Gimkit vs Kahoot!: pricing, features and which to choose

Gimkit began as a high school project by Josh Feinsilber, who wanted a review game that held students' attention longer than standard quiz apps. The company says it has no ads and no outside investors. Its users are K-12 teachers, tutors and some college instructors who run live review sessions, homework practice and test prep. Students join with a game code on any device with a browser, and they do not need accounts to play. The core idea separates Gimkit from Kahoot: instead of racing to answer first, students earn virtual cash for correct answers and spend it on power-ups and upgrades, which adds strategy and keeps everyone answering.

Teachers build kits, which are question sets with multiple choice or typed answers, images and, on paid plans, audio. Kits can be written from scratch, imported from a spreadsheet template, pasted from flashcard sites or copied from the public Question Bank. KitCollab lets students submit questions to a kit before a game, with the teacher approving each one. Game modes range from the Classic cash mode and team play to 2D modes where students move around a map, capture flags or survive as a group while answering questions. Teachers can also send Assignments, which students complete on their own time, with reports showing accuracy for each question and student.

Gimkit's strengths are its strategy-based gameplay, a wide range of game modes, AI question generation, student-written questions through KitCollab and an ad-free model. Its weaknesses are a free tier limited to a few rotating modes, an AI generator that cannot work from uploaded material and a game style that can feel competitive for some classes. Kahoot is the best-known live quiz tool. Blooket offers similar cash-and-power-up games with a lower Plus price. Quizlet focuses on flashcards and study modes. Wayground, formerly Quizizz, adds lessons and AI. Choose Gimkit if you want review games that reward strategy and keep every student answering.

Kahoot! is a learning and engagement platform developed by the Kahoot! Group, headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The company was founded in 2012 by Morten Versvik, Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker, Alf Inge Wang, and Åsmund Furuseth, then launched publicly in 2013. Kahoot! says its platform has hosted more than 14 billion cumulative participants since launch, while more than 10 million educators hosted a kahoot during the past 12 months. It serves school, workplace, family, and community use cases. The company was publicly traded on Oslo Børs from 2021 until its acquisition led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, General Atlantic, KIRKBI, and other investors. The acquisition concluded with delisting in January 2024.

A typical session begins with a teacher, trainer, or host selecting an existing kahoot or creating one in the editor. The host can run it live, assign it for self-study, or use courses and presentations to structure a longer learning activity. Participants join from a device, often with a nickname rather than a personal account, then answer quizzes, true-or-false questions, puzzles, polls, slides, or flashcards. Kahoot! provides reports after sessions, including participant and question results. Its library contains ready-made games, while paid plans add broader question types, presentation features, participant capacity, and content creation options. The workflow is quick for short checks of understanding, although the game format can make deeper written assessment less central.

Kahoot!’s strongest case is fast, energetic participation, but participant caps and plan gates matter for larger classes, richer question types, and presentation-heavy teaching. Its AI output also needs review because Kahoot! warns that generated material can be inaccurate, while prompts or uploaded text are sent to Microsoft for processing in relevant features. Wayground offers broader assessment formats and student-paced work, Gimkit centers more heavily on game mechanics, and Nearpod emphasizes interactive lessons and presentations. Kahoot! is a weaker fit for teachers seeking extensive written assessment or self-hosting, and the company does not publish a public general API. Its school plans range from free access for 40 participants to custom pricing. Choose Kahoot! if live participation, quick checks, and familiar game-based sessions are your priority.