Comparison

Cool Countdown vs Next Up

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cool Countdown

This app provides a visually engaging countdown and count-up timer with an authentic design. It's ideal for managing time for various activities, from children's tasks to personal projects, offering animated visuals and customizable durations.

Highlights
  • Stylish design with animated time flow
  • Visual and sound notifications
  • Works in device lock or sleep mode
  • Wide range of time durations (seconds to 100 hours)
  • Counts time past completion
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

Countdown timer with an authentic design. This perfectly shaped timer is a great way to measure and visualize time. Counts time up and down. It's perfect for when you need your kids to wait patiently for a few minutes or to do homework for a certain length of time. Features: - Stylish design; - Animated time flow and backgrounds; - Visual and sound notifications; - Ability to fire even in device lock or sleep mode; - Wide range of time duration available—from as couple of seconds to 100 hours; - Counts time past timer completion; - User-friendly — even for kids! If you want an excellent visual time indicator for your activities, try the Cool Countdown.

About

Next Up

Create and customize interval timers with detailed options for reps, sets, colors, and sounds. Offers flexible display modes, quick actions for navigation, and background notifications. Organize timers with folders and choose between light and dark themes.

Highlights
  • Customizable intervals (reps, sets, colors, sounds)
  • Detailed and full-screen display modes
  • Portrait and landscape orientation support
  • Quick actions for navigation and editing
  • Background notifications
  • Timer organization with folders
Features
Read full description

Customize Your Intervals, Your Way A fully customizable interval timer: Create your intervals. Specify reps, sets, colours and sounds. Tailor it to your purpose and needs. Minimal design and easy to use. Options for rep-based intervals and images. Display options: Choose to run your timer in a detailed view that auto-scrolls through intervals or a full-screen mode for a larger, easily visible display. Both modes support portrait and landscape orientations. Visual details: In detailed view, running intervals and sets are highlighted, providing a clear visual cue. For intervals with multiple reps, the highlighted area indicates the percentage completed. Set optional background colours on intervals for a visual cue. Light and dark mode versions are available and will adapt to your preferences set on your device. Quick actions: Set an interim interval that will automatically be added between intervals. Optionally, end your timer with the interim interval. Skip or backtrack through intervals using intuitive arrow buttons. Swipe actions allow for easy deletion and duplication of intervals and sets. --- Interval Timer features: • Interval timers: Create timers with unlimited intervals. • Description, Length, and Reps: Set the details of each interval, customizing it to your precise requirements. • Interim Intervals: Quickly set up timers by adding interim intervals that run between each interval. • Interval Sets: Group intervals into sets and specify the desired number of set reps. • Interval Customization: Differentiate intervals with background colors. • Time Display: View countdown of each interval and total remaining time, with an option to display total elapsed time. • Progress and Highlighting: View progress with highlighted current intervals and reps completed. • Start from Any Interval: Choose which interval to start the timer from, providing maximum control. • User-friendly Actions: Effortlessly manage intervals with swipe actions for deletion and duplication. Duplicate button allows for easy copying of intervals, sets, and timers. Arrow buttons enable smooth navigation between intervals. • Background Notifications: Run timers in the background and receive alerts for interval changes and timer completion. • Organize with Folders: Create folders to organize and easily access your timers. • Orientation and Display: Enjoy portrait and landscape orientations, and full-screen mode for a larger timer display. • Light and Dark Mode: Seamlessly switch between light and dark mode to suit your preference. Upgrade features include: • Unlimited timers: Create as many timers as you like. • Sound Options: Enable countdown beeps, set interval/timer sounds, and/or enable text to speech. • Rep-based Intervals: Option to create intervals based on reps instead of time to offer maximum flexibility. • More Interval Customization: Differentiate intervals with images/photos and sounds. • Edit received timers: Flexibility to modify all timers. Subscription - syncing and sharing timers: • Sync and Share: Sync timers across devices and choose to share timers and folders with other users. Sharing via email includes a direct download link and instructions. --- Privacy Policy: https://alysha.dev/interval-timer-privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://alysha.dev/interval-timer-terms-of-use

Screenshots

Cool Countdown4 screens
Next Up4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cool Countdown at none against Next Up's 2. Cool Countdown also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%) and iOS requirement (6.0 vs 13.0). Next Up's advantage is ratings volume (2.8K vs 4) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months). On price, rating, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Next Up sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Cool Countdown asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Cool Countdown against 4.7 for Next Up. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Next Up has 2.8K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Cool Countdown's written reviews are positive against 76% of Next Up's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cool Countdown ships an update every 6 months, Next Up every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Cool Countdown versus Next Up: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCool CountdownNext Up
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better4.7 (2.8K ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better76.0% of reviews
Number of ratings42.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS6.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSerhii SimkovskyiAlysha Kwok

Customer experience

Cool Countdown

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Next Up

All ratings2,831 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews208 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative17.3%

In-app purchases

None

Cool Countdown

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Next Up

Subscriptions1
  • Syncing and Sharing$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Upgrade$2.99

Questions

Is Cool Countdown free?
Cool Countdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Next Up free?
Next Up is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cool Countdown or Next Up?
Cool Countdown is rated higher. Cool Countdown averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Next Up averages 4.7 from 2.8K ratings.
Do Cool Countdown or Next Up have ads?
Neither Cool Countdown nor Next Up shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cool Countdown or Next Up?
Cool Countdown ships an update every 6 months, and Next Up every 5 weeks. Most recently, Cool Countdown was updated on September 26, 2026 and Next Up on September 28, 2026.

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