Most WordPress quiz plugin roundups hand you a list of ten options ranked by feature count.
The problem is that a course quiz gated to enrolled students has nothing in common with a fun trivia widget at the end of a blog post — and the right plugin for one job is the wrong plugin for the other.
This guide matches each plugin to the scenario it handles best, tells you what it doesn’t do, and gives you a clear signal for when to skip it.
Quick comparison
| Plugin | Best for | Free tier | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masteriyo | Course quiz with scoring, timer, randomisation, and free certificate | ✅ Yes | $99/year |
| Everest Forms | Quiz inside a form — lead gen, conditional logic, admin/user notifications | Pro required | $49/year |
| Quiz and Survey Master | Standalone graded assessment with scoring and certificates | ✅ Yes | $149/year |
| HD Quiz | Lightweight fun/engagement quiz, no subscription | ✅ Fully free | — |
Not sure which one to pick? Start here:
If you’re running an online course and want quizzes that are course-gated, timed, scored, and come with a free certificate builder, Masteriyo does all of it without a paid upgrade.
If you’re already on Everest Forms Pro for your contact forms and need a quiz that captures leads, fires notifications, and uses conditional logic — you don’t need another plugin. The quiz capability is already in your stack.
If you need a standalone graded quiz that lives outside a course — knowledge tests, assessments, exams with pass/fail scoring — Quiz and Survey Master is the most capable free option for that job.
If you just want a fun, lightweight quiz on a blog post or content page with no subscriptions and no overhead, HD Quiz is free and takes minutes to set up.
1. Masteriyo — Best for course quizzes with scoring, timer, and certificates
Most WordPress LMS plugins treat the certificate builder as a premium feature. Masteriyo doesn’t. Quizzes, certificates, scoring, timers, and randomized questions are all available in the free version — no Pro license required to issue a completion certificate to a student who passes your course.
The quiz builder sits inside the Masteriyo course builder alongside lessons and chapters. You allocate full marks, pass marks, and marks per question, set a time limit, enable question shuffling to minimise cheating, and control how many attempts a student gets. Students who pass see their certificate immediately. Students who fail get feedback and can reattempt based on the rules you set.
Results are tracked in the Masteriyo quiz attempt dashboard — every submission, every score, every student — giving you a clear picture of where learners are struggling without needing a separate analytics plugin.
What it does well:
- Full quiz builder free — scoring, pass/fail, timers, randomised questions, attempt limits
- Certificate builder free — design branded certificates and issue them automatically on pass
- Quizzes sit inside the course flow — students encounter them as part of the learning experience, not as a separate form
- Quiz results connect to student progress data — see scores alongside completion rates
- Unlimited courses, quizzes, and students on the free tier
What it doesn’t do:
- Quizzes exist inside courses — not designed for standalone public quizzes outside a course context
- No lead capture or email marketing integration on free tier
- Multi-instructor management and advanced quiz types require Pro
Best for: WordPress site owners building or selling online courses who want course-gated quizzes with automatic certificate issuance — all without paying for a Pro license.
Skip it if: You’re not running an LMS and need standalone quizzes.
Pricing: Free. Pro starts at $99/year (adds content drip, advanced quizzes, assignments, gradebook, and multi-instructor support).
2. Everest Forms — Best if you need a quiz and a contact form in one plugin
Every WordPress site needs a contact form. If you’re already running Everest Forms Pro, you don’t need a separate quiz plugin for basic knowledge checks — the Survey, Polls & Quiz addon is part of your existing stack.
The quiz capability in Everest Forms is built for the lead gen use case: a visitor takes a quiz, submits their answers, and the form simultaneously captures their name, email, or any other field you’ve added.
Conditional logic lets you show or hide questions based on previous answers, so the quiz adapts to the respondent. Admin and user notifications fire on submission — the admin sees the result, the user gets a confirmation or their score by email. Connect to Mailchimp, Mailerlite, or any of EF’s email marketing integrations and the lead goes straight into your list.
For a knowledge check quiz, randomised questions are available to keep each attempt fresh. Correct answer scoring, per-question feedback, and a results summary are shown to users on submission.
What it does well:
- Quiz and lead capture in a single form submission — no two-step workflow
- Conditional logic adapts quiz questions based on previous answers
- Admin and user email notifications on submission, including score
- Randomised questions for knowledge checks
- Connects to Mailchimp, MailerLite, and other email marketing tools
- One plugin handles contact forms, registration forms, and quizzes — no extra overhead
What it doesn’t do:
- Quiz features require Everest Forms Pro — not available on the free tier
- No course-gating, progress tracking, or certificate builder
- Not the right tool if you need a standalone public quiz with no form context
Best for: Lead gen quizzes wihtout plugin
Skip it if: If you need certificates and course-gating.
Pricing: Pro starts at $49/year.
3. Quiz and Survey Master — Best for standalone graded assessments
Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) is the right choice when the quiz exists outside a course and the result actually matters — a knowledge test, a certification exam, a skills assessment, a graded survey. It’s a dedicated quiz and survey plugin with 40,000+ active installs, updated regularly, and a free core that covers more than most sites will ever need.
