Jackbox alternatives in 2026: what's really free, what needs a download, and which one fits your group
Jackbox is the standard for party games where everyone joins on their phone, and deservedly so. But you pay per pack, someone has to run the game somewhere, and not every group wants to spend another thirty dollars after the first night. This is what is really free in 2026, what runs in the browser without a download, and which game fits which group. Including an honest word on where we do not fit.
By Roy de Bie · Updated 21 September 2026 · 8 min read
In short
- Play a round
- What Jackbox does well
- Where it pinches
- For a quiz night
- For drawing and chaos
- A console in the browser
- Side by side
- FAQ
The short answer
- Jackbox itself: one person buys a pack and runs it; players join for free through jackbox.tv in the browser.
- Really free, in the browser: Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io for drawing, Kwishetwel for a quiz show on the TV.
- Free to start, paid for more: AirConsole (a game console in the browser) and Kahoot! (quiz, free up to 10 participants).
- Pick by what your group loves: the humour of Quiplash only comes back with Jackbox; the quiz night and the drawing you can get elsewhere.
Play a round first
This is what a quiz round feels like on your phone: a question, four answers, a ticking clock. Five questions about party games, then on with the comparison.
What Jackbox does well
Jackbox Games, based in Chicago, grew out of the 1995 quiz series You Don't Know Jack and has released a Party Pack every year since October 2014, eleven of them by now. The recipe is clever: one person buys the pack and runs it on a PC or console, everyone else goes to jackbox.tv on their phone, types in the room code and plays along. No app, no account, and it works just as well remotely through a shared screen in Discord or Zoom. Each pack gives you five games that do different things: a quiz, a writing game like Quiplash, a drawing game like Drawful, a bluffing game like Fibbage. For a mixed group that does not know what it wants, that is hard to beat.
Where it pinches
- You pay per pack. Party Pack 11 is $29.99 and the smaller Party Starter $19.99 in the Jackbox store (September 2026). If you want the variety of several packs, it adds up.
- Someone has to run it. The pack lives on a PC or console, which has to be hooked up to the TV or share its screen. On a night with only phones and a TV, it starts with someone plugging in the laptop.
- Usually three to eight players. Bigger group? The rest watches as the audience.
- Quiz is one game per pack. If it is mainly a quiz night you want, you buy four games you may never play.
For a quiz night: a quiz show on the TV, phones as buzzers
Kwishetwel is built for exactly this slice of Jackbox: the quiz on the big screen, everyone playing on their own phone. The host opens the quiz in the browser on a TV, laptop or projector, players scan a QR code and they are in, no app and no account. For free you get unlimited quiz nights with multiple choice, open questions and word association plus the penalty wheel; plans from €3.99 a month add estimation, music, the tile board, map questions, ranking and top lists, and your own questions are part of Ultimate. No player limit. What you do not get: drawing and writing games. We do one thing, the quiz show, and the humour has to come from your group (and from the penalty wheel).
Kahoot! is the best-known quiz tool and comes from the classroom: multiple choice with a timer, players via kahoot.it. The free plan stops at 10 participants, personal plans start around $3 a month. How it compares to us is in Kwishetwel as a Kahoot alternative.
For drawing and chaos: free in the browser
- Gartic Phoneis the telephone game with drawings: everyone writes a sentence, draws the neighbour's sentence, describes the next person's drawing, and at the end you watch together how it went off the rails. Free, in the browser, no account, 2 to 30 players. If you miss Drawful, this is the first stop.
- Skribbl.io is Pictionary: one draws, the rest guess in the chat. Free, in the browser, with a private room where you add your own words (inside jokes work best), 2 to 12 players.
A console in the browser: AirConsole and its kin
AirConsole turns a browser or TV app into a games console and phones into the controllers, with more than 170 games from racing to quiz. The free starter selection is limited (two players, with ads); the Hero subscription through the app stores unlocks everything and removes the player limit, and one Hero in the room is enough for everyone. In setup the closest thing to Jackbox, with a subscription instead of packs.
There are also smaller browser platforms that present themselves as free Jackbox alternatives, such as PadlessBox and GameBuddies. We have not tested them on a night out ourselves; according to their own sites they are collections of small minigames with no download or account. Do not expect Jackbox production values, do expect zero friction.
Side by side
| Game | What it is | Where it runs | Cost | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackbox Party Packs | 5 party games per pack: quiz, writing, drawing, bluffing | host on PC or console, players via jackbox.tv in the browser | per pack, Party Pack 11 $29.99, Party Starter $19.99 (Jackbox store prices) | usually 3 to 8 |
| Kwishetwel | quiz show on the TV with 9 round types and a penalty wheel | host in the browser on a TV, laptop or projector; players via QR code, no app | free (multiple choice, open question and word association, unlimited); plans from €3.99 a month | no limit |
| Kahoot! | multiple-choice quiz, from the classroom | host in the browser, players via kahoot.it or the app | free up to 10 participants; personal plans from about $3 a month | 10 on the free plan, more paid |
| Gartic Phone | draw-and-guess as a telephone game | browser, no account | free | 2 to 30 |
| Skribbl.io | Pictionary: one draws, the rest guess | browser, private room with your own words | free | 2 to 12 |
| AirConsole | a game console in the browser, 170+ games, phones as controllers | browser or TV app as the screen, app on the phone | free starter selection (2 players, ads); Hero subscription through the app stores | 2 free, unlimited with Hero |
Prices and limits as stated by each product's own site and store pages, checked in September 2026. Prices vary per store and sale.
Which one for which group
- Mixed group, wants to try everything: Jackbox. Buy the Party Starter if you do not know yet whether it will land.
- Pub quiz people, at home or in the pub: Kwishetwel. Start for free, and the penalty wheel keeps even the stragglers in the game.
- Drawing and laughing at each other's art: Gartic Phone, then Skribbl.io.
- A night of short games with phones as controllers: AirConsole.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jackbox free?
No. One person buys a Party Pack (Party Pack 11 is $29.99 in the Jackbox store, the Party Starter $19.99) and runs it on a PC or console. Joining is free: players go to jackbox.tv on their phone and enter the room code.
Does every player have to buy Jackbox?
No, only the host. According to Jackbox itself, only one person in the group needs to own a Jackbox product; everyone else plays along through the browser.
Can you play Jackbox without a TV or console?
Yes. The game also runs on a laptop, and remotely you share the screen through Discord or Zoom. What you always need is one device with the pack installed.
What is the closest free alternative to Jackbox?
That depends on what your group loves about Jackbox. For the drawing and the chaos: Gartic Phone. For a quiz show on the TV with phones: Kwishetwel, free to start. For a pile of minigames with phones as controllers: AirConsole, with a free starter selection.
Does Kwishetwel have drawing or writing games like Quiplash and Drawful?
No. Kwishetwel is a quiz show: nine kinds of questions, from multiple choice to map questions and top lists, plus the penalty wheel. If it is mainly the humour of Quiplash or Drawful you want, Jackbox itself or Gartic Phone is the better pick.
Can you play these games remotely?
Jackbox, Gartic Phone and Skribbl.io, yes. Kwishetwel is built for a group in one room: the quiz is on the big screen and everyone plays along on their phone. Hybrid only works by sharing that screen in a video call.
Further reading: the Knowledge is Power alternative, what happened to Buzz!, 30 dares without alcohol and fun penalties for the penalty wheel.