How to Host a Pub Quiz Without Spending a Fortune on Software

You want to run a pub quiz. Maybe it's your local bar's weekly trivia night, maybe it's a one-off event for friends. Either way, you don't want to spend hundreds on software to show questions on a screen.

Here's the good news: you don't have to. And in 2026, you don't even have to write the questions yourself.

The old-school way (still works)

Pen and paper quizzes are timeless. Print question sheets, hand them out, read questions aloud, collect answer sheets, and tally scores manually.

Pros: Free, no tech needed, nostalgic charm.

Cons: Slow scoring, no live leaderboard, messy handwriting disputes, and you're stuck tallying points while everyone waits for results. Plus, someone has to write all the questions — and that's usually you, spending an hour before every quiz night.

PowerPoint / Google Slides

The DIY approach: build a slide deck with one question per slide, project it, and have players shout out or text their answers.

Pros: Free, full creative control over visuals.

Cons: No automated scoring, no player devices, you're manually tracking everything. It's a presentation, not a game. And you still have to write every question.

Kahoot

The market leader. Players download the Kahoot app, join with a code, and answer on any device. Live leaderboard, music, podium finish.

Pros: Polished experience, well-known brand, players may already have the app.

Cons: Free tier caps at 10 players. The Presenter plan that removes this limit costs $600/year. Players need to download an app and create accounts. No AI quiz generation — you write every question by hand. For a weekly pub quiz, you're spending $11.54 per session and hours of prep time.

12quiz

Built specifically for the use case Kahoot overcharges for. Same live gameplay — questions on the big screen, players answer on any device, real-time leaderboard, confetti, podium — but completely free for up to 10 players, and pay-per-session for larger groups instead of annual subscription.

What makes it different:

• AI quiz generation — type “British pub trivia”, “90s music”, or any topic and get a complete quiz in 30 seconds. You can also paste a URL or upload a PDF/Word document.
• Surprise Mode — let AI generate a quiz and launch it blind. The host doesn't see the answers, so everyone plays together.
• Free for up to 10 players with full features — no credit card needed
• $2–$10 per session for larger groups (up to 500 players) — no subscription
• No app download — players use any browser
• No player accounts — just type a nickname
• Team mode — split players into teams with a combined leaderboard
• Custom branding — add your pub's logo and colors to the quiz
• Public quiz library — browse and import community-created quizzes
• 12 languages — interface auto-detects each player's language
• Session history — review past quiz nights with detailed analytics
• Setup in under a minute — AI does the heavy lifting

For a 20-person weekly pub quiz, you'd spend about $104/year versus Kahoot's $600. And you'd save an hour of question-writing every single week. For 10 or fewer players, it's free.

Quick comparison for pub quiz hosts

The spontaneous quiz night

Here's a scenario that's only possible with AI quiz generation:

It's 8pm at the pub. Someone says “we should do a quiz!” With every other tool, that means either scrambling to write questions or giving up on the idea entirely.

With 12quiz: open the app, type “general knowledge pub trivia”, set difficulty to medium, hit generate. 30 seconds later you have 10 questions ready. Share the code, everyone joins in their browser, and you're playing within a minute. If you have 10 or fewer people, it's completely free.

With Surprise Mode, you don't even need to look at the questions first. You play along with everyone else.

Running a regular quiz night

If you host weekly trivia at your local pub, 12quiz saves you time and money every single week:

• Build a library — save your AI-generated quizzes and import from the public library. Build up a rotation of quizzes you can reuse or remix.
• Brand it — add your pub's logo and colors so it feels like your event, not a generic app.
• Team mode — split tables into teams and show the team leaderboard between rounds.
• Track your sessions — review past quiz nights with player scores, answer breakdowns, and analytics.
• Invite regulars — send email invites before each session with the join link.

My recommendation

If you're doing fewer than 5 people around a table, pen and paper is charming and free.

If you're hosting 10 or fewer people and want the energy of a live leaderboard with players competing, 12quiz is free — no credit card, no trial period, full features.

If you're hosting bigger groups, use a digital tool. But don't pay $600/year for it, and don't spend hours writing questions when AI can do it in 30 seconds. 12quiz gives you the full live quiz experience for $2–$10 per session, with AI-powered quiz creation, team mode, custom branding, and a public quiz library.