NextTime vs CueTimer
NextTime is a browser-based stage timer with unlimited synced display links. CueTimer, from PresentationTools, is a desktop-first speaker timer for Mac and Windows with professional video outputs. Here is the honest comparison, with CueTimer's details taken from their site.
What CueTimer is
A fair look at the tool on the other side of the table.
CueTimer is the speaker timer from PresentationTools, built as a native desktop app for Mac and Windows with a browser-based Cloud version alongside it. The operator runs a cue list of timers on the show machine, and those timers feed out the way a video engineer expects: NDI and HDMI into switchers and multiviewers, Companion and Stream Deck support for hardware control, and messages pushed to the screens. Because the core product is installed software, it keeps running even when the venue internet does not, and it is sold as paid annual licences. In a production rig with a real video pipeline, it is a serious tool doing exactly what it was built to do.
The core difference
Two separately licensed products, or one clock every browser can open.
Strip away the feature lists and these are two different models. CueTimer is two products, licensed separately: a desktop app where the show outputs live - fullscreen, NDI, Blackmagic - and a Cloud version in the browser, licensed one Cue List at a time. NextTime is one place: the clock lives in the cloud, every browser that opens a display link is looking at the same second, and every plan carries unlimited events and displays. Everything in the table below follows from that split.
| CueTimer | NextTime | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in | Desktop app for Mac and Windows, plus a browser-based Cloud version | Any browser, any OS |
| Free tier | No Trial sessions only, restartable | Yes Unlimited displays, segments to 10 minutes |
| Unlimited events | Partial One Cue List per Cloud licence | Yes Unlimited events on every plan, including Free |
| Price | Paid annual licences, desktop and cloud separate | $15 per event or $129 per year |
| Displays | Partial Host machine outputs plus their cloud sharing | Yes Unlimited links on every plan; any phone, tablet, or TV in the room |
| Rundown with cascading times and locks | Partial Cue list of timers | Yes |
| Messages to screens | Yes | Yes |
| NDI / HDMI output | Yes | No |
| Companion / Stream Deck | Yes Official integration | Partial Control links, no official module |
| Works offline | Yes Desktop app | No |
Why buyers choose NextTime
No show machine, no outputs to rig. Just the screens you already have.
The short version
- Zero-install browser timing on any device and any OS. Build the rundown, share a link, run the show.
- A real free tier: unlimited displays, segments up to 10 minutes. A working timer, not a countdown to a paywall.
- Unlimited display links over the internet on every plan. Every screen that can open a browser is on the clock in seconds.
- A rundown with cascade and locks instead of a cue list. It does the schedule arithmetic for you.
- $15 per event or $129 per year. When the event ends you have spent $0 or $15, not licensed a machine you rig twice a year.
Need a native desktop app on a show machine, NDI and HDMI outputs, or official Companion and Stream Deck control? Buy CueTimer. It is built for that workflow; NextTime is not.
Who each is really for
Most events do not have a video engineer, a show machine, or an NDI pipeline. They have a stage, a schedule, and whatever screens are already in the room.
Compare more: vs Stagetimer, vs Irisdown Countdown Timer, vs Physical timers, Best stage timer apps. Or see it all on the NextTime homepage.
One clock, every screen
Open a link and every screen is on the clock, with unlimited displays and events on every plan. Free to start.
NextTime vs CueTimer FAQ
Is NextTime a free CueTimer alternative?
For browser-based speaker timing, yes: NextTime's Free plan is a working timer with unlimited screens, where CueTimer offers short restartable trial sessions and paid annual licences.
Does NextTime output NDI or HDMI?
No. NextTime displays through browser windows on any screen. If your workflow requires NDI into a video pipeline, CueTimer is the better fit.
Can NextTime be controlled from a Stream Deck?
Yes, through control links: plain web links for play, pause, next, previous, and time nudges that a Stream Deck or Companion button can fire. No plugin, no API key. There is no dedicated hardware module, so if deep Companion integration drives your show, CueTimer goes further.
Does NextTime work as an OBS overlay?
Yes. Every timer has a transparent OBS-ready display variant you add as a browser source, with unlimited simultaneous sources on the free plan. CueTimer feeds video pipelines over NDI and HDMI instead; for a plain browser overlay, NextTime drops straight into OBS.
Do both work without installing anything?
NextTime, yes, everywhere. CueTimer's core product is an installed desktop app; they also offer a browser-based Cloud version.
Who is each really for?
CueTimer belongs on a video engineer's show machine, feeding timers into switchers and multiviewers over NDI, driven from a Stream Deck. If that sentence describes your rig, buy CueTimer. NextTime belongs everywhere else: events run by producers, volunteers, and organizers who need timers on many screens with nothing installed, controlled from a phone, at free-to-$15 event economics.