The venue fee
$100 to $200 a night, most hosts
A flat fee for running the night. Small towns pay less; high-cost cities report $200 to $350. A host working for a trivia company gets $50 to $75 a show, with the venue and the questions supplied.
Sourced ranges · prep time included · updates as you change it
How much could you
earn hosting?
Adjust the inputs to see monthly and yearly income ranges for a trivia or game-night host, and what that works out to per hour once setup, travel and prep are counted. Figures come from published rates and from what working hosts in U.S. markets report.
Trivia, karaoke, bingo, private parties and office events. Most hosts do this part-time, and a full-time living from weekly nights alone is the exception. The pay guide explains every number.
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Disclaimer: These are ranges from published sources and what working hosts report, not a promise of income. A new night usually takes about six weeks to build a regular crowd, some never do, and weekly nights can end. Your market, venue and prep time move every number. See full data sources & disclaimer →
Income breakdown
Where the money comes from
Most of it is the weekly venue fee. Tips add a little; private and corporate events add more per night but arrive unevenly.
Tips
$10 to $200 a night
Hosts report $10 to $20 on a ten-team night with no jar, and $80 to $200 when a regular passes a jar or a tip QR goes on the screen at the end. Karaoke tends to tip better than trivia. A bonus, not part of the rate you need.
Private parties
$200 to $450 an event
Birthdays, reunions, showers and fundraisers. A custom round about the guest of honor is usually why they book you. Most come from people who have played at your weekly night.
Corporate events
$350 to $1,000 an event
Office parties and team events, mostly in December. More prep, a proposal and an invoice, and payment 30 days later. Trivia companies list $499 to $799 for the same thing.
Tips made easy
Get tipped your way
Cash is great. The problem: most players don't carry it anymore. Brainflood stores your tip handles in your host profile and puts a scannable QR on the venue display at the end of the night, or whenever you put the tip screen up between rounds or singers. Players tap their phone, you get paid - same night, no middleman, no fees from us.
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Pre-configured for the apps players already use. Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and Zelle handles set up in your host profile once. They follow you to every gig.
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One quiet button on every player phone. At the end of a trivia game, on the singer's phone, and on the Pick'em standings once the night is settled, players see "Tip your host". It opens their payment app straight to your handle. Never mid-question, and a switch turns it off for venues that do not allow tipping.
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Tip QR code on the projector display. On the TV end screen, plus a tip screen you can put up between rounds. Players scan, tip, and you keep playing without breaking flow.
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Cash still works exactly the same. Tip jar at the host stand, regulars who like to slide a $20 across the table - nothing changes. Digital just stops leaving money on the table.
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Table tents and posters that do the asking. Print tip signage from the Print Center: a foldable table tent, a full-page poster, or cut-out cards, each with a scannable QR per app.
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You keep 100% of every tip. Brainflood doesn't touch tip money. The QR code links straight to your Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Zelle account.
Follow the money
The money map
Three arrows. Two point at you. The third is nineteen bucks.
Tips route through your own Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Zelle. Brainflood never holds a cent of it.
Real-world examples
What your nights could look like
Three snapshots at different levels of commitment. They update with your market and main kind of night above, and each shows the hours it takes. A snapshot, not a promise.
One night
One night a week
Venue fee$368 to $736
Tips$139 to $208
Monthly
$507 to $944
About 7 hours a week, $18 to $34 an hour. Where most hosts start, and where plenty happily stay.
A regular in town
Three nights plus the odd party
Venue fee$1,299 to $2,598
Tips$416 to $624
Private parties$100 to $225
Monthly
$1,815 to $3,447
About 20 hours a week, $21 to $40 an hour. A solid part-time income alongside a day job, if the nights hold.
Mostly full-time
Four nights plus events
Venue fee$1,992 to $3,984
Tips$1,386 to $2,078
Private parties$200 to $450
Corporate$350 to $1,000
Monthly
$3,927 to $7,512
About 29 hours a week, $31 to $60 an hour. The top of what one host does alone. Going further means training other hosts.
