Kahoot! alternative
Open-source Kahoot alternative: free and self-hostable
Yes — Buzrr is a free, open-source Kahoot alternative: a host screen, a room code, and everyone answering on their phones against the clock. Its code is public under AGPL-3.0, so you can also run it on your own server.
What is Buzrr?
Buzrr is an open-source quiz platform that runs in the browser. A host builds a multiple-choice quiz — by hand or with AI — and opens a live room; players join from their own phones or laptops with a 6-character code, a link or a QR code, without creating an account. Signed-in users can also play ranked 1v1 quiz battles. Buzrr is licensed under AGPL-3.0, so anyone can read the code or run their own instance.
Why people look for a Kahoot alternative
They want the code
Kahoot! is a closed, hosted product. Schools, universities and companies that need to audit a tool, keep data on their own infrastructure or adapt it to their needs can't do that with a proprietary service.
They want a free tier that fits
Plan limits and features differ by account type and region. People who only need a simple live multiple-choice game often look for something with a free plan that covers it.
They want something between classes and game night
Kahoot! targets schools, business and home separately. Buzrr has one product: the same account hosts a lesson review on Monday and a trivia night on Friday.
Buzrr vs Kahoot, feature by feature
Need the details before switching? The Buzrr vs Kahoot feature and pricing comparison puts both tools side by side — pricing, free plan limits, self-hosting, offline / lan use, ai quiz generation, 1v1 duels / ranked play — with a source for every Kahoot! claim.
What you get by switching to Buzrr
Your own instance
Buzrr's web app, game server and AI service are on GitHub under AGPL-3.0. Self-hosted instances run with billing off and Pro limits.
Ranked 1v1 quiz battles
Beyond hosted rooms, signed-in players can queue for seven-question 1v1 battles matched by ELO rating, or invite a friend to an unrated match.
Cited AI questions
Upload PDFs, Word documents, text or Markdown to an AI Knowledge Space and generate questions that cite the passage they came from.
Questions on every player's screen
Players see the question text, image and options on their own device, so the game still works when people can't see the projector.
Buzrr features you'd use
Live hosted quiz rooms
The host runs the room from one screen and moves it along question by question. Players join with a 6-character room code, a join link or a QR code.
No accounts for players
Players pick a name and an avatar and they are in. Only the host signs in (with Google).
Speed-based scoring
A correct answer earns up to 1,000 points, sliding to 100 at the time limit; wrong answers score 0. Answer time is measured on the server, not on the player's device.
Ranked 1v1 quiz battles
Seven questions against one opponent, matched by ELO rating. If nobody near your rating is queuing, you get a bot opponent instead of an empty wait.
Quizzes from your documents
Upload PDF, DOCX, TXT or Markdown files to an AI Knowledge Space. Generated questions cite the passage they came from, and you export the ones you keep into a quiz.
AI quiz generation
Describe a topic and Buzrr drafts up to 15 multiple-choice questions with Google Gemini. Edit anything before you host.
Answer charts and leaderboards
When a question closes, the host screen shows how the room answered alongside the running leaderboard. Final results — rank, score and correct answers per player — are saved to the host's history.
Reconnects keep scores
If a player's connection drops mid-game, they can rejoin and keep their score.
Image questions
Attach an image to a question — a diagram, a map, a logo, a photo round.
How Buzrr works
- 1
Build a quiz. Sign in, create a quiz and add multiple-choice questions with a time limit each — or generate a draft with AI and edit it.
- 2
Open a room. Hit Host. Buzrr creates a room with a 6-character code, a join link and a QR code for the big screen.
- 3
Players join. Players open the link or enter the code on their own device, pick a name and avatar, and appear in your lobby.
- 4
Play it live. Start the game. Each question runs on a server-side timer and closes early once everyone has answered. The host screen then shows the answer chart and running leaderboard, and you move on when the room is ready.
- 5
Keep the results. The final leaderboard is saved to your history with each player's rank, score and correct answers.
Who Buzrr suits — and who it doesn't
Buzrr is a good fit if…
- You run live multiple-choice quizzes and don't need other question formats.
- You want to read, audit or self-host the software.
- You like the idea of ranked 1v1 play alongside hosted rooms.
- You want to generate questions from your own documents with citations.
Stay with Kahoot! if…
- You rely on self-paced challenges or homework assignments — Buzrr is live only.
- You need question types beyond single-answer multiple choice.
- You need video in questions — Buzrr supports images only.
- You want an established product with a large existing content library.
What it looks like
Kahoot alternative FAQ
- Is there an open-source alternative to Kahoot?
- Yes. Buzrr is an open-source live quiz platform under the AGPL-3.0 license. Like Kahoot!, a host shows questions on a big screen while players answer on their own devices after joining with a code, and faster correct answers score more.
- Can I self-host a Kahoot-style quiz?
- Yes, with Buzrr. One docker compose up runs the whole stack — web app, game server, PostgreSQL and Redis — on your own machine or server, with billing off and Pro limits.
- Is Buzrr free?
- Yes. The hosted free plan has no time limit and allows rooms of 50 players; Buzrr Pro raises the limits. Self-hosting is free.
- What can't Buzrr do that Kahoot! can?
- Buzrr has no self-paced or homework mode, no video in questions, and only single-answer multiple-choice questions. If you rely on those, Kahoot! is the better fit.
Kahoot! facts checked October 2026.
What people use Buzrr for
- Live quizzes for the classroomPut a code on the projector, students join from their phones or school laptops, and you run a quick review or a revision game in the time it takes to take attendance.
- Quick quizzes for team buildingA Friday quiz, an all-hands icebreaker, an offsite warm-up. Drop the join link in chat and the whole team is playing inside a minute, remote or in the room.
- Knowledge checks for training sessionsTurn a training document into a live quiz at the end of the session: generate questions from the material, check what landed, and keep the whole thing on your own servers if you need to.
Other alternatives and comparisons
- Quizizz (now Wayground) alternativeFor people who used Quizizz for its live quiz game, now that it has become Wayground.
- Wayground alternativeA focused, open-source live quiz game instead of a full teaching platform.
- Slido alternativeFor Slido quiz, trivia and game sessions — not its Q&A or polls.
- Mentimeter alternativeA standalone quiz game instead of quiz slides inside a presentation.
- QuizUp alternativeRanked 1v1 battles of seven timed questions, in the browser — QuizUp shut down in 2021.
- Buzrr vs Kahoot!Pricing, free limits, self-hosting, offline use, joining, AI and 1v1 play side by side.
Open source and self-hosting
Run your first Buzrr quiz
Sign in with Google, build or generate a quiz, and put the code on the screen. Players don't need an account.
Kahoot! is a trademark of its owner. Buzrr is not affiliated with Kahoot!. See also Buzrr pricing.