A seating chart is a small decision that shapes a whole lesson: who sits near the board, who works well together, and who needs space from whom. The tools below build that chart for you — some from your class list and a few rules, others from behaviour data or a drawing of the room itself.
This list collects eight seating chart makers checked on their own official websites on November 13, 2026. Some are free and need no account, some are school platforms with a price, and two live inside bigger classroom apps. Where a site did not state a price, we say so.
Pick by the problem you have. If the room itself is the puzzle, draw it to scale. If behaviour is the puzzle, use a tool that remembers who clashed last week. If you just need names on desks before first period, the free tools do that in minutes.
Key takeaways
- Classroom Seating Plan and Free Room Planner are free with no account, and both export a picture of the plan.
- Classroom Seating Chart is free for three classes forever; a one-time $20 covers up to 100 classes with no subscription.
- Mega Seating Plan costs $6.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with a free trial and school plans priced separately.
- iDoceo is a one-time purchase with up to 10 seating plans per class, and it works offline on iPad, Mac, and iPhone.
- TeachSeats gives a 60-day free trial, then costs $3 a year.
Quick comparison
| # | Tool | Best for | Grades / audience | Pricing | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | seating plans built from behaviour and interaction data | All grades | Paid | No | |
| 2 | data-rich seating plans for a whole school | All grades | Free + paid | Trial only | |
| 3 | auto-seating that respects who must sit apart | All grades | Free + paid | Free | |
| 4 | seating plans on an iPad that work offline | All grades | Paid | No | |
| 5 | seating inside a full gradebook and planner | All grades | Paid | No | |
| 6 | a free, printable plan with no account | All grades | Free | Free | |
| 7 | a cheap, simple seating chart with a long trial | All grades | Free + paid | Trial only | |
| 8 | drawing your real room to scale | All grades | Free + paid | Free |
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Request a listingThe 8 best picks
ClassCharts
Best for: seating plans built from behaviour and interaction data
- Pricing
- Paid
- Free plan
- No
- Grades / audience
- All grades
ClassCharts is a classroom management platform from Tes that builds seating plans from the data a school already records. It creates optimised plans in seconds, arranges students by ability with a couple of clicks, and prints data-rich plans for lesson observations. Teachers can track how students interact and rebuild a plan when the mix stops working, all inside the same behaviour and attendance system.
What we like
- Creates optimised seating plans in seconds from recorded data
- Arranges students by ability to support peer learning
- Prints data-rich seating plans for observations and inspections
- Tracks student interactions to inform the next plan
Watch out for
- Pricing is not stated on the official site, so ask for a quote before planning around it.
- The seating plan is one part of a bigger system, so setup takes longer than a free planner.
Pricing: Pricing is not stated on the official site.
Mega Seating Plan
Best for: data-rich seating plans for a whole school
- Pricing
- Free + paid
- Free plan
- Trial only
- Grades / audience
- All grades
Mega Seating Plan is a seating chart generator that starts from your class list and your room. Import names from any spreadsheet, Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, or your school's management system, then drop, resize, and rotate furniture to match the room. Plans show key data about each student, such as SEND status and target grades, and smart sorting groups or separates students automatically.
What we like
- Import class lists from spreadsheets, Google Classroom, Teams, or school systems
- Drop, resize, and rotate furniture to match the room
- Data-rich plans showing SEND status, target grades, and assessments
- Smart sorting that groups or separates students by their data
Watch out for
- School plans are priced separately, so check the cost for your school size.
- The data features are strongest when the school system is connected.
Pricing: Teacher plan $6.99 a month, or $29.99 a year; free trial available. School plans are priced separately.
Classroom Seating Chart
Best for: auto-seating that respects who must sit apart
- Pricing
- Free + paid
- Free plan
- Free
- Grades / audience
- All grades
Classroom Seating Chart is a small web tool that builds a seating chart in three steps: create the class, build the room, and generate the chart. You set rules for who sits together or apart, mark who needs the front or a specific group, and let the tool place everyone in seconds. Absent students can be marked off so only the children who showed up get a seat, and the first three classes are free forever.
