Countdown vs Countdown Buddy
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 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.
- Personalized countdown widgets
- Count-up widgets
- Home screen and lock screen support
- Customizable designs
- Background color options
- Photo integration
- Font selection
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Countdown Buddy at none against Countdown's shown. Countdown's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 9 days) and chart position (#30 vs unranked). 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 Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 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 26K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Countdown's written reviews are positive against 68% of Countdown Buddy's.
Countdown ships an update every 2 days, Countdown Buddy every 9 days. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Countdown | Countdown Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (191K ratings) — better | 4.6 (26K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.9% of reviews — better | 67.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 191K — better | 26K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #30 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 149 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Find Appiness LLC | Taptics Ltd. |
Customer experience
Countdown
Countdown Buddy
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 Buddy
From 26K App Store ratingsWhat 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
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 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
Countdown
- Countdown Widget Offer$2.29
- Countdown Widget$3.99
Countdown Buddy
- Countdown +$3.59






