The Trivia API vs API Ninjas
API Ninjas' Trivia API is one of many APIs behind a single key, and returns a question with its answer. The Trivia API is built for quiz games, with answer options, hints and much more.
What each API does well
What API Ninjas does well
- Over 100,000 questions on paid plans, many more than The Trivia API.
- A trivia-of-the-day endpoint that gives every user the same question each day.
- A safe filter on paid plans that leaves out explicit or crude questions.
- One key works for dozens of other APIs, from weather to finance.
- An MCP server, and uptime SLAs on paid plans.
What The Trivia API adds
- Three wrong answers with every multiple-choice question, so you don't have to write your own.
- English multiple-choice questions for free, with no key or sign-up.
- Difficulty levels, and category filters without paying.
- Typed-answer checking, hints and explanations, and no-repeat sessions.
- Image questions, translations and semantic search.
- A typed npm package as well as an MCP server.
Side by side
| Feature | The Trivia API | API Ninjas |
|---|---|---|
| Approved questions | 15,321 Source | Over 100,000 on paid plans. 100 on the free plan. Source |
| Question types | Multiple choice for everyone. Typed answer and image choice (1,094 image questions) on the Complete plan. No true/false. Source | A question and its answer, with no options to pick from Source |
| Languages | English for everyone. Spanish, Dutch, Hindi, Turkish, French, German, Russian and Portuguese on the Complete plan. Source | No language option in the API Source |
| Hints and explanations | A hint to show before answering and an explanation to show after, on almost every question. In English, with no key needed. Source | No Source |
| No-repeat sessions | Pass a session id and questions never repeat. Each response says how many are left. Regular and Complete plans. Source | No Source |
| Typed-answer checking | Send what a player typed and an LLM marks it, so typos and other wordings still count. Complete plan. Source | No Source |
| Semantic search | Find questions by meaning, or ask for a random round on a topic. Complete plan. Source | No Source |
| Saved quizzes | Save a fixed set of questions under one id, so every player gets the same round. Any paid plan. Source | No Source |
| Tags and regions | Filter by tag, and add a country code for regional questions. Source | No tags or regions. 14 categories on paid plans. Source |
| Family-friendly filter | contentFilter=family leaves out the 521 questions marked as adult content. No key needed. Source | safe=true leaves out questions flagged as explicit, crude or offensive. Paid plans only. Source |
| SDK and AI tools | A typed npm package (@trivia-api/sdk) and an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and other AI assistants. Source | An MCP server for all API Ninjas APIs Source |
| API key | Not needed for English multiple choice questions. Other features need an X-API-Key header. Source | Always needed, in an X-Api-Key header Source |
| Licence | CC BY-NC 4.0: commercial use needs a paid plan Source | Proprietary terms. The free plan needs attribution. Source |
| Pricing | Free for non-commercial use. Paid plans for commercial use. Source | Free plan for non-commercial use: 3,000 calls a month, one question per call. Paid plans from $39 a month, billed yearly. Source |
| Last updated | Questions approved on 2026-11-13 Source | unknown Source |
Checked against each API's own docs and endpoints on . Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Compare samples
5 random questions from each API, exactly as they were sent.
The Trivia API
API Ninjas
API Ninjas' terms don't let a competing service show its questions, so there's no sample here.
Try API Ninjas yourself