoot falls short for quiz-first work
The free plan has no AI generation
Kahoot's free plan (Kahoot! Go) lists no AI features. AI creation from PDFs and URLs starts on Kahoot!+ Bronze, and Bronze's PDF generator is limited to 3 pages.
Free reports are very thin
On the free plan, Kahoot lists "basic reports" with access limited to 3 participants, which makes it hard to review how a whole class did.
Player caps on every tier
Games are capped by plan: 40 participants on free, 50 on Bronze, 100 on Silver, 200 on Gold, and 800 on Kahoot! One.
Many question types are paywalled
Free covers quiz, true/false, and images as answers. Type answer, open-ended, slider, and brainstorm only arrive on Gold ($12/month), and free-form types require students aged 16+.
Long PDFs need a higher tier
Generating from a document of up to 150 pages requires Silver or above; files of any length are a Kahoot! One feature, which is billed annually only at $228/year.
Free kahoots cannot be private
Kahoot lists "cannot create private kahoots" as a limitation of the free Go plan.
What SimpleQuizMaker Does Better
What SimpleQuizMaker does differently
AI generation on the free plan
Free includes 5 AI quiz generations per month from pasted text or an AI topic, up to 10 questions each, with no card and no trial expiry.
Generate from almost any source on Student
For $2.99/month, upload PDFs, Word files, or images (with OCR), paste a website URL, or use a YouTube video up to 45 minutes, and get up to 100 questions per quiz.
Students need no account
Share a public link; students enter a name and take the quiz self-paced on any device. Submissions on shared quizzes are unlimited, even on free.
Per-student results and per-question stats
See each student's submission and which questions the class got wrong, so the quiz works as a real check for understanding.
Export to print, Word, or Google Forms
The Student plan exports a printable PDF with answer key, a Word file, or a Google Form, and can assign to Google Classroom.
Study tools beyond quizzes
AI flashcards with spaced repetition, AI study notes, an AI Tutor that cites sources, and the Letter Wheel game are in the same account.
SimpleQuizMaker vs Kahoot
Side-by-side feature comparison
| Feature | Kahoot | SimpleQuizMaker |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes (Kahoot! Go) | Yes, no card, no expiry |
| Cheapest paid plan | Bronze, $36/year | Student, $2.99/mo or $29.99/yr |
| Top individual plan | Kahoot! One, $228/year (annual only) | Student, $29.99/yr |
| AI generation on free plan | 5 quizzes/month | |
| AI from PDF | Bronze: 3 pages; Silver/Gold: up to 150 pages | Student plan (PDF, Word, images) |
| AI from website URL | Bronze and up | Student plan |
| AI from YouTube video | Not listed on plans page | Student plan, up to 45 min |
| Live hosted game with host screen | ||
| Self-paced / assigned quizzes | ||
| Participants per session | 40 free, up to 800 on One | Unlimited submissions on shared quizzes |
| Reports on free plan | Basic, limited to 3 participants | Per-student results + per-question stats |
| Short-answer / typed questions | Gold and up | Included (short answer, fill-in-the-blank) |
| Printable PDF with answer key | Not listed on plans page | Student plan |
| School / district licences | Yes (Kahoot! EDU, quote) |
Get Started in 60 Seconds
No setup, no credit card, no learning curve
Upload or paste
Add a PDF, image, DOCX, or paste text from your lesson material
AI generates quiz
Our AI reads the content and creates questions with answer keys instantly
Share & track
Send the link to students and watch results come in with full analytics
Popular Use Cases
Homework quizzes students finish on their own schedule, with no login
Turning a chapter PDF or lecture handout into a 20-50 question practice quiz
Quick comprehension checks after assigning a YouTube video
Printed quizzes with an answer key for classrooms without devices
Students building their own revision quizzes and flashcards from class notes
Tutors sending a quiz link to learners and reviewing each person's answers
Kahoot vs SimpleQuizMaker — The Honest Verdict
When each tool actually wins — no marketing spin.
An illustrative switching scenario
A composite example of moving from Kahoot, not a specific customer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kahoot free?
Kahoot has a free plan, Kahoot! Go, with up to 40 participants per game, basic reports limited to 3 participants, and no AI features. SimpleQuizMaker's free plan includes 5 AI quiz generations per month and unlimited student submissions on shared quizzes.
How much does Kahoot cost for teachers?
Kahoot lists Kahoot!+ Bronze at $36/year, Silver at $84/year, Gold at $144/year, and Kahoot! One at $228/year (annual billing only for One). School and district licences are quoted separately. SimpleQuizMaker Student is $2.99/month or $29.99/year, excluding VAT.
Can SimpleQuizMaker run live games like Kahoot?
No. SimpleQuizMaker has no live hosted game mode with a host screen and music. If a synchronous, whole-class game show is the point, Kahoot is the better tool.
Do students need an account?
Not on SimpleQuizMaker: students open the shared link, enter a name, and take the quiz at their own pace on any device.
Can I make a quiz from a PDF?
Yes, on the Student plan you can upload a PDF, Word document, or image and generate up to 100 questions. On Kahoot, PDF generation starts on Bronze with a 3-page limit and goes up to 150 pages on Silver and Gold.
Does SimpleQuizMaker work with Google Classroom?
Yes, paid plans can assign quizzes to Google Classroom, and you can also export to Google Forms, Word, or a printable PDF with answer key. There is no native Canvas or Blackboard sync.
Ready to Try the Best Kahoot Alternative?
Join teachers and trainers who generate AI quizzes from their own content in seconds.
Create a Free Quiz — Sign UpChoose Kahoot for live classroom games; choose SimpleQuizMaker for AI-generated, self-paced quizzes built from your own material that students take without an account.