Penji

Penji is scheduling software for college tutoring centers that manage appointments, group classes, and drop-in services. Students can self-book and attend tutoring events online, in person, or in a hybrid format. For configured drop-in locations, students can check in by email, ID, or card swipe and follow their queue position and estimated wait. Tutors can record attendance. Other tools include session usage caps, no-show handling, feedback logs, in-app chat, and video calling integration. Penji integrates with Google and Outlook calendars and video providers such as Zoom. The tutoring product includes more than 20 pre-built interactive dashboards and a real-time report builder. It is available as a desktop web application and in mobile formats for Android and iOS. The Free Plan provides full platform access for up to five tutors or staff, but has no SSO or IT integrations. Paid service is available by custom quote, based on active tutor count or annual student visits; terms state annual billing unless the contract specifies otherwise. Penji says it does not sell student data, complies with FERPA when covered education records are involved, and meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Penji covers several tutoring-center scheduling formats, with reporting, check-in, and calendar features. Institutions should consider its free-plan limits and custom-quote terms when assessing fit.

Penji is designed for college tutoring centers coordinating appointments, group sessions, and drop-ins. It may fit centers that need mobile access, calendar connections, and attendance reporting.

Penji is a scheduling and service platform for college tutoring centers, especially programs balancing appointments, group classes, and drop-in demand. It is a strong fit for institutions that need to coordinate the full student visit, while smaller teams should weigh the free plan’s five-staff limit and the custom quote required for expanded use.

Overview

Penji combines student self-booking with group sessions and walk-in support. For centers, that means scheduled appointments and drop-ins can run through one service workflow. A program that only needs tutors to share a basic appointment calendar may find Penji’s broader scope unnecessary.

Drop-in students can check in by email, ID, or card swipe, then track their place in the queue and estimated wait. Events can run online, in person, or in hybrid form, with attendance recorded by tutors or through student self check-in. This range suits campus programs serving students in different settings, though it brings more operational features than a single-format tutoring service may need.

Key features

Scheduling and session management

Students can book their own sessions, join group classes, and sync calendars in both directions. Penji integrates with Google and Outlook calendars and video providers such as Zoom. Usage caps, no-show handling, feedback logs, and in-app chat cover routine work around a session as well as the booking itself. These controls can help centers manage staff time and follow up on visits; the feature set is most useful when the center has enough activity to use those workflows.

Reporting and attendance

The tutoring product includes more than 20 pre-built interactive dashboards and a real-time report builder. That gives administrators several ready-made views alongside a way to build reports as needs change. Tutors can log attendance, or students can check themselves in, which supports programs that need attendance records across different event formats.

Access, privacy, and support

Penji is available on the web, Android, and iOS, matching its mobile-first approach for students and staff. The company says it does not sell student data, uses secure coding practices and providers such as AWS, and makes a HECVAT available for review. It states that it complies with FERPA when customer data includes covered education records and meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards. In-house phone and email support, unlimited administrator training, and live troubleshooting may help campus teams through rollout and ongoing use.

Implementation time depends on the institution’s setup: Penji recommends at least four weeks for a multi-center launch involving SSO and IT integrations, while a single center without IT integrations can be set up within two days. That difference matters for institutions planning a broader deployment.

Pricing

Free Plan

The Free Plan costs nothing and includes full platform access for up to five tutors or staff. It has no SSO or IT integrations, and each institution can have only one free plan. This is a useful way for a small center to use the platform without a subscription, but the staff cap and missing integrations make it a poor fit for larger or more connected operations.

Custom quote

The paid plan uses custom pricing based on active tutor count or annual student visits. It is billed annually unless the contract says otherwise. Institutions should request a quote to assess the cost against their staffing or student volume; the annual billing default is a material commitment for programs comparing budgets.

Platforms

Penji supports Android, iOS, and web access, including a desktop web application and mobile formats. Two-way calendar sync and integrations with Google, Outlook, and video providers such as Zoom support coordination across the tools a center uses.

Who it's for

Penji is designed for college tutoring centers that need to manage appointments, group instruction, and drop-in services together. Its check-in and queue features are particularly relevant to centers handling walk-in demand, while its dashboards and attendance options suit administrators tracking activity across events. Individual tutors or small programs that only need appointment booking may be better served by a narrower tool.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Drop-in check-in supports email, ID, or card swipe and shows students their queue position and estimated wait, helping centers manage walk-in demand.
• Pros: More than 20 interactive dashboards and a real-time report builder give administrators both ready-made reporting and customization.
• Pros: The free plan includes full platform access, so a center with five or fewer tutors or staff can use the platform without paying.
• Cons: The free plan excludes SSO and IT integrations and allows just one plan per institution, limiting its usefulness for connected or multi-center deployments.
• Cons: Paid pricing is custom and ordinarily billed annually, so institutions must obtain a quote and account for a yearly commitment.
• Cons: A multi-center rollout with SSO and IT integrations takes at least four weeks by Penji’s recommendation, requiring more lead time than a single-center setup without those integrations.

Alternatives

Tutoring Scheduling Software is a useful place to compare options if Penji’s campus-focused service workflow does not match a center’s needs.

Choose SchedulingKit when a team wants a free booking tool with a defined monthly quota: its free plan covers one team member, one event type, and 50 bookings per month, and it also offers a free trial.

Tutorbase may suit programs that want a freemium option with all features included and no monthly subscription, accepting a 1% fee when invoicing through the system.

Tutoressa is another freemium alternative for readers comparing tutoring software with a free plan.

Accudemia is worth considering for a center that can budget $999 a year for its Essentials plan, which covers 3,000 active students, one center, and five Support Units per month.

Classcard may be a better match for buyers seeking published monthly pricing: its Starter plan is $99 a month and includes unlimited staff, students, and classes, plus 20GB of storage.

LearnSuite is an option for programs billed by completed lesson-hour: its Pay-as-you-go plan costs $0.35 a month per completed lesson-hour, has no platform fee, and covers under 400 lesson-hours per month.

Linc is another paid option for institutions comparing tutoring platforms with mobile apps and in-person tutoring.

Seemi may fit an individual tutor seeking a monthly plan: its Solo Tutor tier costs $15 a month and includes one user, unlimited students, schedules, and virtual classroom access.

Verdict

Penji is a strong choice for college tutoring centers that need appointments, group classes, drop-in queues, attendance, and reporting in one platform. Its most persuasive advantage is the breadth of student-service workflows, while the five-person free-plan cap and custom, usually annual, paid pricing are the main reasons larger institutions should compare quotes and rollout requirements before committing.