Riddle is the best alternative to Outgrow

Header image for blog post comparing Riddle to Outgrow as the best interactive content platform for publishers, brands, and media companies.

Outgrow vs Riddle — Updated Comparison for 2025

Interactive content remains a core tactic for publishers, brands, and media teams who want to engage audiences and collect first-party data. Among the many quiz and interactive-content builders out there, two tools stand out: Outgrow and Riddle.

Each offers different strengths depending on whether you prioritize speed, simplicity, customization, or scale. This 2025 comparison walks through the offerings of both platforms so you can decide which fits your content strategy best.

Graphic showing the key differences between Riddle's quiz maker and Outgrow for the use cases of publishers, media companies, and brands.

Why interactive content still works

Quizzes, polls, surveys, and other interactive formats invite participation rather than passive reading. That engagement can lead to deeper audience insights and drive repeat visits.

For organizations publishing content regularly —-whether media outlets, agencies, or brands – interactive formats add value beyond single campaigns. They support editorial planning, marketing pipelines, and ongoing audience development.

Interactive content also offers a reliable way to collect first-party data in a privacy-conscious environment (9.8X better than pop-ups) which is increasingly important as third-party tracking becomes restricted.

Graphic showing 3 key reasons why interactive content still works for audience engagement - from participation to first-party data collection

Outgrow in 2025

Outgrow is built around simplicity and speed. It’s well-suited for teams that need to deploy interactive content quickly or don’t require a large variety of formats or advanced customizations.

Screenshot of Outgrow home page

Its main strengths:

  • Drag-and-drop builder for rapid setup
  • Pre-built templates for quizzes, surveys, assessments, and calculators
  • Easy embedding on websites, landing pages, or newsletters
  • Basic analytics tools for tracking responses and engagement

Outgrow tends to work best for marketers or smaller teams running straightforward campaigns who want reliable results without much configuration. When your goal is a simple quiz or calculator to drive lead capture or engagement, Outgrow offers a no-fuss, efficient solution.


Riddle in 2025

Riddle’s quiz maker is designed with flexibility and scale in mind. It’s built for publishers, brands, and teams that run interactive content regularly – including publishers, media companies, and brands with high traffic or frequent publishing needs.

“Considered the godfather of interactive quizzes, polls, surveys, contests, and raffles, publishers and marketers are drawn to Riddle because of its ability to help keep readers engaged and the way it helps users monetise their content.

It goes beyond typical first-party data collection for lead generation and audience insights to instead offer a deep dive into behavioural, preference, and need-based segmentation.” – Shorthand.com

Riddle.com's home page - showing crossword, quiz, and leaderboard examples.

Key features include:

  • A block-based builder supporting 30+ interactive formats – including quizzes, polls, predictors, personality tests, mini-games, galleries, and mixed-format experiences
  • The ability to mix multiple interactive elements within a single content piece, for richer, more engaging content
  • Highly customizable layouts, branding options, and optional CSS, which help content feel native and on-brand
  • Advanced data collection forms (multi-step flows, conditional logic, custom fields) – giving teams more control over lead capture and user data
  • Native integrations with CRMs and marketing automation platforms (like Salesforce, Mailchimp, and many more), plus flexible APIs and webhooks, which supports complex workflows or high-volume data flows
  • Sophisticated collaboration features and user role permissions to support larger teams and editorial workflows
  • Enterprise-grade hosting and performance capabilities suitable for high-traffic environments and frequent publishing

For organizations producing interactive content at scale – especially publishers, media outlets, or brands with ongoing content cycles – Riddle’s flexibility, variety, and infrastructure make it a robust platform.


Lead generation and data integration

What Outgrow does well

Outgrow provides a straightforward lead-generation setup with built-in forms and integration into common CRM and email marketing tools. For standard campaigns or occasional lead capture, this setup is often more than sufficient. Its simplicity helps teams launch lead-gen content quickly without needing advanced configuration or technical resources.

It also features an excellent range of native integrations with marketing software tools like HubSpot and MailChimp – for non-tech-savvy marketers.

Screenshot of Outgrow's native integrations for lead generation

What Riddle brings to the table

Riddle offers more configurable lead-generation tools, enabling teams to build multi-step, conditional, and custom-input forms. Integrations with major CRMs like Salesforce, MAPs, and support for APIs or webhooks give organizations flexibility in data routing and workflow design.

This can be particularly valuable for media companies or brands running multiple campaigns, or those managing high volumes of user data across different channels.

Screenshot showing the 17 types of lead generation fields available with Riddle's quiz maker.

GDPR and data privacy

Outgrow

Outgrow follows standard compliance practices suitable for most marketing workflows. Its hosting is primarily US-based, which may require additional consideration for businesses operating in regions with strict data-residency or privacy requirements.

Riddle

Riddle emphasizes GDPR-aligned data handling, including EU-based hosting and tools for managing consent, storage, and data governance. For publishers, media companies, or brands with audiences in regulated regions – or with compliance-conscious governance – this approach offers more control and reassurance.