The free version includes multiple question types (multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, dropdown), point-based scoring, pass/fail thresholds, time limits, randomised question order, and multiple result pages based on score ranges — so a high scorer sees different feedback than someone who needs to retake. Basic conditional logic, email notifications, and certificate-style completion pages are also included free.
Where QSM earns its place over Masteriyo for this lane is context: quizzes live as standalone pages on your site, not inside a course. Anyone can take them. You embed with a shortcode, the quiz runs, the result displays. No course enrolment required, no LMS overhead.
What it does well:
- Standalone quiz lives on any page or post — no course context required
- Point-based scoring, pass/fail thresholds, and multiple result pages by score range — all free
- Time limits and randomised question order in the free version
- Certificate-style completion pages included free
- 40+ premium add-ons available if you need leaderboards, advanced reporting, or CRM integrations
What it doesn’t do:
- Interface feels dated compared to modern drag-and-drop builders
- Advanced reporting and Mailchimp integration require paid add-ons from $129/year
- No course-gating or student progress tracking — that’s Masteriyo’s lane
Best for: WordPress site owners who need a standalone graded quiz, assessment, or exam that anyone can take — outside of a course context, with real scoring and result differentiation.
Skip it if: You’re running an LMS and want quizzes inside a course, or you need a visual drag-and-drop builder experience.
Pricing: Free. Premium add-ons from $149/year.
4. HD Quiz — Best lightweight fun quiz with no subscription
HD Quiz does one thing: lets you add a quiz to any WordPress page or post, fast, free, and with no ongoing subscription. If you write tutorials, review content, or educational blog posts and want a quick knowledge check at the end — “did you absorb what you just read?” — HD Quiz is the lightest way to add that without touching a form builder or an LMS.
The plugin supports unlimited quizzes, multiple text-based question types, images and animated GIFs in questions, a timer per quiz and per question, and randomised question-and-answer order. A hint and feedback system shows explanations after each answer — useful for educational content where the quiz doubles as a teaching moment. Results display immediately with a score breakdown.
The entire core plugin is free with no response cap, no paid tier required, and no external account. An optional add-on for saving results is available for $15 if you want to track scores across users.
What it does well:
- Fastest setup on this list — quiz live in minutes with no configuration overhead
- Images and animated GIFs supported in questions
- Per-quiz and per-question timers
- Hint and feedback system shows explanations after each answer
- Randomised question and answer order
- Fully free — no response cap, no subscription, no external account
What it doesn’t do:
- No scoring system or pass/fail threshold — results are shown but not graded against a standard
- No lead capture alongside quiz results
- No certificate builder
- Results saving requires a $15 add-on
Best for: Bloggers and content sites that want a fun, lightweight quiz at the end of a post or tutorial — no course context, no lead gen, just engagement.
Skip it if: You need graded assessments with scoring thresholds, certificates, or lead capture. Those are different jobs and a different plugin fits better.
Pricing: Free. Results-saving add-on $15 (one-time).
Which quiz plugin is right for your WordPress site?
The fastest way to pick is to match your situation to the use case, not the feature list.
You’re running an online course and want quizzes, scoring, and certificates Masteriyo. The full quiz stack — timers, randomisation, pass/fail scoring, and a certificate builder — is free. Quizzes sit inside your course flow, students get certificates automatically on pass, and you track every attempt from one dashboard.
You’re already on Everest Forms Pro and need a quiz that captures leads You don’t need a new plugin. The Survey, Polls & Quiz addon is already in your stack. Add quiz fields to an existing form, use conditional logic to adapt questions per respondent, fire admin and user notifications on submission, and push the lead straight to your email marketing tool — all from the same builder you’re already using for contact forms.
You need a standalone graded quiz outside a course Quiz and Survey Master. Point-based scoring, pass/fail thresholds, time limits, randomised questions, and multiple result pages by score range — all free. Anyone can take it via shortcode, no course enrolment required.
You want a quick fun quiz at the end of a blog post HD Quiz. Install it, build the quiz, drop in the shortcode. No subscription, no external account, no overhead. If the quiz result doesn’t need to feed a CRM or trigger an email sequence, this is the right tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add a quiz to a WordPress contact form? Yes — if you’re on Everest Forms Pro, the Survey, Polls & Quiz addon lets you add quiz fields to any form. Conditional logic adapts questions based on previous answers, and admin/user notifications fire on submission with the score included.
Do I need an LMS plugin to add a quiz to WordPress? No. Quiz and Survey Master and HD Quiz both add standalone quizzes to any page or post without an LMS. You only need an LMS like Masteriyo if you want quizzes gated to enrolled students inside a course structure.
Can WordPress quiz plugins issue certificates? Masteriyo issues completion certificates free in its core plugin — no Pro required. Quiz and Survey Master offers certificate-style completion pages free, with more advanced certificate add-ons available separately.
What’s the difference between a quiz and a survey in WordPress? A quiz has right and wrong answers — it scores the respondent against a standard and typically shows a result or grade. A survey collects opinions with no correct answer. Most quiz plugins handle both, but the scoring and pass/fail logic is what distinguishes a quiz tool from a feedback tool.
Already using Everest Forms for your WordPress contact forms? The Survey, Polls & Quiz addon adds quiz capability to your existing forms — no extra plugin needed. Learn more about Everest Forms →