Kahoot vs Plickers: student devices or paper cards?

• Cards vs devices

  Each Plickers student gets a numbered printed card and turns it so A, B, C or D is on top; the teacher scans the room with the Plickers app and the answers appear instantly. Kahoot players answer on phones, tablets or laptops, and Kahoot's device-free Unplugged modes arrived in September 2026.

• Quiet check vs live game

  Plickers is built for fast, low-key checks: the question sits on the projector, and classmates can't easily read each other's cards. Kahoot turns questions into a timed game with speed points, music and a leaderboard after every question.

• Class size

  The 63-student limit in Plickers is fixed by the number of card patterns, so it applies on Free and Pro alike. Kahoot's caps depend on the plan: 40 players free for K-12 teacher accounts, then 50, 100, 200 or 800.

• Questions and set length

  Plickers handles multiple choice with up to 4 options, true/false and polls, and free sets stop at 5 questions. Kahoot offers 13+ types — puzzle, type answer, slider, word cloud and more on paid tiers — and up to 6 answers per question from Bronze.

• Tracking students over time

  Every Plickers card is assigned to a student on your class roster (importable from Google Classroom), so results build up per student, with CSV export. Kahoot players pick a nickname for each game; reports are basic on the free plan and downloadable from Bronze.

As of October 2026, Plickers is free for unlimited classes of up to 63 students, but free question sets hold only 5 questions; Plickers Pro costs $8.99 month to month or $71.88 a year ($5.99 a month), with a 14-day free trial, and schools can buy group licenses at $71.88 per user per year with bulk discounts. Kahoot Bronze costs $36 a year for 50 players and Silver $84 for 100, both billed annually; bigger groups need Gold ($144, 200 players) or Kahoot! One ($228, 800). For a class of up to 50, Kahoot Bronze is the cheaper annual plan; Plickers is the one you can pay month to month, and with a single paid tier its price stays the same up to its fixed 63-student limit.

• your students have devices and you want a fast, lively, competitive game
• your groups are bigger than 63
• you need question types beyond multiple choice and true/false
• you want AI to draft quizzes from a topic or a PDF (paid plans)
• you also run quizzes for adults, at work or at events

• your students don't have devices, or phones aren't allowed in class
• you teach young children and want no logins and no screens for students
• you want per-student results over time without student accounts
• you'd rather pay monthly ($8.99) or a low yearly price ($71.88)
• you want a calm check for understanding rather than a race

• you run live, game-show style quizzes and want one simple price: $9/month, billed monthly
• your groups are big — up to 500 players per game
• players should be able to read every question on their own phone (large rooms, hybrid and video calls)
• you don't need homework, self-paced or presentation features

Plickers is the specialist for device-free classrooms: printed cards, one phone scan and per-student data for up to 63 students. Kahoot is the better tool once students have devices, with a real game, many more question types and much larger groups — and its Unplugged modes now give it a device-free option too. With a device in every hand and groups of up to 500, Quizzo offers a third route: live multiple-choice games at $9/month, billed monthly.