Comparison

Retirement Countdown App vs Countdown Buddy

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

Head to head
About

Retirement Countdown App

Track your time until retirement with a customizable countdown. Explore bucket list ideas, get daily inspiration, and discover travel news and deals. Offers free and premium subscription options.

Highlights
  • Retirement countdown
  • Bucket list planner
  • Retirement ideas
  • Quote of the day
  • Customizable themes
  • Travel news and deals
Features
Read full description

With this Retirement Countdown App you can see how much time you have left until retirement. Just set the date and time when you will retire and the app will calculate the time until your retirement. The Retirement Countdown will count down the months, days, hour, minutes and seconds until you are free to do whatever you want :) You can customize the look of this app by choosing different themes and background images. Where would you like to retire or go on a long vacation? Do you like the beach? Or hiking in the mountains, skiing in the snow? Or watching beautiful sunsets? What is on your bucket list for your retirement? Write down the things that you are dreaming of doing. Need inspiration? Our app will suggest fun ideas for you retirement bucket list. Our Quote of the Day will make the journey to your retirement more fun and inspire you to live a fulfilling life in the here and now. ******************************************* FEATURES - Retirement Countdown - Retirement calculators - Quote of the day - Bucket list - Ideas for your retirement - Picks of the week - Book recommendations - Games - Offers & Deals - Travel News Choose your favorite background theme, change styles and share your countdown via email or social media You can use most of this app totally free of charge. To use the premium version of this app that includes all themes, the feature to use your own picture, the quote of the day and no advertisement, we offer two auto-renewing subscriptions: $4.99 per month $17.99 per year These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each term and your credit card will be charged through your iTunes account. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings but refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term. A purchase will be applied to your iTunes account on confirmation. Subscriptions will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account settings. We also offer a Lifetime subscription which is paid for by a one-off upfront payment of $59.99 with unlimited access to all features forever. Terms of service: http://www.kulanamedia.com/apps/terms.html Privacy policy: http://www.kulanamedia.com/apps/privacy.html

About

Countdown Buddy

Create personalized countdown and count-up widgets for your home and lock screens. Visually track important dates like birthdays, vacations, or deadlines with custom designs, colors, and photos. Stay motivated and make waiting more exciting.

Highlights
  • Personalized countdown widgets
  • Count-up widgets
  • Home screen and lock screen support
  • Customizable designs
  • Background color options
  • Photo integration
  • Font selection
Features
Read full description

EVERYTHING YOU ARE WAITING FOR - IN A WIDGET Design your own personalized countdown or count-up widgets for your home screen & lock screen. Countdown Widget is a super fun way to track the days until a momentous occasion such as: - Your birthday, or another special someone’s birthday - A long-awaited vacation - Back to school - Upcoming elections - A returning season of your favorite TV series - A favorite yearly tech event - A new video game is up for preorder Or any other future event! Countdown Widget makes waiting for something exciting even more thrilling by giving you a cool and colorful visual reminder on your home screen. Use it to count down to a big event, to mark the end of something less fun, or to keep track of work deadlines (weekend exclusion is now possible!) - it's a super fun way to stay on top of things! COUNT UP Create a count-up widget to mark a significant moment in time and track the duration since it occurred. CREATE A PERSONALIZED COUNTDOWN WIDGET Create a Widget with your custom design in a matter of seconds. You can choose from 11 Countdown styles (we are already working on more) and make them your own by adding your personal touch: - Change background colors. - Use photos from your phone Photo Library or from our preset gallery. - Choose from a curated list of fonts that go well with each specific style. - Each Widget you make will automatically be available in small or medium sizes. - Change the design anytime later. WE WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK As a small team, we are excited to have our first app on the App Store. We value your feedback and would love to hear from you if you have any questions, suggestions, or anything else you think we should know. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us at - hi@taptics.co. Note: The Free version of the app includes one countdown widget with the basic design.

Screenshots

Retirement Countdown App4 screens
Countdown Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Countdown Buddy at none against Retirement Countdown App's shown. Countdown Buddy also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (25K vs 6.3K). Retirement Countdown App's advantage is review sentiment (87% vs 68%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Retirement Countdown App sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Countdown Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Retirement Countdown App holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6.3K and 25K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Retirement Countdown App's written reviews are positive against 68% of Countdown Buddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retirement Countdown App ships an update every 2 months, Countdown Buddy every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Retirement Countdown App versus Countdown Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetirement Countdown AppCountdown Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6.3K ratings) — better4.6 (25K ratings)
Positive reviews86.6% of reviews — better67.9% of reviews
Number of ratings6.3K25K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB149 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGreen Gecko LLCTaptics Ltd.

Customer experience

Retirement Countdown App

All ratings6,284 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews201 reviews
Positive86.6%
Neutral5.5%
Negative8.0%

Countdown Buddy

All ratings25,173 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.4%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews984 reviews
Positive67.9%
Neutral10.0%
Negative22.2%

User reviews

Retirement Countdown App

From 6.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Accurate countdown
  • 💡 Inspiring quotes and anticipation features
  • 😊 Motivating and fun
  • 🎉 Celebration at the end

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Collects too much personal data
  • 🔕 Intrusive notifications
  • 💤 Repetitive reminders
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and buffering issues

Countdown Buddy

From 25K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app overall
  • 👍 Customizable widgets and designs
  • 🔒 No subscription, one-time purchase
  • 📈 Helpful for tracking events and milestones
  • 🎨 Visually appealing interface

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Limited free features, need to pay for more
  • 🐛 Widgets not updating properly
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches after updates
  • 📊 Lack of advanced countdown options (e.g., weeks)

Bugs and requests

Retirement Countdown App

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Countdown not updating accurately
  • Inability to turn off daily notifications

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add widget for home/lock screens
  • Option to track work days instead of calendar days
  • Weekly or monthly reminders

Countdown Buddy

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Widgets disappearing or not working after updates
  • Countdown timers not updating correctly
  • Inability to add new widgets or countdowns

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to display multiple countdowns at once
  • Implement automatic countdown reset/repeat functionality
  • Allow custom countdown units (e.g., weeks, business days)
  • Improve widget handling and update reliability

In-app purchases

15 purchases

Retirement Countdown App

Subscriptions4
  • Remove Ads$2.991 Month
  • Premium Version$4.991 Month
  • Remove Ads$8.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Version$17.991 Year
One-time11
  • Theme Snow$0.99
  • Theme Mountains$0.99
  • Theme Zen$0.99
Show 8 more
  • Theme Mountain Lake$0.99
  • Theme Mountain Lake 2$0.99
  • Theme Beach Hammock$0.99
  • Theme Forest$0.99
  • Theme Cruise Ship$0.99
  • function to add own picture$1.99
  • Remove ads$3.99
  • Premium Lifetime$39.99
1 purchases

Countdown Buddy

One-time1
  • Countdown +$3.59

Questions

Is Retirement Countdown App free?
Retirement Countdown App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Buddy free?
Countdown Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Retirement Countdown App or Countdown Buddy?
Retirement Countdown App is rated higher. Retirement Countdown App averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6.3K ratings, while Countdown Buddy averages 4.6 from 25K ratings.
Do Retirement Countdown App or Countdown Buddy have ads?
Retirement Countdown App shows ads; Countdown Buddy does not.
Which is updated more often, Retirement Countdown App or Countdown Buddy?
Retirement Countdown App ships an update every 2 months, and Countdown Buddy every 9 days. Most recently, Retirement Countdown App was updated on September 25, 2026 and Countdown Buddy on October 1, 2026.

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