Switch from FET to Academic Scheduler
FET is free, open source and remarkably flexible, with more than two decades of development behind it. It is also a desktop program built around an XML data file, weighted constraints and HTML exports. Academic Scheduler is a browser-based timetable app with guided setup, password-protected share links and PDF and Excel export, used by 350+ schools and institutions.
A cloud alternative to FET for schools that want less configuration
Why schools look for an FET alternative
FET is excellent software, and free. These are the practical reasons it doesn't suit every school.
A desktop program, one computer at a time
FET is a C++/Qt application you download and run on Windows, macOS or Linux. Your timetable lives in a .fet file on that computer, so working on it from home, or with a colleague, means copying files around.
A steep learning curve for constraint setup
FET's strength is its long list of time and space constraints, each with a weight from 0% to 100%. Getting a good result means understanding activities, student years, groups and subgroups, and tuning those weights, which takes real time for a non-technical administrator.
No built-in cloud sharing
FET exports results as HTML, XML and CSV files. To get the timetable to staff and parents you have to host or send those files yourself; there is no hosted link, login or QR code built into FET.
Support comes from a community forum
FET is maintained by its author and volunteers. Help comes from the FET forum, user-written manuals and example files, which are active and generous, but there is no vendor support desk or guaranteed response.
What Academic Scheduler does differently
Four areas where we made different choices from FET.
Runs in the browser, on any device
There is nothing to install or compile. Open Academic Scheduler in any browser, on a laptop or a phone, and your whole team works on the same data.
- Works in any modern browser and on phones
- Multi-branch organisation login
- Google sign-in, English and French interface
Guided screens instead of weighted constraints
You enter periods, subjects, teachers (with the subjects they can teach and their available days and periods) and classes with weekly lessons per subject. Edit Mode blocks teacher double-booking and keeps weekly subject limits as you build.
- Teacher availability by day and period
- Teacher double-booking blocked in Edit Mode
- AI fill of empty periods, reviewed before you save (plan feature)
Share the timetable without hosting files
Publish class and teacher timetables through password-protected, read-only share links with QR codes, or export PDF (A4 landscape) and Excel (.xlsx) files.
- Password-protected read-only share links
- QR codes for each shared timetable
- PDF and Excel (.xlsx) export
Day-to-day tools beyond generation
Academic Scheduler also covers the work that happens after the timetable is built: covering absent teachers, planning exams and starting a new academic year.
- Substitution: free teachers per period, one-click email
- Exam timetables with PDF export
- Academic sessions: copy last year, past years read-only
Academic Scheduler vs FET — Feature by Feature
| Feature | Academic Scheduler | FET (Free Timetabling Software) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $10/mo | Free (donations welcome) |
| Open source | No | Yes (AGPL v3) |
| Runs in a web browser | Yes | No — desktop app |
| Offline desktop app | No | Yes (Windows, macOS, Linux) |
| Built-in share links for staff and parents | Yes (password + QR code) | No — export HTML files |
| Rooms and room constraints | No | Yes |
| Weighted time and space constraints | No | Yes — very extensive |
| Teacher availability by day and period | Yes | Yes |
| Data import | No | Yes (CSV, .fet XML) |
| Export formats | PDF, Excel (.xlsx) | HTML, XML, CSV |
| Substitution management | Yes | No |
| Exam timetables | Yes | No |
| Interface languages | English, French | 38 locales (some partial) |
| Support | Commercial (priority on Pro+) | Community forum |
Free desktop software vs a low monthly cloud subscription
FET costs nothing to download and use. Academic Scheduler costs $10–$20/month and gives you a hosted, browser-based timetable with share links, substitution and exam tools, starting with a 14-day free trial and no credit card.
- Unlimited schedule generation
- Conflict & clash detection
- PDF & Excel export
- Secure shareable links
- Everything in Basic
- Collaborative sharing
- Substitution management
- Priority support
- Everything in Pro
- Exam timetable creation
- Exam clash prevention
- Analytics dashboard
FET (Free Timetabling Software): FET is free, open-source software licensed under the GNU AGPL v3, with no paid tiers or licence fees. The project asks for voluntary donations to support development. The real cost is the time needed to learn it and to host or distribute the exported timetable files yourself (as listed on lalescu.ro/liviu/fet, October 2026).
Switch from FET to Academic Scheduler in 3 steps
Start your free trial
Sign up in your browser with email or Google. You get 14 days of access, with no credit card and nothing to install.
Re-enter your school data
Academic Scheduler can't import .fet or CSV files, so you enter periods, subjects, teachers and classes through our setup screens. Keep your FET teacher and subject lists open alongside to copy from.
Build and share your timetable
Build the timetable in Edit Mode, with teacher double-booking blocked, then share it through a password-protected link and QR code, or export PDF and Excel files.
No credit card required · 14-day free trial · Cancel anytime
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about switching from FET (Free Timetabling Software) to Academic Scheduler.
Ready to Make the Switch?
Join 350+ institutions that create conflict-free timetables in hours, not days. No credit card required.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime