Buying guides
Five apps bars use to put games on their TVs: Nightcap, Buzztime, Anytime Trivia, Crowdpurr and Atmosphere Trivia. What each costs, what you need to run it, how guests join, and which kind of bar each one suits best.
Nightcap makes this guide, and Nightcap is one of the five apps in it. We have tried to make it useful anyway: every other app’s details come from its own website as of October 2026, with links so you can check, and we say plainly where another app is the better pick. Prices and plans change, so check each site before you sign up.
A bar game app has one job: give the room a reason to stay for another round, without adding work for the people behind the bar. So we looked at the things that decide whether it gets used on a busy Friday:
Side by side
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Nightcap | Buzztime | Anytime Trivia | Crowdpurr | Atmosphere Trivia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $49/mo per venue for every game | Bronze $199, Silver $249, Gold $299 a month | $49/mo for the venue | Free Basic; Classroom $49.99/mo; up to $999.99/mo | Not published |
| Contract | Cancel anytime; price locked at $49 | Six months, then cancel anytime | Monthly, cancel anytime | Monthly or yearly | See their site |
| Free trial | 30 days, no credit card | None mentioned; a 15-minute demo | First month free | Free Basic plan | See their site |
| Hardware | Any TV with a browser | Any TV; tablets on Silver and Gold | Roku, Fire TV Stick MAX/PLUS, Google TV | A projector or TV monitor | A channel for commercial TVs |
| Guests play on | Their phone. Nothing to download | Own phones or tablets, or Buzztime tablets | Their phone’s browser | Their phone’s browser | The Atmosphere Trivia app |
| Games | Trivia, 24/7 Trivia, bingo, poker, Game Day Bingo, Sketch, Specials TV, 8 free crowd games | Trivia, live trivia, bingo, poker, Bets, arcade | Always-on trivia, tournaments, Trivia Bingo | Trivia, bingo, polls | Continuous trivia |
| Voice host | AI host with a real voice | Live-hosted trivia nights with a mic | Not mentioned | See their site | See their site |
| Always-on trivia | Yes, 24/7 Trivia | Yes | Yes | Yes, 24/7 modes | Yes |
| Sports bingo | Yes: football, hockey, basketball, baseball | Not listed (Bets: predictions) | Not mentioned | Not listed | Not mentioned |
From each app’s own website as of October 2026: buzztime.com, anytimetrivia.com, crowdpurr.com and atmosphere.tv. “See their site” means their website did not make it clear. Nightcap details are from our pricing page.
Nightcap puts trivia, bingo, poker and sports bingo on any TV with a browser, and an AI host with a real voice runs them: it reads each trivia question, calls the bingo numbers and crowns the winners. Guests scan a QR code on the TV and play from their own phones, with nothing to download and no account.
One plan covers every premium game: Trivia Night, 24/7 Trivia, Bingo, Poker, Game Day Bingo, Sketch and Specials TV (beta), plus every game added later, for $49 per venue per month. The crowd games are free. Several TVs at one bar can show the same game or different ones.
The standout for sports bars is Football Bingo, the most-played premium game at Nightcap bars. Every guest gets a card of football plays, and the squares mark themselves from the live NFL or college play-by-play, a little behind the broadcast so a phone never spoils a play. It also comes in hockey, basketball and baseball.
Good to know: there are no tablets, so guests play on their own phones. In a loud room nothing depends on hearing the host, because the questions, the called numbers and the scores are on the TV too.
Price: $49 per venue per month for every game, free for 30 days with no credit card, cancel anytime. A bar that joins at $49 keeps that price for as long as it stays.
Buzztime offers trivia, live trivia, bingo, poker, Bets (free-to-play sports predictions) and arcade games on every plan. Its always-on trivia “runs at tables all day with no staff needed”, it runs live-hosted trivia nights with a mic, and venues on its network compete on a national leaderboard. Guests use their own phones or tablets, and the bigger plans add Buzztime’s tablets for the tables.
Good to know: plans carry a six-month commitment, and its site mentions a 15-minute demo rather than a free trial.
