Free for solo teachers

Free hall pass app for your classroom

A free digital hall pass built by a middle school math teacher. Sets up in 5 minutes. No student logins, no app to install, no admin permission needed.

Sign in with Google — it's free

Free for one teacher  ·  No payment required  ·  No app to install

Why teachers love this free hall pass app

Up and running in 5 minutes

Sign in with your school Google account. Your classes sync from Google Classroom automatically. No CSV uploads, no IT ticket, no onboarding call. Set up a Chromebook by your door as a kiosk and you're done.

No student logins, no app downloads

Students tap their name on the kiosk, or click a Google Classroom Quick Link from their own device. No accounts, no passwords, no app downloads. Adoption happens because it has to.

See the patterns paper passes hide

Color-coded pass timer turns red after 15 minutes. Frequent-flyer report surfaces the kid going 4 times a day. Pair restrictions stop two students from being out at the same time. Pass log records every pass automatically.

Built by a teacher who lives this

I'm a middle school math teacher in NJ. I built Hallwise because I got tired of paper passes and SmartPass quoted us $3,000/yr. So I made one for my classroom and shared it. Free for one teacher; $599/yr flat if you ever want to bring it to your whole school.

Everything in the free hall pass plan

Eight features for one classroom — no upsell, no payment required.

Issue passes from a kiosk or Google Classroom link

Tap a name on a shared Chromebook, or share a Quick Link in Google Classroom. Either way: under 2 seconds per pass.

Color-coded timer

Pass turns yellow at 5 min, red at 15 min. You can see across the room how long someone has been out — without checking your phone.

Automatic pass log

Every pass recorded — student, time, destination, duration. Filter by day, time, destination, or student name. Export to Excel anytime.

Frequent-flyer report

Auto-surfaces students going to the bathroom 3+ times in a day, before it becomes a pattern. Makes the parent conversation a lot more concrete.

Student pair restrictions

Flag two students who keep coordinating. They can't have active passes at the same time. Killed our meet-up problem in a week.

Per-class pass limits

Set a max number of students out at once (default 3). Students who hit the limit see a polite “wait” message at the kiosk.

Google Classroom roster sync

Your roster is your Google Classroom roster. Add a student in Classroom; they appear in Hallwise on the next sync. No manual roster management.

Works on any device

Web-based — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge. Kiosk on a Chromebook, dashboard on your laptop or phone. Add to your iPhone or Android home screen for a native-app feel.

How the free plan compares to SmartPass and e-hallpass

Honest comparison. There are real trade-offs.

Hallwise
Free for solo teachers		SmartPass / e-hallpass
School plans only		Paper / Forms
Cost for one teacherFreeNot available — school plan only ($1.5k–3k/yr)Free
Setup timeUnder 5 minutesOnboarding call + IT involvementPrint and laminate
Permission to startNone — sign in with GoogleDistrict / IT approvalNone
Student logins requiredNoYesNo
Google Classroom roster syncYes — automaticYes—
Pass timerYesYesNo
Pass log / historyYesYesManual
Frequent-flyer reportYesYesNo
Pair restrictionsYesYesNo
School-wide reportingPaid plan ($599 flat)Built into per-student priceNo
Mobile appNo (web-based)Yes—

Want the full feature comparison, including school-plan features? See Hallwise vs SmartPass vs e-hallpass. If your school's dealing with bathroom vaping, see how to stop it without buying detectors.

Free hall pass — common questions

From teachers thinking about trying a digital hall pass system for the first time.

Is it really a free hall pass app?
For one classroom, yes — free. No credit card, no ads. We make money when an entire school adopts the school plan ($599/yr flat for any size), which adds school-wide reporting and a FERPA Data Processing Agreement that solo teachers don't need.
What's the catch?
No catch. I'm a math teacher and I built this for my own classroom first. The only thing the free tier doesn't include is the cross-classroom admin dashboard, which solo teachers don't need. We don't sell data, and we don't show ads.
Do my students need accounts?
No. They tap their name on a kiosk Chromebook by your door, or click a Google Classroom Quick Link from their own device. No app, no login, no email required.
Will my admin or IT department be involved?
Not for the free solo plan. You sign in with your existing school Google account. No district approval, no IT ticket. If you ever want to bring it to your whole school, that's a separate conversation we make easy.
What if I love it and want my whole school on it?
There's a "tell my admin" feature inside the product — one click sends a pre-written pitch to your AP or principal. School plan is $599/yr flat for any size — typically 3–10x cheaper than per-student pricing on SmartPass or e-hallpass once you hit a few hundred students.
What about FERPA / student privacy?
For solo teacher use, you operate under your existing employment authority — same as Google Classroom or any other tool you use individually. For school-wide deployment, we sign a Data Processing Agreement with your district under FERPA's school official exception. We do not sell student data, period.
How is this a free hall pass system if SmartPass and e-hallpass cost $3,000/yr?
Different business model. SmartPass and e-hallpass charge per student — typically $3–$5 each — which is why a 600-student school ends up at $1,800–$3,000/yr. We charge $599/yr flat per school regardless of size, and individual classrooms are free. Lower margin per school for us, but a much wider range of schools can afford to use it.
Peter Mant, founder of Hallwise and middle school math teacher

“The reason this is free for solo teachers is that I built it for myself first. I'm a math teacher and I needed it. Once I had it working, sharing it with other teachers cost me almost nothing — and the schools that ended up adopting the paid plan are the ones where teachers used it first and walked it up to their admin. So free for you helps me too. That's the whole deal.”

Peter Mant — Founder, Hallwise

10 years teaching middle school math

Free hall pass app for your classroom

Sign in with your school Google account. Your classes sync automatically. You'll have your first pass running in under 5 minutes.

Sign in with Google — start free

No payment required  ·  Free for one teacher  ·  No app to install