QuizBase vs API Ninjas Trivia — trivia-first API vs one endpoint in a 135-endpoint gateway
API Ninjas Trivia is one of 135+ endpoints in a grab-bag API gateway, returning a single random English trivia question per call with no difficulty grading and no pagination. Its MCP server requires the Developer plan ($59/mo+) — no MCP on Free. QuizBase is trivia-first — over a million questions, EN + PL at parity, 5-level calibrated difficulty grading (`trivial` to `expert`), multi-layer taxonomy, MCP server with OAuth 2.1 on the Free tier (500 requests/day, no credit card).
At a glance
Total questions
1.17M QuizBasevs unknown (API Ninjas Trivia)
Languages supported
2 QuizBasevs 1 (API Ninjas Trivia)
Difficulty grading
5 levels (trivial → expert), LLM-calibrated per question QuizBasevs None (no difficulty field in response) (API Ninjas Trivia)
Taxonomy density
24 categories · 30.8K+ subcategories · 81.7K+ tags · 2.2K+ curated topics · 190+ cultural regions QuizBasevs ~10 flat categories, no subcategories, tags, topics, or regions (API Ninjas Trivia)
Topical focus
General trivia (all domains) QuizBasevs General trivia (one of 135+ endpoints in API gateway) (API Ninjas Trivia)
When to use QuizBase
- You want trivia as your core feature, not one endpoint among 135 (depth + filters + listing + pagination beat random-single-question)
- Volume and multilingual matter — over a million questions, EN + PL at parity, more languages on demand
- Difficulty grading matters — 5-level calibrated difficulty per question, from `trivial` to `expert`
- You want MCP server with OAuth 2.1 on the Free tier (Claude Desktop / Cursor / ChatGPT) without paying for a Developer subscription first
- Multi-layer taxonomy matters — categories, subcategories, tags, curated topics, and cultural regions for filtering by specific themes
Content & scale
| Dimension | QuizBase | API Ninjas Trivia |
|---|---|---|
| Total questions | 1,173,456 | unknown |
| Languages supported | 2 | 1 |
| Difficulty grading | 5 levels (trivial → expert), LLM-calibrated per question | None (no difficulty field in response) |
| Taxonomy density | 24 categories · 30.8K+ subcategories · 81.7K+ tags · 2.2K+ curated topics · 190+ cultural regions | ~10 flat categories, no subcategories, tags, topics, or regions |
| Topical focus | General trivia (all domains) | General trivia (one of 135+ endpoints in API gateway) |
Reliability
| Dimension | QuizBase | API Ninjas Trivia |
|---|---|---|
| Public uptime SLA | n/a | 99% (Developer) → 99.99% (Enterprise) per-tier published SLA |
Developer surface
| Dimension | QuizBase | API Ninjas Trivia |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAPI 3.1 spec | https://quizbase.runriva.com/openapi.json | n/a |
| TypeScript SDK | @quizbase/client (npm) | n/a |
| MCP server transport | Streamable HTTP (/mcp endpoint) | Streamable HTTP (Developer plan $59/mo+ required, no free MCP) |
Pricing & access
| Dimension | QuizBase | API Ninjas Trivia |
|---|---|---|
| Credit card required | ✗ | ✓ |
| Paid tier starts at | Indie — see /pricing | $39/mo (Developer, yearly billing) / $59/mo monthly |
Migrating from API Ninjas Trivia
// Before — API Ninjas Trivia (single random question per call)
const response = await fetch('https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/trivia', {
headers: { 'X-Api-Key': process.env.NINJAS_KEY! }
});
const [question] = await response.json();
// question.category, question.question, question.answer
// After — QuizBase (10 questions per call, filterable)
import { QuizBase } from '@quizbase/client';
const qb = new QuizBase({ apiKey: process.env.QUIZBASE_API_KEY! });
const { data } = await qb.questions.list({
limit: 10,
lang: 'en', // or 'pl'
category: 'science', // filter by category, subcategory, tag, topic, region
difficulty: 'medium' // trivial | easy | medium | hard | expert
});
// 10 questions per call with stable IDs, difficulty grading, and pagination