What we like
- One-click auto seating from your classroom rules
- Seat together or apart rules handled automatically
- Seat preferences for the front, middle, back, or a desk group
- Mark absences and seat only the students who showed up
Watch out for
- The $20 payment covers up to 100 classes, so check the limit if your school is large.
- The free tier covers three classes, so count your classes before you start.
Pricing: Free for 3 classes forever. One-time $20 for up to 100 classes and unlimited students per class, with no subscription.
- Pricing
- Paid
- Free plan
- No
- Grades / audience
- All grades
iDoceo is a teacher gradebook and planner for iPad, Mac, and iPhone, and its seating plan tool arranges the classroom, creates groups, and records attendance from the visual plan. Each class can hold up to ten seating plans in five modes — name, photo, photo and name, circular photo, or badge — with custom backgrounds. It is a one-time purchase with no subscription, and it works offline.
What we like
- Up to 10 seating plans per class in five display modes
- Custom backgrounds and notes attached to each student
- Random picker and random group generator inside the plan
- Attendance recorded from the visual seating plan
Watch out for
- It is a paid app, so budget for the one-time purchase.
- The seating plan sits inside a full gradebook, so there is more to learn than a single-purpose planner.
Pricing: One-time purchase, with no subscriptions or in-app purchases. The price is not stated on the official site.
- Pricing
- Paid
- Free plan
- No
- Grades / audience
- All grades
Additio App is a classroom management and assessment platform, and its seating plan is one of its daily tools. You can build a different plan for each group-class, see each student's photo and name, drag students into place, and create workgroups. A magic wand picks a random student from the plan, and the plan exports to PDF. Attendance, grades, rubrics, and lesson planning sit in the same app.
What we like
- A different seating plan for each group-class, with photos and names
- Drag students into place and build workgroups
- Magic wand picks a random student from the plan
- Exports the plan to PDF
Watch out for
- Pricing is not stated on the official site, so ask for the teacher plan before you commit.
- The app is strongest when the whole class record lives in it.
Pricing: Pricing is not stated on the official site.
Classroom Seating Plan
Best for: a free, printable plan with no account
- Pricing
- Free
- Free plan
- Free
- Grades / audience
- All grades
Classroom Seating Plan is a free website that makes a seating plan you can actually put on the floor. Pick a room shape — rows, U-shape, pods, a horseshoe, or a computer lab — and a class size, and the page shows where the screen, the aisle, and every seat go. Open the plan in the browser editor to match your real room, import names from Excel, and export a picture for the wall.
What we like
- Free layouts for class sizes from 20 to 30 students
- Room shapes including rows, U-shape, pods, and horseshoe
- Browser editor to match the plan to your real room
- Excel import for names and PNG or JSON export
Watch out for
- The site is a layout tool first, so rules like keep-apart need manual placing.
- Each shape covers a set of class sizes, so check yours is listed.
Pricing: Free. The site asks, “Is the classroom seating planner free?” and answers yes.
- Pricing
- Free + paid
- Free plan
- Trial only
- Grades / audience
- All grades
TeachSeats is a small web app for classroom seating charts. You arrange desks, set student preferences, build groups, and manage the layout, then randomise the seating when the mix needs a change. It opens with a 60-day free trial that needs no card, and the subscription after that costs $3 a year.
What we like
- Arrange desks and customise the classroom layout
- Set student preferences for where each child sits
- Build groups and randomise seating
- 60-day free trial with no card required
Watch out for
- The trial lasts 60 days, so set a reminder before it ends.
- Save your layout before you randomise, so a good arrangement is not lost.
Pricing: Free 60-day trial with no card required, then $3 a year.
- Pricing
- Free + paid
- Free plan
- Free
- Grades / audience
- All grades
Free Room Planner is a free room-drawing tool with a classroom layout maker. You draw the room to scale in metres or feet, place desks in rows, groups, or a horseshoe, and put each pupil's name on a seat to make a seating chart. It runs in the browser with no sign-up, shows the room in 2D and 3D, and downloads the plan as an image.
