Comparison

Widget Countdown 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

Widget Countdown

Create custom countdowns for any event and display them directly on your home and lock screens. Personalize your countdowns with gradients, background images, and fonts. All features are free to use.

Highlights
  • Customizable events
  • Home screen widgets
  • Lock screen widgets
  • Colourful gradients
  • Custom background images
  • Custom font choice
Features
Read full description

A truly free countdown app. Where you can create fully customisable events and add them to your Home Screen. No need for a silly subscription to add widgets or images; all the features in this app are free and always will be. Main Features: - Colourful Gradients - Custom Background Images (from library or AI-generated) - Custom Font Choice - Home screen & Lock Screen Widgets Useful for: - Friends’ Birthdays - Upcoming events - When that important deadline is coming up - Concerts / Festivals - School and Exams - Holidays - Reminders - Appointments This app allows you to keep everyday events close to heart...

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

Widget Countdown4 screens
Countdown Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Countdown Buddy at 4.6 against Widget Countdown's 4.1. Countdown Buddy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (25K vs 51). On price, review sentiment, 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. Widget Countdown sells 1 one-off in-app purchase 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

Countdown Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Countdown Buddy has 25K ratings behind it against 51, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of Widget Countdown's written reviews are positive against 68% of Countdown Buddy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Widget Countdown ships an update monthly, Countdown Buddy every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Widget Countdown versus Countdown Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWidget CountdownCountdown Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (51 ratings)4.6 (25K ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.7% of reviews — better67.9% of reviews
Number of ratings5125K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB149 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBradley CableTaptics Ltd.

Customer experience

Widget Countdown

All ratings50 ratings
Positive72.0%
Neutral6.0%
Negative22.0%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative16.9%

Countdown Buddy

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

User reviews

Widget Countdown

From 51 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💰 Completely free with no subscription required
  • 🎨 Customizable widgets with background image support
  • 📱 Works seamlessly as home screen widgets
  • 🎯 Simple and intuitive user interface
  • 🖼️ Ability to use personal photos as backgrounds

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Widget functionality inconsistent across devices
  • 🌍 Limited language support
  • ⚙️ Limited customization options for time format
  • ❌ No countdown repeat feature (weekly, monthly, yearly)
  • 🔧 Confusing setup process for new users

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

Widget Countdown

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Widgets disappear after app update
  • Widget shows blank space or doesn't display
  • Cannot save new events or edits
  • Photo selection window closes unexpectedly
  • Primary and secondary color options don't work
Show 5 more
  • Widget stuck in 'continue editing' mode
  • App crashes regularly requiring reinstall
  • Widget functionality broken on some iOS versions
  • App stops working after update
  • Cannot add events to widget

Requested features

15 requests
  • Multi-language support
  • Customizable time format (days, hours, minutes combinations)
  • Count-up feature in addition to countdown
  • Recurring events (weekly, monthly, yearly)
  • Ability to rearrange events manually or by date
Show 10 more
  • Countdown with time of day (not just midnight)
  • Font preview before selection
  • Ticking clock animation with hours, minutes, seconds
  • Medium widget size option
  • Automatic removal of past events from widget
  • Format with years, months, and days display
  • Date format customization (MM/DD/YYYY for US users)
  • Wide-format widget option
  • Ability to label countdowns separately from display text
  • Adjustable text position and styling on widgets

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

1 purchases

Widget Countdown

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99
1 purchases

Countdown Buddy

One-time1
  • Countdown +$3.59

Questions

Is Widget Countdown free?
Widget Countdown 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, Widget Countdown or Countdown Buddy?
Countdown Buddy is rated higher. Widget Countdown averages 4.1 out of 5 from 51 ratings, while Countdown Buddy averages 4.6 from 25K ratings.
Do Widget Countdown or Countdown Buddy have ads?
Widget Countdown shows ads; Countdown Buddy does not.
Which is updated more often, Widget Countdown or Countdown Buddy?
Widget Countdown ships an update monthly, and Countdown Buddy every 9 days. Most recently, Widget Countdown was updated on September 1, 2026 and Countdown Buddy on September 28, 2026.

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