Countdown vs Countdown Widget & Counter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Countdown
Easily track upcoming events with a free countdown and reminder app. Customize each event with emojis and colors, and stay organized with tags and widgets. Syncs across devices and offers optional premium features for enhanced functionality.
- Unlimited event creation
- Customizable event colors and emojis
- Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets
- Customizable reminders and alarms
- iCloud sync across devices
- Import events from calendars and contacts
- Event grouping with tags
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Countdown is a free, easy-to-use countdown and reminder app for all of life's big events. Your next vacation, birthday, wedding, concert, graduation or retirement is always one glance away. Create unlimited events and make each one your own. Downloaded over 20 million times. It's been a joy to shape Countdown with your feedback for more than eight years. We're looking forward to many more. ——— WIDGETS & APPLE WATCH ——— • See your next event with free circular and inline Lock Screen widgets • Show one event or a list of upcoming events in Home Screen widgets, and filter lists by tag or pinned events (Premium) • Show your event's emoji, title and time left in the rectangular Lock Screen widget, and keep countdowns visible in StandBy (Premium) • Check your countdowns on Apple Watch and add them to your watch face ——— REMINDERS & ALARMS ——— • Get a reminder on the big day and the day before, at a time you set • Add custom reminders minutes, hours, days, weeks or months in advance (Premium) • Set alarms that ring even when your iPhone is on silent (Premium; requires iOS 26.1 or later) ——— MAKE IT YOURS ——— • Pick an emoji and a color for every countdown, and add notes • Make events repeat every day, week, month or year, or on your own schedule, like every two weeks or the last Friday of the month • See the age someone turns on their birthday and the years celebrated on an anniversary • Add holidays and big events in one tap from suggestions for your country • Count only weekdays, or see the time since a past event • Choose how you see the time left, with units from years to seconds (Premium) ——— STAY ORGANIZED ——— • Group events with tags and pin your favorites to the top • Archive events once they pass, so your list shows what's next • Archive or delete past events automatically (Premium) • Sort by date or drag events into your own order • Search for events, duplicate them and edit several at once ——— SYNC, IMPORT & SHARE ——— • Your events stay up to date on your iPhone, iPad and Mac with iCloud • Bring in events from your calendars and birthdays from your contacts • Automatically turn new calendar events into countdowns with Auto Import (Premium) • Add your countdowns to your calendar • Send a link so friends and family can count down with you • Check countdowns with Siri and create them with Shortcuts ——— YOUR PRIVACY ——— Your plans are personal. We never use your countdowns for advertising, and our analytics never see the titles, dates or notes you enter. ——— PREMIUM ——— One purchase. No subscriptions. Unlock all widgets, custom reminders, alarms, Auto Import, every countdown format and more. Premium also removes ads. ——— QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK? ——— We love hearing from you and read every email. Get in touch at countdown@findappiness.co
Countdown Widget & Counter
Create customizable widgets to track upcoming events directly on your home screen. Visualize your countdowns with beautiful designs, icons, and color gradients. Receive real-time notifications for important dates.
- Live countdown widgets
- Customizable widget templates
- Event editor with live preview
- Color gradients
- Over 50 icons
- Real-time push notifications
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Keep an eye on your upcoming events - directly on your Home Screen! Create minimalistic widgets that countdown to the big day. The widgets in Widget Studio are highly customizable and clean-designed, so that nothing distracts your focus from the concert, your best friend‘s birthday or whatever you‘re currently looking forward to! It‘s quick, easy, and looks awesome. Welcome to Widget Studio. So, what do we have here? - Powerful event editor with live preview - Multiple customizable widget templates for iPhone & iPad - Beautiful color gradients for your Home Screen - Over 50 different icons to choose from - Real time push notifications for your events - Full support for Voice Over and Dynamic Type - Live countdown widgets Info: Most of the app's content is free. Some selected features require the purchase of a full version in the app (recurring annual subscription). We rely on your support to make development possible. Thank you for your understanding! :) Terms of Use (EULA) & Privacy Policy: https://cranberry.app/legal We have put a lot of love into the development of Widget Studio and hope you enjoy it. However, if you have something to complain about, or an exciting idea for future updates or additional apps of Widget Studio, please feel free to contact us at any time via support@cranberry.app. We are looking forward to your message. Take care!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Countdown Widget & Counter at none against Countdown's shown. Countdown's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (191K vs 2.5K). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Countdown sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Countdown Widget & Counter sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown has 191K ratings behind it against 2.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 72% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 76% of Countdown Widget & Counter's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Countdown ships an update every 2 days, Countdown Widget & Counter every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Countdown | Countdown Widget & Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (191K ratings) — better | 4.6 (2.5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.9% of reviews | 75.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 191K — better | 2.5K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #34 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 160 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Find Appiness LLC | Sovereign Apps LLC |
Customer experience
Countdown
Countdown Widget & Counter
User reviews
Countdown
From 191K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 🎨 Customizable colors and emojis
- ⏰ Accurate countdown tracking
- 🔔 Helpful reminders and notifications
- 💰 One-time payment for premium features
Room to improve
- 💸 Paid widget feature
- 🔍 Lack of instructions/guidance
- 🔀 Inconsistent countdown display on widget
- 📅 Limited repeat options for events
- 🖼️ No option to use custom photos
Countdown Widget & Counter
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 👍 Fantastic for glancing at events
- 👍 Cool app
- 👍 Nice widgets
- 👍 Good countdown app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Extremely buggy
- 🔕 NOT IMPRESSED (no sound)
- 💰 Expensive price
- 💰 Money
- 💰 Only 2 for free
Bugs and requests
Countdown
Reported bugs
3 issues- Widget not updating automatically
- Countdown display issues after iOS 14 update
- Inability to delete archived events
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to count up from past events
- Provide more date/time format options
- Implement calendar view for all events
- Allow custom backgrounds for widgets
- Add support for weekly/monthly repeating events
Countdown Widget & Counter
Reported bugs
7 issues- Time calculation isn't correct
- Widget and in-app display show different days remaining
- Widget goes blank after phone restart
- Countdowns freeze or count up unexpectedly
- Paid version still shows ads
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- Widgets disappear after iOS updates
- App loses all user data after updates
Requested features
11 requests- Better integration with calendar and reminder API
- Ability to rearrange events in the countdown list
- Option to default 'What's Next' to user's choice
- Larger photo frame in widget
- Ability to group events into categories
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- Option to change font
- Ability to select an emoji for icons
- Notification times for events
- Ability to select the countdown unit (weeks/months)
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
In-app purchases
Countdown
- Countdown Widget Offer$2.29
- Countdown Widget$3.99
Countdown Widget & Counter
- Widget Studio PRO$1.991 Month
- Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
- Widget Studio PRO$4.991 Year
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- Widget Studio PRO$5.991 Year
- Widget Studio PRO$7.991 Year
- Widget Studio PRO$8.991 Year
- Annual Subscription3 Days trial$12.991 Year
- Widget Studio PRO$12.991 Year
- Widget Studio Pro Lifetime$9.99
- Widget Studio Pro Lifetime$14.99
Questions
Is Countdown free?
Is Countdown Widget & Counter free?
Which has better reviews, Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter?
Do Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Countdown or Countdown Widget & Counter?
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