TimelineJS alternative: Boromlia compared feature by feature

Typed fields instead of a spreadsheet to keep

An event is entered in a form and stored as data: a date or a range, a place with real coordinates, a source, people, tags, rich text and images. There is no sheet to keep published, no column header to preserve and no blank row to avoid, and the chronology cannot be edited by anyone who happens to hold a link to a document.

Because the fields are typed, the software can act on them. Filter by tag, narrow to a period, show only the events with no source attached, sort a table by date. One set of events then draws six ways with nothing re-entered, and the embed is a single iframe tag that keeps showing the live timeline as you add to it.

Boromlia and TimelineJS, feature by feature

TimelineJS details checked 2026-09-06.

Views of one record. Boromlia: Six: River, Cards, Map, Spans, Ribbon and Log, switched without re-entering anything. TimelineJS: One horizontal slide-through timeline

Map of located events. Boromlia: Yes. Every event carries real coordinates and draws as a waypoint on one route. TimelineJS: to be verified

Sortable table view. Boromlia: Yes, the Log style. One dense row per event, and the shape the CSV writes. TimelineJS: to be verified

Ranges and single moments. Boromlia: Both, on one shared axis, so a two-week phase and a single decision sit together. TimelineJS: to be verified

Time scale. Boromlia: Seconds through minutes, hours, days and months to years, set per timeline. TimelineJS: to be verified

Source on every event. Boromlia: Yes, a field of its own, and "has a source" is one of the filters. TimelineJS: to be verified

Photographs per event. Boromlia: As many as the moment needs. Bulk upload reads the date and GPS out of the files. TimelineJS: Yes, by URL, with built-in support for many media sites

Event description. Boromlia: Rich text, plus people, place and tags on the same event. TimelineJS: Headline and text per slide, in fixed spreadsheet columns

Chapters and tags. Boromlia: Chapters group events into periods; tags cut across them. TimelineJS: to be verified

Filters. Boromlia: Search, tag, category, period and provenance, remembered per timeline. TimelineJS: to be verified

Bulk import. Boromlia: CSV or TSV on Advanced, with column mapping and every row previewed before saving. TimelineJS: A Google Sheet published to the web is the data source

Export. Boromlia: A4 print PDF, CSV of every field, and a zip of images with a manifest. TimelineJS: to be verified

Embed in another page. Boromlia: One iframe tag on Advanced. No script, no key, and it reads the live timeline. TimelineJS: Yes, free, as an iframe

Default visibility. Boromlia: Private to your account until you publish. Shared links are read-only and noindex. TimelineJS: The source spreadsheet is published to the web

Working with other people. Boromlia: Collaborators are added per timeline and contribute events. No seat to buy each. TimelineJS: Anyone who can edit the Google Sheet

Runs in. Boromlia: Any browser. Windows, macOS, Linux, tablets and phones, with nothing installed. TimelineJS: Any browser, no account

Price. Boromlia: Free tier, $2.99 a timeline slot, $12 a month, or $49.99 once with nothing to renew. TimelineJS: Free, open source

Questions

Can I import my TimelineJS spreadsheet?

Yes, and it is the cleanest import of any tool on this list. Download the sheet as CSV and the Advanced plan’s importer reads it, matching columns to fields once and previewing every row as the event it will become. TimelineJS’s fixed headers make the mapping straightforward.

How is a Boromlia timeline edited?

In the app, through a form with typed fields for the date or range, the place, the source, the people, the tags, the description and the images. There is no separate document to keep published alongside it.

What happens to an embedded timeline over time?

It keeps showing the live timeline, so every event added afterwards appears in the embed. The snippet carries its own configuration in the URL, so a page that quoted you two years ago keeps drawing what it drew the day it was pasted.