Price, as of October 2026: Bronze $199 a month, Silver $249 (5 tablets included), Gold $299 (10 tablets included). Nightcap vs Buzztime.
Anytime Trivia is always-on trivia for a venue’s TVs, with tournaments, Trivia Bingo and an ad builder. It runs on Roku, Fire TV Stick MAX/PLUS and Google TV devices, one subscription covers all the TVs in the venue, and guests answer in their phone’s web browser with nothing to download. There is no hired host.
Good to know: its website does not mention poker, sports bingo or voice narration, so it suits a bar that wants trivia and only trivia.
Price, as of October 2026: first month free, then $49 a month for the venue, cancel anytime. Nightcap vs Anytime Trivia.
Crowdpurr is an audience-engagement platform for live, virtual and hybrid events, with trivia, bingo and polls. It has a “Fully Automatic Mode”, 24/7 trivia modes and scheduled start and end times. Guests scan a QR code and play in the browser.
Good to know: it is not made for bars. It shines when you are building your own experience for a known audience, like a company meeting or a classroom, and pricing scales with how many people play.
Price, as of October 2026: Basic is free (20 participants and 15 questions per experience, 3 experiences at a time); Classroom is $49.99 a month, or $24.99 a month billed yearly, for 100 participants; higher tiers go up to $999.99 a month. Nightcap vs Crowdpurr.
Atmosphere Trivia is a continuous interactive trivia channel for commercial TVs, with local and national leaderboards. Guests download the Atmosphere Trivia app to play.
Good to know: the app download is an extra step for a guest who just sat down.
Price: not published on Atmosphere’s website as of October 2026; ask them for a quote. Nightcap vs Atmosphere Trivia.
Look for something the room can play during the game, not just between games. Nightcap’s Football Bingo is the only one of the five with sports bingo that marks itself from the live game, going by each app’s website as of October 2026. Buzztime’s Bets, free-to-play predictions, is the other game-day option here.
You want a host that talks. Nightcap’s AI host reads every question aloud and keeps the night moving. Buzztime runs live-hosted trivia nights with a mic. A silent screen works for background trivia, but it rarely carries a whole night on its own.
Every app here has an always-on option. Anytime Trivia is the simplest if trivia is all you want and you have a supported streaming device. Nightcap’s 24/7 Trivia does the same job, with a new round every few minutes and a bar leaderboard, and comes with every other game.
Buzztime is the one with tablets. Everyone else, Nightcap included, uses the phones your guests already carry.
Crowdpurr is built for that: custom trivia, bingo and polls for a company, a classroom or a virtual audience.
It depends on what your bar wants. For AI-hosted game nights and sports bingo at one price, Nightcap ($49 per venue per month for every game). For tablets at the tables and a national leaderboard, Buzztime. For simple always-on trivia on a streaming stick, Anytime Trivia. For corporate or custom events, Crowdpurr. For a trivia channel with national leaderboards, Atmosphere Trivia.
Among apps with a published bar price as of October 2026, Nightcap and Anytime Trivia are both $49 a month for a venue. Nightcap’s $49 also covers bingo, poker, Game Day Bingo and Sketch. Crowdpurr has a free plan for small events of up to 20 participants per experience.
Nightcap. Its Game Day Bingo plays along with NFL and college football games, and with hockey, basketball and baseball. Every card marks itself from the live play-by-play, a little behind the broadcast so phones never spoil a play.
Not with Nightcap, Anytime Trivia or Crowdpurr, which run in the phone’s browser. Atmosphere Trivia players download its app. Buzztime players use their own phones or tablets, or Buzztime’s tablets.
Not for Nightcap: any TV with a browser works, such as a smart TV, a Fire TV Stick or a laptop. Anytime Trivia runs on Roku, Fire TV Stick MAX/PLUS and Google TV devices. Buzztime’s Silver and Gold plans include tablets.
Every game, including Football Bingo and 24/7 Trivia, is free for 30 days with no credit card. Open it on the TV you already have, and your guests scan in with nothing to download.
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