Both platforms accommodate compliant lead capture, but their hosting models and governance controls differ.

Graphic showing the key differences between Riddle's quiz maker and Outgrow regarding data privacy and GDPR-compliance.

AI, automation, and content production workflows

Outgrow

Outgrow offers some AI-assisted features to streamline content creation, such as suggested questions and draft copy generation. These tools help when producing occasional quizzes or assessments and speed up the build process.

Screenshot of the AI creation feature on Outgrow

Riddle

Riddle’s automation and AI features are designed for teams managing frequent or recurring content output. You can generate interactive content from topics, URLs, or existing articles, then review before publishing.

Automated workflows – including scheduling (embed placeholders) and API-driven content delivery – enable teams to deploy content more efficiently across editorial cycles or campaigns. For publishers, media companies, and brands with regular content demands, this makes Riddle well-suited to supporting ongoing production without sacrificing quality or consistency.

Automatically creating quiz or other interactive content by adding an article's URL to Riddle's quiz maker AI chat bot interface

Monetisation options

Outgrow

Outgrow focuses on engagement and lead capture rather than built-in ad monetisation. It does not include native support for in-content ads or ad slot refresh. Teams using Outgrow typically rely on their existing page-level ad infrastructure when embedding quizzes or calculators.

Riddle

Riddle supports monetisation more directly. Teams can embed their own advertising or sponsorship units within interactive content – serving their own ads and keeping 100% of the revenue.

When content is embedded in a webpage, Riddle also supports refreshing surrounding ad slots as users engage – which helps maintain viewability and ad revenue potential over time.

For publishers, media companies, or high-traffic brands, this gives a flexible way to integrate interactive content into existing monetisation models.

Graphic showing the different monetization options supported by Riddle's quiz maker and Outgrow

Range of formats

Outgrow

Outgrow supports the following formats:

  • Quizzes
  • Surveys
  • Assessments
  • Calculators

These cover the primary interactive content types most marketing teams need, especially for lead generation or simple engagement campaigns.

Screenshot of the quiz and other content formats available on Outgrow

Riddle

Riddle offers a broader and more diverse library of formats – over 30 in total. This includes:

  • Quizzes
  • Polls
  • Surveys
  • Personality tests
  • Score predictors
  • Mini-games (crosswords, sudoku, etc.)
  • Interactive stories
  • Galleries
  • Scoreboards
  • Mixed-format interactive projects combining different elements
Graphic showing the 30 types of content formats and quiz create examples in Riddle's quiz maker.

This variety lets organizations experiment with different engagement styles, run series-based content, and keep audiences returning with fresh interactive experiences. For publishers and media brands, that flexibility supports both retention goals and high-volume content pipelines.


Comparison chart

FeatureRiddle (2025)Outgrow (2025)
Ease of useFlexible builder with deep customization and many optionsSimple, guided builder for quick setup
Format variety30+ formats including games, galleries, stories, quizzes, pollsCore formats: quizzes, surveys, assessments, calculators
Design & branding controlCustom layouts, branding tools, CSS editingTemplate-based styling and layout
Lead generationMulti-step, conditional, custom-input forms + flexible integrationsStandard lead forms and basic integrations
Data workflow integrationCRM, MAP, CMS, API/webhook support — good for complex setupsIntegrations with common marketing tools – simpler data flows
AI & automationAI assistance plus pipelines and API-driven schedulingAI suggestions for individual content creation
GDPR & complianceEU-based hosting, privacy features, governance toolsStandard compliance, US-based hosting
Monetisation supportSupports in-content ads, ad refresh around contentNo built-in ad support; monetisation handled externally
Best forPublishers, media, brands with frequent content production or high trafficMarketing teams needing occasional quizzes or simple lead-gen content

Which platform fits your use case

If your team needs to quickly deploy occasional quizzes or calculators – with minimal setup and straightforward lead capture – Outgrow is a solid, dependable choice. Its template-driven, simple builder is ideal for light workloads or occasional use.

If you run frequent interactive content, manage high traffic, require diverse formats, or want deeper control over workflows, design, data, and monetisation – then Riddle is built to handle those demands. Media organizations, publishers, and brands looking to integrate interactive content into recurring campaigns or editorial schedules may find Riddle better aligned with long-term needs.


Summary

Both Outgrow and Riddle are highly capable tools for creating interactive content. Outgrow delivers speed, simplicity, and efficiency – a great match for lighter use cases. Riddle offers expanded flexibility, more formats, stronger data and monetisation options, and infrastructure that supports regular, scaled content output.

The right choice for you?

That depends on your publishing frequency, audience size, monetisation model, and how much customization or control you need. Both Typeform and Riddle offer free trials – we recommend trying both quiz makers out and seeing which best suits your unique requirements.

Scroll to Top