What is Helium?
Helium is built on a simple idea: students deserve tools that feel intuitive, supportive, and designed for real academic life. We’ve created a planner that helps you stay organized, understand your progress, and manage your workload — without the clutter or stress of traditional scheduling apps.
We focus on clarity, clean design, and features that actually matter:
- flexible scheduling tools that make planning your week simple
- detailed assignment tracking with priorities, attachments, and checkboxes
- grade calculations, so you always know where you stand, and where more focus is needed
- clean, color-coded views that make deadlines and priorities stand out
- push and email reminders for assignments, classes, and everything else
- two-way sync with Google, Apple, and any other calendar
- rich notes and study materials tied to your classes and assignments
- free for all students, available on iOS, Android, and the web — so your schedule stays in sync across all your devices
Every improvement we make is shaped by real students who want better ways to stay on top of a busy semester. Our goal is to build a planner that feels natural — something you’ll actually rely on, not just set up once and forget.
If you have questions or suggestions of your own, reach out and let us know!
A note from the founder.
Hi, I’m Alex Laird, the creator of Helium.
In 2009, I was a Computer Science student frustrated by available student planners — of the few that did exist, none managed to be simple, flexible, intuitive, and capable all at once. I wanted something lightweight, modern, and academically smart. So I built my own: Get Organized, a cross-platform desktop app for color-coded classes, homework, and grades. The first conceit was simple — a calendar that doubled as a todo list, every assignment a checkbox you could tick off, just for the satisfaction.
I’ve continued refining it ever since with feedback from the people who use it every day. That project eventually evolved into what is now Helium: a web app, native iOS and Android apps, and an open API that anyone can build on, fork, or self-host.
Helium’s direction is shaped by the students who use it every day, but I’m the one writing the code, designing the features, and making sure everything feels polished and reliable. I care deeply about helping students feel more confident and in control of their academic life — and I’m continually improving Helium with that mission in mind.
I’ve kept Helium free all these years because I haven’t forgotten what it was like to be a broke college student. Helium is free and open source, and your data stays yours. If you’d like to support the project, you can do so through Patreon.