Key takeaways
- Horarium is a cloud K-12 timetabling tool with 40+ constraint types and localized help in 10 languages; Smootables starts from multi-year school planning before generation.
- Year planning, workload, workshops, and individual pathways stay inside Smootables instead of parallel spreadsheets.
- Pre-solve validation and typed infeasibility reports surface planning issues before a generation run.
- Pilot one term in parallel, then switch publication scope when results match.
Who should consider a Horarium alternative?
If your school uses Horarium (horarium.ai), or you are evaluating it from the best school timetable software 2026 roundup, this page is for you. Horarium is a cloud timetabling tool positioned for elementary, middle, and high schools, available on web, iOS, and Android. The vendor documents over 40 constraint types, Excel import, generation in roughly 1 to 10 minutes, a report of unsatisfied constraints, and PDF and Excel export. This is a fair comparison, not a takedown.
The short version: Horarium centers K-12 timetable generation with a broad constraint catalog and localized self-serve help. Smootables is school year planning-first. The two differ in institution fit, planning depth, and how much year, pathway, and vocational modeling sits in the product before generation.
Where does Horarium still fit, and where do vocational or planning-first schools look elsewhere?
Horarium is strong for K-12 schools that want fast cloud generation with constraint feedback and help in many languages. The columns below show where Horarium still fits and where vocational, technical, or planning-first schools may prefer the Smootables model.
Where Horarium still fits
Elementary, middle, and high schools that want a cloud tool on web, iOS, and Android with over 40 constraint types, adjustable importance weights, Excel import, and vendor-documented generation in minutes plus a report of unsatisfied constraints.
Horarium also ships roughly 90 help articles per locale across 10 languages, including pages mapped to specific constraint questions and solver error messages. Named customer testimonials cite schools in Romania, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, and South Africa.
Where vocational and planning-first schools look elsewhere
Horarium's positioning and content target K-12 class-based schools. At capture, no vocational, workshop, work-based-learning, individual-pathway, or academic-year-planning content was observed on its site.
For vocational college timetable software buyers and schools with mixed cohorts, the gap between 'constraints generate a grid' and 'the year plan is feasible' is where much of the planner time goes. Smootables puts multi-year planning, teacher workload calculations, pathways, resources, validation, and editing into the same model before generation.
How is Smootables different from Horarium?
Smootables shares cloud timetabling and automatic generation with hard and soft constraints. It starts earlier in the lifecycle. The planning model holds academic years, terms, periods, courses, modules, pathways, workload, and individual student assignments. Generation runs against that model (see automatic school timetabling), so validation can catch likely infeasibility before the solve.
The solver uses Google OR-Tools CP-SAT with 11 hard constraints and 6 weighted soft constraints, 12 pre-generation validation checks, typed infeasibility reports, a waiting area for deferred lessons, and timetable branches for scenario recovery. A built-in AI planner assistant lets planners describe changes in natural language and review bulk updates on the same planning model the solver uses.
How does Smootables compare to Horarium in 2026?
The table contrasts Horarium and Smootables across institution fit, planning depth, validation, pathways, AI, localization, company location, and export. Horarium is strong for K-12 constraint workflows; Smootables is planning-first, so several rows reflect where the data lives rather than whether a solver runs.
| Dimension | Horarium | Smootables |
|---|---|---|
| Primary institution fit | Elementary, middle, and high schools (vendor positioning) | Vocational and technical colleges, multi-campus groups, and schools with individual pathways |
| Workflow | Excel or UI data entry, constraint configuration, generation, manual edit, export | Planning-first, then generate a timetable from the plan in one step |
| Year and period planning | Documented surface centers generation; no year-planning layer described at capture | First-class part of the model |
| Individual pathways and exemptions | K-12 class focus; no pathway or WBL model described at capture | Group, individual, and per-placement exemption support in the core model |
| Pre-solve validation | Unsatisfied-constraint report after generation | 12 validation checks before generation, with typed infeasibility reports |
| Constraints | 40+ constraint types with Active toggle and adjustable importance weight | 11 hard and 6 weighted soft constraints with school-configurable weights |
| Automation and AI | Constraint-based generation with manual edit and regeneration | CP-SAT solver plus a built-in AI planner assistant for in-app actions |
| Company location | Romania (Softix SRL) | Finland |
| Publication and export | PDF and Excel export after generation | PDF and Excel export plus read-only teacher views; SIS and calendar integrations are available |
What should schools validate when replacing Horarium in 2026?
When deciding whether Smootables is the right replacement, these are the scenarios where the planning-first model usually shows the biggest difference:
- Modeling workshops, workplace learning, and individual pathways without a parallel spreadsheet
- Running pre-generation validation on a known-tight period
- Comparing scenarios with timetable branches instead of overwriting drafts
- Checking workload before any timetable is generated
- Asking the planner AI to balance a constraint and reviewing the proposed change before applying
What is the migration path from Horarium?
Moving off Horarium is a parallel run, not a big-bang switch. Compare TimetableMaster alternative if you are also evaluating other cloud generators. The steps below export your Horarium data, import it into Smootables, validate before scheduling, and run one term in parallel before you change the published source of truth.
- Export your current model from Horarium to Excel or PDF.
- Import the model into Smootables using structured import with column mapping, or AI-assisted extraction for older exports.
- Validate the model in Smootables. Pre-solve validation will surface mismatches that are easier to resolve before scheduling.
- Run one term in parallel. Keep Horarium as the published source of truth while you verify the Smootables result.
- Switch publication for one scope (campus, program, or term) once the parallel run looks correct.
- Roll out to the rest of the school in subsequent cycles. We support piloting and data migration so testing Smootables is fast and practical.
Questions schools ask when comparing Horarium and Smootables
Is Smootables a direct replacement for Horarium?
It can be for planning, generation, editing, and export. Horarium is optimized for K-12 class grids with a broad constraint catalog and localized help. Smootables focuses on year planning, vocational pathways, pre-solve validation, and AI-assisted editing. Many schools pilot Smootables when Horarium fits the grid but not the planning model behind it.
We are a standard secondary school, not a vocational college. Is Horarium the safer choice?
Horarium fits if you are mostly interested in timetable generation from teacher, group, and room lists. Smootables provides a more advanced multi-year school planning mode and focuses on a sophisticated tool for the planning step, in addition to timetable generation and editing.
Horarium cites large scale statistics. Should we trust them?
Treat vendor scale statistics as unverified unless they cite a review platform or independent source. Our competitor capture noted figures such as 42,000+ timetables and 3,500+ active users on Horarium pages without third-party sourcing. Evaluate both tools on your own pilot data instead.
What if Horarium generation is fast enough for us?
Generation speed is rarely the deciding factor. The bigger gain is the time before and after generation: validation that catches problems earlier, workload visibility before publication, and editing that keeps the planner in control afterwards.