Comparison

Cal Countdown vs OmniFocus 4

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

Head to head
About

Cal Countdown

This app automatically displays a color-coded countdown to your next calendar event. It's designed for quick glances on your Apple Watch face or iPhone "Today" screen, helping you manage your schedule efficiently without manual calculations.

Highlights
  • Automatic countdown to next calendar event
  • Color-coded urgency indicators
  • Apple Watch complication support
  • iPhone "Today" widget
  • Calendar data integration
  • Option to skip specific events
Features
Read full description

"Cal Countdown" is a free, simple iOS & Apple Watch app that automatically creates a color-coded countdown to the next event on your calendar and displays it on your Apple Watch face and/or your "Today" screen. The app is primarily intended to be used as a complication on your Apple Watch or as a widget. If your days are anything like ours, packed with various meetings scattered throughout the day, every time you check your calendar, you're trying to figure out one thing: How much time do I have until my next appointment? So, you glance at your watch, note the start time of your next appointment, and calculate the difference between the current time and your next event. We got tired of doing this mental calculation many times a day, but much to our surprise, we could not find an existing iOS application that would do this chore for us. So we decided to build it ourselves. Now, every time we glance at our watch, it immediately tells us what we want to know: How much time do I have until my next appointment? The app's color changes from blue to green to yellow to orange to red as you approach the start of your next event. (6+ hours = Blue, 2-6 hours = Green, 1-2 = Yellow, 30-60 mins = Orange, 0-30 mins = Red) Cal Countdown supports all the different Apple Watch complications. All Apple Watch complications that support multi-color will be color-coded (but not all watch complications support multiple colors.) Using "Cal Countdown" is as easy as it gets. It uses the calendar data already on your phone; no signing in; no entering any usernames or passwords. The app lets you select the calendars you want to include or not in your calendar countdowns. Don't have an Apple Watch? You can still use Cal Countdown on your phone as an iPhone/iPad app with a "Today" widget. Cal Countdown does not require an account. It does not even require an internet connection. The app uses the calendar data already on your iPhone. It's completely secure. Your calendar data remains completely private, and never leaves your phone. Cal Countdown also has the ability to ignore or skip certain events on your calendar. This feature is especially useful if you have shared calendars with your family, friends, or colleagues. We often have events on our calendars that we need to know about, but may not be attending ourselves. If you want Cal Countdown to ignore or skip these events and start counting down to the following event on your calendar, just tap the "Ignore" button, and Cal Countdown will immediately start a countdown to the following event.

About

OmniFocus 4

This task management application helps busy professionals organize and prioritize their work. It offers a unified interface across multiple Apple devices, allowing users to create, organize, and focus on tasks efficiently. A free trial is available.

Highlights
  • Unified interface across Apple devices
  • Task creation and organization
  • Perspectives Bar for navigation
  • Focus mode for specific projects
  • Secure, end-to-end encrypted sync
  • Universal cross-platform purchase
Features
Read full description

OmniFocus is powerful task management software for busy professionals. With tools to help tame the chaos, you can focus on the right tasks at the right time. Two-week free trial! OmniFocus 4 introduces a modernized, unified interface across Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Centered around your task outline, OmniFocus 4 brings a consistent experience, optimized for each device type, to all of your Apple devices. Easily create tasks anytime–from anywhere–and organize them with projects, tags, and dates. Quickly navigate OmniFocus on any device using the Perspectives Bar, Quick Open, and Back and Forward history. With Pro, use Focus to help focus your attention on specific projects or folders, and customize OmniFocus to only display the information most relevant to you. New to OmniFocus? The simple, efficient OmniFocus 4 interface will help you discover and implement a trusted system that works and grows with you. Upgrading from a previous version of OmniFocus? In OmniFocus 4, discover enhanced versions of all the powerful task management features you already rely on, along with new features that will level-up your workflow. Omni offers a free and secure sync service, protected with end-to-end encryption, ensuring only devices you authorize can access your data. And now, for the first time ever, OmniFocus is available as a universal cross-platform purchase: get full access to OmniFocus 4 on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro with a single license purchase. Accomplish more every day–anywhere you go–with OmniFocus 4.

Screenshots

Cal Countdown4 screens
OmniFocus 44 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Cal Countdown at 5.0 against OmniFocus 4's 4.0. Cal Countdown also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 53%) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). OmniFocus 4's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (343 vs 21). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. OmniFocus 4 sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Cal Countdown asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cal Countdown holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OmniFocus 4 has 343 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Cal Countdown's written reviews are positive against 53% of OmniFocus 4's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cal Countdown ships an update every 8 months, OmniFocus 4 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Cal Countdown versus OmniFocus 4: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCal CountdownOmniFocus 4
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (21 ratings) — better4.0 (343 ratings)
Positive reviews94.7% of reviews — better52.6% of reviews
Number of ratings21343 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB138 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFranck ReyhermeThe Omni Group

Customer experience

Cal Countdown

All ratings21 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%

OmniFocus 4

All ratings343 ratings
Positive70.6%
Neutral7.6%
Negative21.9%
Written reviews445 reviews
Positive52.6%
Neutral13.9%
Negative33.5%

Bugs and requests

Cal Countdown

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

OmniFocus 4

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • View options button not working consistently
  • Custom perspectives not persisting in sidebar
  • App crashing on launch
  • Drag and drop functionality issues
  • Incorrect task completion when adding new tasks
Show 1 more
  • Inconsistent behavior when changing due dates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Markdown support in notes
  • Gantt view for projects
  • Ability to reorder perspectives in the sidebar
  • Print to PDF with due dates and completed dates
  • Natural language processing for task creation
Show 1 more
  • Board view for projects

In-app purchases

None

Cal Countdown

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

OmniFocus 4

Subscriptions2
  • Legacy Subscription$9.991 Month
  • Legacy Subscription$99.991 Year
One-time8
  • Upgrade to v4 from v1-v3$37.49
  • Upgrade v4 to Pro from v1-v3$37.49
  • Unlock Standard (Mac Promo)$56.00
Show 5 more
  • Unlock Standard$74.99
  • Upgrade from Standard to Pro$74.99
  • Upgrade to v4 Pro from v1-v3$74.99
  • Unlock Pro (Mac Promo)$111.99
  • Unlock Pro$149.99

Questions

Is Cal Countdown free?
Cal Countdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is OmniFocus 4 free?
OmniFocus 4 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cal Countdown or OmniFocus 4?
Cal Countdown is rated higher. Cal Countdown averages 5.0 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while OmniFocus 4 averages 4.0 from 343 ratings.
Do Cal Countdown or OmniFocus 4 have ads?
Neither Cal Countdown nor OmniFocus 4 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cal Countdown or OmniFocus 4?
Cal Countdown ships an update every 8 months, and OmniFocus 4 every 3 weeks. Most recently, Cal Countdown was updated on October 6, 2026 and OmniFocus 4 on October 13, 2026.

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