The 20 best free timers for kids
We tried every free online timer we could find in October 2026 and ranked the 20 best for children, parents and classrooms. The ranking weighs what a child can read and enjoy, what a grown-up needs (ads, sign-up, the screen staying on), and what each timer does that the others do not.
Peabody made this list, and Peabody's own timer is on it, at number one. We built it after testing all of these, to do what we wished they did, so weigh our pick knowing that. Nobody paid to be listed and there are no affiliate links. Every other entry is described from its own site as we found it on 29 October 2026. The full table of every timer we checked is in free online timers: every one we checked, and what we learned is in we tried the free online timers.
1. Peabody Timers
Best for: Young children at home, and any class that wants a timer to watch
Every other timer with characters we found carries ads or keeps most of its characters behind a payment. Peabody's are free, with no ads and no sign-up: a gorilla eats his pizza slice by slice, a rocket drains its fuel cells and lifts off, a dinosaur egg cracks and hatches. The picture is the time, so a child who cannot read numbers can still see how much is left. A child picks the job by picture (brush teeth, tidy up, wait, read), Peabody counts the last ten seconds out loud, a real clock face shows where the big hand will be when it is done, and up to four children can take turns as animals. Bedtime and school mornings get picture routines with a timer for each step, and homework comes in blocks sized to the grade. It is new, and it is ours, so weigh this pick knowing that.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Ours, and new in October 2026.
2. TimerHub
Best for: Parents who want a calm picture timer with no ads
The closest thing to a kids' timer built with care: picture timers a child reads before they can tell the time, presets named for the job (tidy up 5, get dressed 10, story time 15), a parenting tip on each, a silent glow ending and scenes that stay still unless you turn motion on. No ads and no third-party requests on its kids page.
- Free: Everything (a Pro link with no price shown)
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Pictures, not characters.
3. VisualTimer.com
Best for: The widest choice of visual timers
About 150 timers, including a toddler timer with animals, a brushing timer that lights each quarter of the mouth in turn, cleanup and potty timers, and music timers. You can hide the digits in full screen. It carries light AdSense on the kids' pages.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: A few (AdSense). Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: AdSense on the kids' pages.
4. Classroomscreen
Best for: Teachers who want the whole board
The timer is one of 26 widgets on a projected board, beside a visual timer that can hide its digits, a noise meter, a name picker, a traffic light and work symbols. Timers repeat for station rotations. No ads; the free version just does not save your screens.
- Free: All 26 widgets; Pro ($36 a year) saves your screens
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Free screens are not saved.
5. BombTimer.com
Best for: A big laugh at zero
Friendly bomb characters with "zero realism", each with its own animation and explosion, in 145 animated worlds. The free version has one bomb and light ads; $6.99 once unlocks the rest and removes the ads.
- Free: One friendly bomb; $6.99 once unlocks 50+ bombs, 140+ worlds and removes ads
- Ads: A few (AdSense). Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Almost all the characters cost $6.99; bombs will not suit every class.
6. Online-Stopwatch
Best for: The biggest range of fun timers, if you can live with ads
Nobody has more: 90+ races with a random winner (ducks, dinos, snails, unicorns), surprise-ending timers, sensory timers with no numbers, holiday timers and 30+ name pickers. The catch is serious for a kids' site: one race page contacted about 60 ad networks and a full-screen ad covered the Duck Race. Premium ($24 a year) removes the ads.
- Free: Most timers; Premium ($24 a year) removes ads and adds race characters
- Ads: Many, plus a full-screen ad. Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: About 60 ad networks on a race page and a full-screen ad over the Duck Race; free races have 6 characters.
7. ClassroomTimers.app
Best for: Classrooms that need exams, rotations and fun in one place
Fun timers (bomb, rainbow, popcorn, candle), exam timers with labelled sections and a chime at each change, interval and Pomodoro timers, the screen kept awake, and a presentation room you control from another device. No ads seen.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
8. OnlineTimeZone fun timers
Best for: A fidget-spinner fan
A fidget spinner that slows to a stop as the time runs out, with a whirring sound you can turn off, plus a 3D sand timer, a cartoon bomb and a candle. Embed code puts it on a school site. No ad hosts on the page we watched.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
9. Toy Theater classroom timer
Best for: Kindergarten and first grade classrooms
Shapes that fill as time passes, a big keypad and a loud, soft or silent ending, from a site many children already know from school. Light AdSense, and the whole tool is one canvas that screen readers cannot read.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: A few (AdSense). Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Drawn on one canvas, so screen readers get nothing; no presets.
10. e.ggtimer
Best for: Bookmarking a timer for a job
Type the time into the address: e.ggtimer.com/brushteeth runs a labelled two minutes and shows it in the tab title. The page contacted no one but itself.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
11. Hello Playdate bedtime timer
Best for: The last ten minutes before bed
A calm wind-down animation for 5 or 10 minutes with no characters to excite anyone, a simple Again button, and no ads. The page loads several analytics tools.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen (from the page's code). Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Several analytics tools in the page.
12. LiveCloud sand timer
Best for: Toddlers and quiet thinking time
A sand timer with no digits at all, made for young children, with a choice of end bell and nothing else on the screen.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen (from the page's code). Sign-up: None.
13. Google's timer
Best for: A grown-up who needs a timer this second
Search "set timer 5 minutes" and it is running, with +30 s, +1 and +5 buttons, a mute and full screen. Not one to hand a child: it sits on a page of results and videos.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: It sits on a page of search results, links and videos.
14. IntervalTimer.com fun timers
Best for: Older kids who game
Presets with game jokes they will get (a night hour by hour in about eight and a half minutes, a Minecraft-style day and night, a 40-second bomb defuse) and an interval builder for workouts. No ads.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: Optional, for extras.
15. OnlineClock.net timer
Best for: Picking the alarm sound
22 ringtones you can preview, a progress bar with the finish time, many clock themes and the screen kept awake. Light AdSense.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: A few (AdSense). Sign-up: None.
16. TomatoTimer
Best for: Homework for older kids and teens
The plainest Pomodoro timer: 25 minutes of work, a short break, a long break, keyboard shortcuts and desktop alerts, with no ads. For younger children, set shorter blocks on a picture timer instead.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
17. ClassTools.net timer
Best for: Music during the countdown
Twenty tunes to play while the timer runs, from TV themes to Clair de Lune, and several timers in sequence. Heavy ad tech, so it is a teacher's screen, not a child's.
- Free: Everything; Premium (£19.99 a year) removes ads
- Ads: Many (20+ ad networks). Sign-up: None.
- Watch for: Heavy ad tech and identity tracking.
18. Kuraplan classroom timer
Best for: Clear warning colours on a projector
A ring that turns amber at 30 seconds and red at 10, presets from 1 to 30 minutes and full screen. No ad slots, though it carries ad-tracking pixels.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: No ad slots, but ad-tracking pixels. Sign-up: None.
19. Stopwatch.now bomb and sand timers
Best for: A bomb or sand timer that talks to screen readers
A ticking cartoon bomb, sand timers and race timers, with a live region that announces the time. We read its ads from the page's code: AdSense.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: A few (AdSense) (from the page's code). Sign-up: None.
20. Visnos classroom timer
Best for: The simplest whiteboard timer
Big plain digits, minutes or seconds, a bell or a tick, and no ads. Nothing else, which is sometimes exactly right.
- Free: Everything
- Ads: None seen. Sign-up: None.
How we ranked them
We searched Google for 22 phrases parents and teachers use (timer for kids, visual timer, classroom timer, fun timer, toothbrush timer, bedtime timer, Pomodoro timer for kids and more), opened every free timer that came up, 45 in all, and used each one. While each page loaded we listed every ad and tracking company it contacted. Each timer got a score: how much a child would want to watch it (counted twice), ads and privacy, how much it does, and whether it needs a sign-up. We kept that order, then gave a place to the best pick for a job a family has (bedtime, a quick grown-up timer, homework) even where it scored lower. Peabody went first because we built it to do what we wished the others did; you can check every claim on its page.
Questions
What is the best free timer for kids?
For young children, a timer they can read without numbers: a picture that empties as time passes. Peabody Timers (ours, so weigh that) does it with animated characters and no ads. TimerHub is the best ad-free picture timer from someone else, and VisualTimer.com has the widest choice.
What is the best free classroom timer?
Classroomscreen puts a timer beside a visual timer, a noise meter, a name picker and a traffic light on one board, with no ads. Online-Stopwatch has the most fun timers, with heavy advertising around them. ClassroomTimers.app adds exam sections and remote control.
Are online timers safe for kids?
The timer itself is harmless, but many timer sites carry advertising beside it. On one of the most popular kids' timer sites we watched a race page contact about 60 ad and tracking companies and a full-screen ad cover the timer. If a child will use the page alone, pick one with no ads (most of this list) or stay nearby.
What is a visual timer?
A timer that shows time passing as a picture, such as a coloured disc that shrinks, sand that runs out or a pizza that gets eaten, so a child who cannot read numbers can see how much is left. Visual timers are widely used with young children, and many families of autistic children and children with ADHD use them.
Is there a free Time Timer online?
Not from Time Timer itself: the original red-disc timer comes as a physical timer and paid apps, and we found no official web version. The red-disc idea is in many free web timers, and Peabody's done-at clock goes one step further by shading the time on a real clock face.