A new practical fixed-time consensus framework for integrator-type multi-agent systems is developed by using a time base generator (TBG). For both leaderless and leader-following consensus, new TBG-based protocols are proposed for the multi-agent systems. The resulting settling time can be pre-designated without dependence on initial states. Different from some conventional fixed-time consensus strategies, where the magnitude of initial control input is large, the proposed TBG-based protocols significantly reduce the magnitude, which is demonstrated through comparison studies using illustrative examples. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.