Contract Countdown vs Orbit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Contract Countdown
Track your progress through sea contracts with detailed calculations. Log past contracts to see total days onboard and completed contracts. Calculate days within specific tax years and share your progress.
- Calculate contract days
- Track total days onboard
- View days remaining
- See percentage complete
- Count completed contracts
- Calculate tax year days
- Share progress via screenshot
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Contract Countdown counts down the days of your contract at sea, from joining day to sign-off. Your contracts, safe in iCloud Everything you add is backed up to your own iCloud account. Change phone, reinstall the app or add an iPad, and your contracts come straight back. When you update from an earlier version, your existing contracts are moved across automatically. The gauge you know • The original 0–100 gauge, with a white needle for days completed and a red needle for days remaining • The red zone for the last stretch of your contract, set as a percentage or a number of days • Days completed, total days and days remaining, counting both joining day and sign-off day Your career at sea • Every contract in one history, grouped by year and searchable by ship, cruise line or position • Add your position to each contract and see your career progress • Career stats: days at sea each year, a career timeline, the ships and cruise lines you've worked on, your longest contract and your average time home • Lifetime days at sea across all your contracts Tax days Set the start of your tax year and see how many days you've spent at sea so far, plus the days already scheduled. Browse earlier and later years. A guide to help with your records. On your Home Screen, Lock Screen and wrist • Widgets for the Home Screen and Lock Screen • An Apple Watch app with complications • Ask Siri: "How many days left in Contract Countdown?" Made for crew • Reminders at halfway, when the red zone starts, with 7 days to go, the day before sign-off and the day before joining • Add joining and sign-off days to your calendar • A badge for each cruise line, or add your own logo from Photos • Share a countdown card with friends and family • Export a backup file whenever you like • For iPhone and iPad, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Indonesian and Hindi Private by design No account, no ads, no tracking. Your contracts stay on your devices and in your own iCloud. We never see them.
Orbit
Visualize your year with a beautiful timeline of important dates. Track birthdays, vacations, and deadlines with customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. Syncs with your calendar for effortless event management.
- Countdown to important events
- Visualize year progress with 9 styles
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
- Calendar sync
- Customizable icons and colors
- Smart reminders
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Orbit is premium countdown and day tracking app that turns your scattered dates into one beautiful timeline. See your year's progress, track every event, and never let important days slip by — all with stunning widgets on your Home and Lock Screen. COUNTDOWN TO WHAT MATTERS • Track birthdays, vacations, deadlines, and personal milestones • See days remaining, day number, and percentage complete at a glance • Pin your most important event to stay laser-focused • Create beautiful countdowns with custom icons and accent colors • Get smart reminders so nothing catches you off guard • Your Whole Year, One Timeline VISUALIZE YOUR YEAR — 10 STUNNING STYLES Unlike basic countdown apps, Orbit shows your entire year as live progress. Choose from 10 unique visualizations: ◆ Ring — Classic circular progress ◆ Matrix — Day-by-day dot grid ◆ Wave — Dynamic liquid fill animation ◆ Orbit — Minimal planetary journey through time ◆ Blocks, Text, Line, Dash, Pill — Each with distinct aesthetics No other app gives you this many ways to see your year. HOME & LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS • Small, medium, and card-style home screen widgets • Lock screen widgets — circular, rectangular, and inline • Show your pinned countdown or year progress • Tap any widget to jump directly to events • Multiple widget styles to match your aesthetic SYNC WITH YOUR CALENDAR • Import events from your iPhone Calendar automatically • Smart filtering for holidays and all-day events • Select specific calendars to sync • Background sync keeps everything current • Support for multiple calendars ONE PRICE. YOURS FOREVER. No recurring charges. No surprise fees. Just honest, lifetime value. FREE VERSION INCLUDES: • Unlimited countdowns • Year progress tracking with Ring style • Basic home screen and lock screen widgets • Calendar sync (2 events) ORBIT PREMIUM: ◆ Unlimited event tracking ◆ All 10 progress visualization styles ◆ 12 premium accent color themes ◆ Smart reminder notifications ◆ Full widget customization ◆ Unlimited calendar sync ◆ All future updates — locked in forever DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR iOS • Buttery spring animations and haptic feedback • Native iOS design language • Dark and light mode with automatic switching • Export your events as backup • Privacy-first — no account required, no data collection • Regular updates and improvements WHO USES ORBIT? ► Students counting down to graduation and exams ► Couples tracking anniversaries and date nights ► Parents celebrating family milestones ► Professionals managing project deadlines ► Travelers planning their next adventure ► Anyone who wants to make every day count WHY ORBIT? • No subscription trap — pay once, own it forever • The only app that turns your year into living, breathing art • Widgets that actually look good on your home screen • Built by someone who was tired of ugly countdown apps Stop letting important dates sneak up on you. Start seeing your year as one clear, beautiful timeline. Download Orbit today — and make every day visible. Questions? Visit https://sites.google.com/view/orbit-tracker/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Orbit at Free against Contract Countdown's $0.99. Orbit also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 7 months) and ratings volume (11 vs 1). Contract Countdown's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On rating, review sentiment, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Orbit is free to download; Contract Countdown costs $0.99 up front. Orbit sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Contract Countdown asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Contract Countdown against 4.9 for Orbit. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Orbit has 11 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Contract Countdown ships an update every 7 months, Orbit every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Contract Countdown | Orbit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.9 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 11 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Phillips | Rahul Singh |
Customer experience
Contract Countdown
Orbit
In-app purchases
Contract Countdown
No in-app purchases
Orbit
- Orbit Premium$4.99









