Honest comparison

HomeRoom vs Classroomscreen

Classroomscreen (also written Classroom Screen) is a popular classroom display tool, and I'm a teacher who built HomeRoom, so I'm biased. Here is a plain look at where they overlap, where they differ, and which one might suit your room.

Classroomscreen

A simple, widget-based screen for your board: 26 widgets including a timer, noise meter, name picker and traffic light. Easy to start, and the free plan includes all of them. A fit if you mainly want lesson-time widgets on screen.

HomeRoom

A full classroom dashboard with about 45 tools, all free, plus custom scenes, a live day and unit planner, seating charts, a phone remote, and sub plans. A good fit if you want your whole school day, not just lesson widgets, on one screen.

Side by side

At a glance

 HomeRoomClassroomscreen
Built byA working teacher in Nova Scotia, CanadaSays it is made by, and for, teachers. Reports 2 million+ teachers and 450k daily users
Core ideaOne dashboard for the whole school day: scenes, planner, tools, remoteA customizable screen for use during lessons, with saved screens and templates
Number of toolsAbout 45, all included in the free plan26 widgets, all included in the free plan
Free planFree forever ($0 CAD). Every tool plus the full planner, with room for 5 classes and 1 unit plan with 3 active tasksFree Basic plan ($0): all 26 widgets, annotation bar, remote poll voting, three saved name lists, saved widget bar layout, and the template library. You can try it without logging in
Paid planPro: $20 CAD/year (regularly $30), founder price locked in for life. Adds unlimited classes and plans, live multi-device sync, Remote Control, and guest modePro: $3 USD/month, billed annually at $36 USD. Adds saved and shared screens, folders, custom backgrounds, unlimited name lists, and widget themes. A school plan starts at $525 USD/year for 25 licenses
Free trial60 days of full Pro, no credit card, no auto-conversionA Pro trial is offered
Day and unit plannerBuilt in. Bump a lesson and everything after it slides, and learning targets sync to the boardTimetable and calendar widgets, plus screens you can prepare ahead and save (Pro). No unit or lesson planner listed
Phone as a remoteYes (Pro): announcements, hide the board, mute, chime, and photo dropRemote poll voting for students. No teacher phone remote listed
Groups and seatingVisibly random groups, balanced mode, drag-to-arrange seating chartsName picker, group maker and random seats, with class lists that feed them
Sub plansOne-click sub plans and Guest Teacher ModeSave and share screens (Pro), plus shared workspaces for colleagues
Student accountsNone. Teacher-only, no student loginsTeacher account, or no account at all. Student names are optional
Data locationNames and rosters stay in your browser, with an encrypted backup hosted in CanadaDutch company. Their policy says data is processed in the EU/EEA, with some passed to the USA under safeguards. They say they don't sell personal information and don't run ads. Google Analytics and several other third-party services are used. A free Basic account stores your name and email, plus student names if you choose to enter them

Classroomscreen details come from their public pricing, home and privacy pages, and “not listed” means I couldn’t find it there. Details may have changed, so check their site for current plans. Last reviewed October 2026.

Where Classroomscreen fits

Where HomeRoom is different

Which should you pick?

If all you need is a few widgets on the board during lessons, Classroomscreen covers that and you may not need anything else. If you're juggling a planner, a timer site, a group maker, and a seating chart in separate tabs, HomeRoom is built to replace that pile. You can try both: HomeRoom's free tier and 60-day Pro trial need no credit card.

Quick questions

Is HomeRoom a Classroomscreen (Classroom Screen) alternative?

Yes, for the board-display side. HomeRoom has timers, a name picker, a whiteboard, sticky notes, and about 45 tools in all. It also adds a day and unit planner, seating charts, and a phone remote.

Is HomeRoom free?

Yes. The free plan is $0 CAD forever and includes every tool and the full planner, with room for 5 classes and 1 unit plan with 3 active tasks. Pro is $20 CAD a year.

Does HomeRoom work on a Chromebook or smartboard?

Yes. It runs in any modern browser, so it works on Chromebooks and touchscreen smartboards.

Do students need accounts?

No. HomeRoom is for the teacher only. Students don't need accounts.

Try it yourself

Compare them in your own room.

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