How it usually grows
From one night a week to several
Hosts usually add nights one at a time, and give each new one about six weeks to find its crowd. These stages use the calculator's mid-size city numbers.
Stage 1
One weekly night
One venue, one night a week. You learn the room, build a regular crowd and work out how long your prep really takes. Brainflood's Free plan covers three games a month; Starter covers weekly nights.
$130 to $250 a week
$6.9K to $12.9K a year
Stage 2
Three nights and the odd party
Three venues, close enough together that the driving doesn't eat the fee, and private parties booked from the people who play. About 20 hours a week with prep.
$420 to $800 a week
$21.8K to $41.4K a year
The exception, not the rule
Stage 3
Five nights plus events
Five weekly nights with a settled format and light prep, a private party and a corporate event most months. Close to full time, and tiring. Going past this means training other hosts and running a small company.
$860 to $1,730 a week
$44.8K to $89.6K a year
More venues on one account
Free and Starter cover one venue, Pro covers five and Business ten. Extra venues are $8 a month each, so a fourth venue doesn't force an upgrade.
Know which nights pay
Host Books (Starter and up) records what each venue pays you and what you spend, and shows profit by venue. At three or more venues you want to see which ones are worth the drive.
Your name on the screen
Pro puts your logo and business name on the TV, prints and flyers. Business adds your colors and can hide Brainflood's branding entirely, for hosts who sell the night under their own name.
Leagues that bring teams back
A season of standings gives regulars a reason to come every week. Leagues and Tournaments are on Pro and up. Keep them free to play: entry fees plus prizes can count as gambling in many states.
💡 Honest note: most hosts stop at one to three nights and like it that way. Hosts who go further usually do it by training other hosts, which is mostly an operations job. Brainflood's Sub-Host Management add-on (included on Enterprise) gives you a roster to invite them to; each host runs their nights on their own plan. The guide to growing past one night covers hiring, training and paying them.
Honest answers
Common questions
Are these numbers real?
They are ranges from published sources and from what working hosts report about their own pay, not a promise. Most independent hosts report $100 to $200 a night, company hosts $50 to $75 a show, and high-cost cities up to $350. The calculator also counts your hours, including prep, because that is what decides whether a night is worth it. All sources →
Why does prep time matter so much?
Because it is unpaid. Hosts report anywhere from 90 minutes to 16 hours of prep per game. A $150 night with $20 in tips is about $38 an hour if you mostly use ready-made questions, and about $15 an hour if you write everything and build your own slides. Neither is wrong; plenty of hosts write everything because that is the part they love. The pay guide works it through.
Do I need experience to start?
No. Most hosts learn on the job, and many start with one night a week at a venue that wanted something on a quiet weeknight. Working for a trivia company for a few months pays less per show but hands you a venue and questions while you learn.
What about equipment?
If the venue has a TV and a sound system, a laptop is enough to start. Brainflood runs in a browser. Our equipment guide goes from that up to a full rig with your own speakers and screen.
How does tipping work?
Save your Venmo, Cash App, PayPal or Zelle details in Brainflood once. Players get a quiet "Tip your host" button on their phones when the game ends, and the TV's final screen shows a tip QR. The money goes straight to you. You can also print tip table tents, or switch the prompts off.
What is not included?
Costs and tax. The money figures are before equipment, driving, printing and tax; self-employment tax alone is 15.3% on top of income tax. The hourly figure does count your time, including prep. Business basics covers taxes and costs.
Why are there no tournament buy-ins?
In many US states, charging players to enter and paying out a prize can turn a trivia night or league into a lottery or illegal gambling, and some states restrict alcohol as a prize. Free-to-play nights with prizes the venue provides avoid most of this, so the calculator does not count entry fees as income.
When can I start?
Now. The Free plan runs three games a month with the full question library, paper or phone scoring, the print pack and the TV. No card needed.
While you're here
Two more tools, also free.
Like the math? Start hosting.
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