Prime Timetable vs UniTime

Prime Timetable provides automatic and manual timetabling for schools, universities, and similar institutions. Users can schedule multiple weeks at flexible times, move timetable cards in master and individual views, and divide classes into groups for electives. Its generator can account for pinned cards and forbidden time slots, then optimize teacher and student loads, gaps, room use, and building moves. Timetables can be customized, accessed from any device, printed as master or individual schedules, and exported to formats and apps. Data can be imported by copy and paste. The maker says timetables are backed up every 24 hours and the service is used in over 120 countries. The free plan is for evaluation and includes a web app for all devices, premium support, and a 30-day trial period; it requires an internet connection. Commercial plans enable offline work. Basic is for small and medium schools with up to 40 teachers, while Premium is for larger and campus schools with up to 100 teachers. Both commercial plans offer a web app and premium support, with pricing dependent on the selected plan duration.

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.