Learning and careers decision
Quiz API
A competent developer can replace a useful subset (API, embeds, analytics, leaderboards) in a multi-week build using existing open-source form/quiz projects, but matching the hosted product's AI quality, scale, embed polish, and support is unlikely without ongoing investment.
Visit website↗Built by Bobby Iliev, who ships 4 products in this index
$1.99/mo
$24/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off52 h to build
$55/mo6 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 32 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Quiz API alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Provide a small REST API to serve quizzes and questions; integrate an LLM for AI question generation (or a deterministic generator); build an embeddable JS widget to render quizzes and post results; store plays, scores and question-level metrics in Postgres and expose analytics endpoints; implement a simple leaderboard service with XP/streak calculation and webhooks.
What it still won’t have
- Production-hardened AI generation tuning and content moderation
- Priority support, SLA, and scale-ready infrastructure
- Polished embed themes and cross-browser testing
- Built-in advanced analytics dashboards and many webhook endpoints
- Brand, marketplace, and existing user base
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 32 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a self-hosted quiz API and embed widget using Node.js (Express) + TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and React for the embed. Core features in scope: REST endpoints for quizzes/questions/plays, API key authentication, LLM-backed question generation via OpenAI (configurable), embeddable JS widget to render quizzes and submit answers, leaderboard calculations (XP/streaks), basic analytics endpoints (plays, avg score, completion rate), webhook delivery for plays, and OpenAPI spec. Out of scope: multi-tenant billing portal, enterprise SSO, and mobile SDKs. Include error handling, input validation, tests (unit + integration), Docker-based deployment, and migration scripts.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- Evidence score63
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productQuizAPI - Developer-First Quiz Platform
- official pricingQuizAPI Pricing (excerpt)
- official docsQuizAPI Docs – Quick Start
- open sourcedidi/xiaoju-survey repository
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
