FET vs UniTime

FET creates timetables for schools, high schools, and universities, with automatic, semi-automatic, and manual allocation modes. Its time and room constraints can account for teacher and student availability, preferred times and rooms, gaps, working hours, and changes between rooms or buildings. It accepts flexible XML input and imports CSV; completed schedules can be exported as HTML, XML, or CSV. The maker states algorithm limits of 500,000 activities, 30,000 student subgroups, 30,000 rooms, and 30,000 buildings. FET runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3, with no stated usage limits. The maker provides a forum and documentation, including manuals, instructions, tips, and frequently asked questions. Listed third-party tools convert FET XML results to Microsoft Excel or bring FET-compatible timetables into RosarioSIS. The maker also says it may help institutions with custom variants for changes that are not too difficult, or advise on how to implement them. Stated generation times range from under five minutes for simpler schedules to hours for extremely difficult ones.

UniTime is a free educational scheduling system for course and exam timetables, room sharing, and student class assignments. Course scheduling can account for student demand, curricula, historical patterns, faculty and room preferences, and relationships among classes. Its examination module builds term schedules intended to minimize student exam conflicts and can schedule midterms and finals. The web-based Events interface lets staff and students request events or search for available times and locations, with notices sent to organizers. Student scheduling assigns students to available class spaces using course requirements and timetable information, but cannot guarantee that every conflict will be resolved. UniTime runs as a server-client application with a web interface and platform-independent distributions. It can operate independently or connect to an existing student information system; documentation describes XML imports and exports and RESTful interfaces. Installation guidance covers Linux, Windows, and Mac. Administrators may configure SSL access through Tomcat and LDAP authentication. The application is distributed under Apache License 2.0. The installation page recommends UniTime 4.8 for production, while UniTime 4.9 is still in development.