Reviews
Online IQ tests compared, one at a time
Eight of the best-known IQ tests on the web, each held up against iq-test.io on the things that decide whether a result is worth anything: length, what the free tier actually gives you, and whether the site will tell you what it compared you against.
We link to iq-test.io and not to the other sites in these comparisons. It is the free test we recommend and the one we send readers to. Everything we say about a competitor is checkable by searching its name, and each comparison names what that competitor does better. Read the reviews knowing where we stand.
Every test at a glance
| Test | Length | Paid layer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iq-test.io | 33 questions | Nothing | Take the test |
| IQScore | 36 questions | A single $6.99 pack: certificate, written report, all 36 answers explained | Full comparison |
| MyIQTested | 33 questions | Certificate sold separately; an extended report is offered alongside it | Full comparison |
| 123test | Free demo of 8–10 items; paid versions run 25 or 44 questions | Pro versions listed at $12.99, frequently discounted | Full comparison |
| IQtest.net | Multiple-choice test | An electronic certificate, plus a premium report on a subscription | Full comparison |
| Test-Guide | A short reasoning test with no stated item count on the landing page | Nothing | Full comparison |
| RIOT IQ | 15 subtests across six cognitive indices | Listed at $50 for the basic and $150 for the full test, frequently discounted | Full comparison |
| Free-IQTest.net | A short test preceded by a date-of-birth form | An IQ certificate is offered | Full comparison |
| CogniFit | A non-verbal 3D cube task | Cognitive training subscriptions, which are the actual product | Full comparison |
What we compare, and what we refuse to
There is no way to test the accuracy of these tests from the outside. Nobody publishes their item banks, nobody publishes their norm samples, and running the same person through eight tests produces eight numbers with no ground truth to check them against. Any site that ranks IQ tests by accuracy is guessing and hoping you will not ask how.
So we compare the things that are actually visible, and each of them tells you something real:
- Length. Reliability rises with the number of items. This is the one specification that genuinely predicts how much a score can tell you.
- What is free. Specifically, whether the score itself is free or whether “free” describes the taking rather than the seeing.
- What the site says about its norms. A score is a rank against a group. A site that will not describe the group has handed you a number with no denominator.
- Whether an error band is reported. A single number with no interval is a claim to precision that no unsupervised test can support.
- What it costs you in data. Email gates, registration walls and date-of-birth forms before the result.
- How it behaves on a phone. If a matrix item is unreadable at 360 pixels, that is a scoring problem.
What we do not do is invent a score out of ten for each site and add the columns up. Those tables look authoritative and mean nothing, because the weights are arbitrary and chosen after the fact to produce the ranking the writer already wanted.
All comparisons
IQScore vs iq-test.io
A $6.99 one-off unlock against a test that charges nothing. Where the paid pack is worth it and where it is not.
Read more →MyIQTested vs iq-test.io
The strongest content library in the niche, wrapped around a test that sells the certificate separately.
Read more →123test vs iq-test.io
Twenty years of history and eleven languages, but the free version is a demo and the real test is paid.
Read more →IQtest.net vs iq-test.io
Certificates, brain games and country rankings. A wide site with a thin test at the centre of it.
Read more →Test-Guide vs iq-test.io
Completely free with nothing to buy, and correspondingly little depth behind the number.
Read more →RIOT IQ vs iq-test.io
The most rigorous test in the comparison, and the only one that costs real money.
Read more →Free-IQTest.net vs iq-test.io
One of the oldest names in the niche, and it looks it. Press quotes in place of an explanation.
Read more →CogniFit vs iq-test.io
A clinical-adjacent brand whose IQ test is really the front door to a cognitive training product.
Read more →Questions
Questions about these comparisons
How do you decide which test wins a comparison?
We do not run a points system, because the tests are not trying to do the same job. Each comparison states what the other test is genuinely better at, and the recommendation depends on what you want: a quick free read, a long sitting, a certificate, or a language-free format.
Do you get paid by the sites you review?
We link to iq-test.io because it is the test we consider the best free option and the one we point readers to. Other sites are named but not linked. You should read every comparison on this page knowing that.
Why are the other test names not clickable?
We name them so the comparison is checkable and we describe what they do, but we do not send traffic to them. Everything we say about a competitor is verifiable by searching for the name.
How current is the information?
Prices, question counts and feature lists change without notice. Every comparison reflects what the site published at the time of writing, and anything time-sensitive is marked as such in the text rather than stated as permanent fact.
Is a paid IQ test better than a free one?
Sometimes, and not for the reason people assume. Paying does not buy accuracy; length, item quality and a documented norm sample buy accuracy, and those things happen to cost money to produce. A long free test from a site that publishes its method beats a short paid one every time.
Which of these tests does Mensa accept?
None of them. Mensa admits members through its own supervised test or through prior results on a specific list of approved instruments, all of which are administered in person. See the Mensa IQ test guide.
The test we recommend
Thirty-three questions, no timer, no email, and the full result at the end for nothing.