What we like
- Draw the classroom to scale in metric or imperial units
- Desks in rows, groups, or a horseshoe, with names on seats
- 3D view of the finished room
- Free to use with no account
Watch out for
- The free download has a small watermark; a clean scaled PDF needs Plus.
- Plus costs $11 a month, so the free plan fits a one-off chart better than a weekly redraw.
Pricing: Free, with no account. Plus is $11 a month for a clean scaled PDF without a watermark.
How we chose
We started from tools PreK–6 teachers actually use and checked every one against its official website, pricing page and feature pages on November 13, 2026. We kept tools that fit elementary classrooms, noted whether a free plan exists, and wrote down honest limitations next to the strengths. Nobody paid to be included, and we don't use affiliate links on this page.
- Fit for PreK–6 classrooms, special education or homeschool
- Clear information on the official site about what the tool does and who it is for
- Free plan or free-for-teachers option noted where one exists
- Still active and maintained, with rebrands noted
How to choose the right tool
Start with the room. If desks move or the room is an odd shape, use a tool that draws the layout — Free Room Planner works to scale, and Mega Seating Plan lets you drop, resize, and rotate furniture.
Decide whether the chart should remember anything. ClassCharts builds plans from behaviour and interaction history, and Mega Seating Plan colour-codes students by their data. The free layout tools remember nothing, which is fine for a one-off chart.
Check the account and the price before the term starts. Classroom Seating Plan and Free Room Planner need no account and cost nothing. TeachSeats gives a 60-day trial, and Classroom Seating Chart is free for three classes forever.
Match the tool to the device. iDoceo runs on iPad, Mac, and iPhone and works offline, which suits a teacher who carries a tablet. The browser tools work on any school computer.
Plan for the absent students. Classroom Seating Chart can seat only the children who showed up today, and Additio records attendance from the seating plan itself.
Print the chart for the wall and the substitute folder. Most tools here export a picture or a PDF — check the export before you rely on it, since some free downloads carry a watermark.
Best pick by situation
- Your room is an odd shape and no template fits it: Free Room Planner — draw the room to scale and place every desk where it actually sits
- Two students clash every time they sit together: Mega Seating Plan — smart sorting separates students by their data, with keep-apart rules
- You need a seating chart before first period, with no account: Classroom Seating Plan — pick a room shape and class size, then edit the plan in the browser
- You want the chart to reflect who worked well together last week: ClassCharts — plans are built from behaviour and interaction history
- Three children are absent and the chart must still work: Classroom Seating Chart — mark absences and auto-seat only the students who showed up
- You carry an iPad and want the plan with you all day: iDoceo — up to 10 seating plans per class, saved on the device, works offline
- You want seating, attendance, and grades in one app: Additio App — visual seating plan sits beside the gradebook and attendance
Frequently asked questions
Which seating chart maker is completely free?
Classroom Seating Plan and Free Room Planner are free with no account. Classroom Seating Chart is free for three classes forever, and TeachSeats gives a 60-day free trial before its $3-a-year subscription.
Which tool builds a seating plan from behaviour data?
ClassCharts creates seating plans from recorded behaviour and interactions, and can arrange students by ability. Mega Seating Plan also uses student data, with smart sorting that groups or separates students automatically.
Can I draw my classroom to scale?
Yes. Free Room Planner draws the room to scale in metres or feet, with desks in rows, groups, or a horseshoe, and names on each seat. Mega Seating Plan also lets you place and rotate furniture to match the room.
Which seating chart maker works offline?
iDoceo works offline on iPad, Mac, and iPhone. The other tools here run in a browser, so they need a connection.
Do any of these tools take attendance from the seating plan?
Yes. iDoceo records attendance from a visual seating plan, and Additio does the same, with a random student picker built into the plan.
Make a tool for teachers?
Built something teachers love? We keep these guides fresh, so send us a new tool, updated pricing or a featured spot request.
Request a listingDisclosure: no tool on this page paid to be included and we don't earn commissions from these links. Featured placements, if we ever offer them, will be clearly labeled "Sponsored". Details were checked on each provider's official website on November 13, 2026 and can change.