Beyond Kahoot: full facilitation, not just quiz games
Kahoot popularized game-based quizzes and does it well. But when your session needs live polls, ranked collective decisions, whiteboards, slide presentations and structured forms — all from one EU-hosted workspace — MentorSparks is built for that whole session, not just the quiz moment.
Same quiz energy. A much bigger toolkit.
- Norwegian company, but acquired by Goldman Sachs-backed private equity — servers in the US/global
- Built around gamified multiple-choice quizzes — excellent at what it does
- Participants need to create a nickname and join via kahoot.it
- Business plans start at ~€10/user/month — scales per seat
- No whiteboard, no collective ranked voting, no break countdowns, no decision wheels
- Basic polls and open-ended questions available, but quiz is the core product
- Strong content library of pre-built kahoots for training
- EU-hosted (Systementor AB, Sweden) — GDPR sovereign by design
- SparkQuiz delivers the same Kahoot-style game energy: timers, streaks, podium, leaderboard
- Participants join instantly via QR or link — no account, no app download
- Flat plan pricing — not per-seat
- Live polls, Slides, Collective Voting, Whiteboards, Forms, Wheels, Countdowns — all included
- Purpose-built for workshop and training facilitation, not classroom gaming
- Build your own content from scratch in minutes
MentorSparks vs Kahoot: the full table
What Kahoot is great at — and where it ends — compared to a full facilitation workspace.
| Feature / Capability | MentorSparks | Kahoot! |
|---|---|---|
| Quiz & Game Features | ||
| Timed multiple-choice quiz | Yes — SparkQuiz | Yes — core strength |
| Live leaderboard during quiz | Yes | Yes |
| Streak bonuses for consecutive correct answers | Yes | Yes |
| Podium reveal at end of quiz | Yes | Yes |
| Host-controlled answer reveal | Yes | Yes |
| Quiz embedded in slides/presentation | Yes — via Slides module | Limited integration |
| Pre-built public content library | No — build your own | Yes — large library |
| AI quiz generation | Not yet | Yes — Kahoot AI |
| Live Polls & Interaction | ||
| Live multiple-choice polls (standalone) | Yes — core feature | Limited outside quiz flow |
| Ranked / prioritization voting | Full Borda collective voting | No |
| Open-ended / free-text collection | Via Forms | Open-ended questions in quiz |
| Decision wheels / random picker | Yes | No |
| Presentations & Facilitation | ||
| Built-in slide presentations | Yes — synchronized display | No native slide mode |
| Speaker notes | Yes | No |
| Whiteboard / visual collaboration | Yes — built-in | No |
| Break countdowns | Yes — with pixel canvas | No |
| Structured forms (multi-field input) | Yes | No |
| Participation & Access | ||
| Participants join without an account | Yes — anonymous by default | Yes — nickname only |
| Join via QR code | Yes — on every item | Yes |
| Mobile app for participants | Browser-based only | Yes — Kahoot app |
| Host/presenter app | Browser-based only | Yes |
| Privacy & Data Sovereignty | ||
| Servers physically in the EU | Yes — Sweden | US/global infrastructure |
| No third-party tracking scripts | Yes — zero trackers | Uses analytics & tracking |
| GDPR sovereign (no Schrems II risk) | Yes | SCC-dependent |
| No participant behavioral profiling | Yes | Kahoot profiles learner behavior |
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes — real sessions | Yes — limited |
| Pricing model | Flat plan | Per-user licensing |
| Business plan per user/month | Not per-seat | ~€10–€20/user/month |
Kahoot profiles learner behavior. MentorSparks doesn't.
Kahoot's business model has expanded into learning analytics and behavioral profiling. The platform tracks individual participant performance over time, building learner profiles used to power its enterprise analytics products. For organizations running sessions with employees or students, this means participant data is being processed for purposes well beyond your session.
MentorSparks collects nothing beyond what is functionally necessary. Participants join anonymously, responses are tied to the session only, and there is no learner profile, no behavioral data sold to third parties, and no data transferred outside the EU.
Quiz game vs. full facilitation workspace
- A full session toolkit: quiz + polls + slides + whiteboard + voting
- Kahoot-style game energy via SparkQuiz, with no Kahoot license
- EU-hosted data with zero behavioral profiling of participants
- Ranked group decisions (collective voting with Borda scoring)
- Workshop facilitation that goes beyond quizzes
- A tool designed for trainers and facilitators, not the classroom gaming market
- Predictable flat pricing as your facilitation team grows
- You primarily run quiz-format learning with no need for broader facilitation tools
- The pre-built Kahoot content library saves your team meaningful prep time
- Your organization has already licensed Kahoot at enterprise level
- AI quiz generation from text/PDFs is a priority for your team
- You need native mobile apps for participants on managed devices
Same game energy as Kahoot — built into your facilitation workspace
SparkQuiz was built explicitly to replicate what makes Kahoot compelling in a room: the timer pressure, the leaderboard drama, the podium moment. Participants pick nicknames, compete on timed questions, earn streak bonuses, and watch a real-time leaderboard update between rounds.
The difference is context. After a SparkQuiz round you can immediately pivot to a live poll, open a whiteboard, run a ranked collective vote, or move into your slide deck — all without leaving MentorSparks or asking participants to switch tools.
- Timed questions with animated countdown
- Live leaderboard between questions
- Streak multiplier bonuses
- Podium transition + final leaderboard reveal
- Host controls pace — advance manually or on timer
- Seamlessly chained with polls, whiteboards and slides
A full training session has 6 different needs. Kahoot covers 1.
Real workshops move through phases: knowledge check, current-state polling, prioritization, open brainstorming, a break, and a structured close. Kahoot is designed for the knowledge-check moment. The rest of that agenda requires you to switch to separate tools, manage multiple tabs, and ask participants to keep up across different join flows.
MentorSparks is designed for the whole agenda. You can run SparkQuiz for the knowledge check, then pivot to a live poll, then open collective voting, then drop the group into a whiteboard — all from one host workspace, one participant link.
- One host workspace for all session moments
- One participant link — no re-joining between activities
- Real-time switching between interaction types
- No tool-switching tax on participants
Kahoot licensing vs MentorSparks flat plans
Kahoot's per-user model means cost grows with every trainer you add. MentorSparks doesn't penalize you for having a bigger facilitation team.
5 trainers on Pro = ~€100/month just for quiz capability. No whiteboard, no collective voting, no slides at any tier.
SparkQuiz, Slides, Collective Voting, Whiteboards, Wheels, Countdowns and Forms — all included at every paid tier.
Start FreeFrequently asked when comparing with Kahoot
Get Kahoot-style game energy plus everything else your training session needs.
Start with SparkQuiz. Add polls, whiteboards, collective voting and slides as your sessions grow. All in one EU-hosted workspace, free to start.