The Trivia API vs Open Trivia DB
Open Trivia DB is a free, community-built question database that needs no sign-up. The Trivia API has more questions and adds the features a quiz game needs next.
What each API does well
What Open Trivia DB does well
- Free for everything, with no sign-up or key.
- Questions are CC BY-SA, so you can use them commercially as long as you credit Open Trivia DB and share alike.
- True/false questions, which The Trivia API doesn't have.
- Free session tokens that stop questions repeating.
- Anyone can submit questions to it.
What The Trivia API adds
- Almost three times as many approved questions.
- Typed-answer questions, with an LLM that marks what players type. We haven't found another trivia API that does this.
- Hints and explanations on almost every question, free without a key.
- Image questions and translations into 8 more languages.
- Semantic search, saved quizzes, and filtering by tag or region.
- A typed npm package and an MCP server for AI assistants.
Side by side
| Feature | The Trivia API | Open Trivia DB |
|---|---|---|
| Approved questions | 15,321 Source | 5,299 Source |
| Question types | Multiple choice for everyone. Typed answer and image choice (1,094 image questions) on the Complete plan. No true/false. Source | Multiple choice and true/false Source |
| Languages | English for everyone. Spanish, Dutch, Hindi, Turkish, French, German, Russian and Portuguese on the Complete plan. Source | English only 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 | Session tokens stop questions repeating. Free, with no key. Deleted after 6 hours without use. 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 typed-answer questions 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 Source |
| Family-friendly filter | contentFilter=family leaves out the 521 questions marked as adult content. No key needed. Source | No Source |
| SDK and AI tools | A typed npm package (@trivia-api/sdk) and an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and other AI assistants. Source | No official SDK or MCP server Source |
| API key | Not needed for English multiple choice questions. Other features need an X-API-Key header. Source | Never needed Source |
| Licence | CC BY-NC 4.0: commercial use needs a paid plan Source | CC BY-SA 4.0 Source |
| Pricing | Free for non-commercial use. Paid plans for commercial use. Source | Free 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.