Prime Timetable

Prime Timetable is scheduling software for schools, universities and similar institutions. It is best for planners who need to coordinate teachers, students and rooms with a mix of manual editing and automated scheduling. The free plan is for evaluation; continuing offline work requires a commercial plan.

Overview

Prime Timetable targets institutional timetabling rather than everyday calendar management. It supports schedules spanning multiple weeks, flexible times, elective groups and multiple campuses. That breadth makes it a plausible fit for schools managing competing requirements, while smaller organizations with uncomplicated schedules may not need a dedicated scheduling system.

The maker says the service is used in more than 120 countries. Timetables are backed up every 24 hours, and commercial plans enable offline work; the free plan requires an internet connection. Those distinctions matter to planners who need to work without reliable connectivity or want a recovery copy of schedule data.

Key features

Planners can move timetable cards in master and individual views, then divide classes into groups for electives. This gives staff direct control over the schedule while accommodating students who do not all follow the same timetable. The automatic generator can also work around pinned cards and forbidden time slots, so fixed commitments need not be discarded to optimize the rest of the schedule.

The generator can optimize teacher and student loads, gaps, room use and building moves. Teacher and room constraints, conflict detection and multi-campus support make those controls relevant to institutions balancing several kinds of requirements at once. They are less valuable when a schedule is simple enough to arrange without constraint-based planning.

Timetables can be accessed from any device, customized, printed as master or individual schedules, and exported to formats and apps. Data can be imported by copy and paste. That covers basic movement of schedule data, but institutions looking for a named integration should confirm that their specific workflow is supported before choosing the product.

The service describes traffic encryption, vulnerability safeguards, network protections, access policies, audit logs, and physical and procedural security measures. Its cloud data centres are in the US, and the US hosting provider is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified. Student data is not used for advertising or sold, and is kept only as long as needed to provide the educational service. After subscription termination, current system data and associated encrypted backups may be retained for up to one year. Institutions assessing data location and post-termination retention should account for those terms.

Premium support comes with each plan. A user guide, video tutorials and a support contact option give planners several routes to get help.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and is expressly for evaluation. It includes the web app for all devices, premium support and a 30-day trial period, but requires an internet connection. That makes it suitable for assessing the workflow, not for a school seeking ongoing offline use.

Basic is aimed at small and medium schools and includes the web app for all devices, premium support and capacity for up to 40 teachers. Premium targets larger and campus schools, with the same web-app access and support and a limit of up to 100 teachers. Both commercial plans enable offline work and require choosing a duration of 1–5 years; the total price is shown after selecting a plan and duration. The teacher caps and multi-year commitment are important buying constraints, so schools should match their staffing needs and preferred term before settling on a plan.

Platforms

Prime Timetable supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows. The web app works across devices, while offline work is reserved for commercial plans.

Who it's for

Prime Timetable is a strong fit for schools, universities and campus-based institutions that need to juggle teacher and room constraints, elective groups, multiple weeks or locations, and want both manual adjustments and automated optimization. It is less suited to a brief evaluation that must work offline, a school exceeding the selected plan's teacher cap, or a buyer unwilling to commit to a 1–5-year commercial term.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Manual card editing and automated scheduling can coexist, giving planners control without forgoing optimization.
• Pros: The generator accounts for pinned cards, forbidden slots, loads, gaps, rooms and building moves, which suits schedules with interacting constraints.
• Pros: Master and individual timetable publishing, printing and export support sharing schedules beyond the planning view.
• Pros: Premium support is included with every plan, including the evaluation plan.
• Cons: The free plan is evaluation-focused, online-only and limited to a 30-day period.
• Cons: Commercial plans require a 1–5-year duration, and their teacher limits are 40 for Basic and 100 for Premium.
• Cons: Data centres are in the US and post-termination retention can last up to one year, considerations for institutions with strict data-location or deletion requirements.

Alternatives

For a wider comparison of school scheduling tools, start with School Scheduling Software; institutions focused specifically on exam timetables can browse Exam Scheduling Software.

• Peñalara GHC is another freemium option with a free plan and trial across Android, iOS, web and Windows; consider it when those platform and pricing characteristics better suit your school.
• UniTime is free, open-source software for Linux, macOS, web, Windows, API and self-hosted use, with commercial support available for a fee. Choose it when free open-source or self-hosted deployment is the priority.
• FET is free for Linux, macOS and Windows, with no stated usage limits. It is worth considering when those desktop platforms and a free plan are more important than Prime Timetable's commercial offline option.
• SchoolGrid offers a free annual plan for one school, with staff entry and roster import and a 30-day scheduling and publishing evaluation that allows up to 15 drafts. Consider it when a single-school evaluation with those draft limits fits.
• TimetableMaster is a freemium alternative with a free trial and support for Android, API, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows.
• aSc Timetables is a paid alternative with a free trial and support for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows.
• GC Education Analytics K–12 Master Scheduler is a free web-based alternative.
• Untis is a paid alternative with a free trial across Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows; WebUntis pricing is provided through a sales request.

Verdict

Its main advantage is the range of scheduling controls; its main drawback is that ongoing offline use means accepting a 1–5-year commercial term with teacher caps. Schools seeking a free ongoing option or unwilling to commit should compare alternatives first.