Bears Countdown vs Outside
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bears Countdown
Beautifully designed countdowns for important events like birthdays, anniversaries, and vacations. Features hand-drawn art, home screen widgets, and the ability to add notes and set intentions for future plans.
- Hand-drawn bear artworks
- Home screen widgets (iOS 14)
- Event notes for details
- Past event history
- Set intentions for future plans
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Bears Countdown is the most beautiful way to countdown to birthdays, anniversaries, vacations and even work deadlines! On iPhone, iPad and Mac. ...HAND-DRAWN ARTWORKS... Lots of beautifully drawn bear artworks with a gorgeous pastel color palette to bring every event to life. ...WIDGETS (iOS 14)... Countdown from your home screen without even having to open the app! All three widget sizes included. ...NOTES... Write notes for each event, like ideas for birthday gifts/anniversaries, things to remember for upcoming trips, and important points for work deadlines. ...HISTORY... Look back on past events and the notes you wrote for them. ...SET INTENTIONS... Set intentions for plans that you don’t have a date for yet, like promising yourself to catch up with a friend you haven't seen in a while, or starting a new workout routine.
Outside
Plan, share, and remember important moments with loved ones. Ideal for long-distance relationships, trip planning, and creating a visual diary of your year. Features live widgets and offline access.
- Shared countdowns for long-distance couples
- Trip planning with group coordination
- Yearly memory archive and profile
- Live widgets for home and lock screens
- Calendar sync (Apple & Google)
- Offline functionality
- Photo sharing for Lock Screen
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Waiting is better together. Turn every date you can't wait for—weddings, trips, birthdays, reunions—into a countdown you share, with widgets you'll both smile at every day. Use Outside for trips, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, reunions, concerts and every date worth looking forward to. CREATE AND SHARE Create a countdown, send an invite and let friends, family or your partner join the same moment. WIDGETS AT A GLANCE Keep your next countdown on your Home Screen, Lock Screen or in StandBy. PLAN TOGETHER Add the date, place and details so everyone knows what is happening. FREE TO START The free plan includes creating, sharing and joining countdowns, plus Home Screen, Lock Screen and StandBy widgets. OUTSIDE PRO Outside Pro is optional and adds custom reminders, calendar sync, recurring events, attachments, camera-roll wallpapers, group chat, custom app icons, photo uploads and search, premium countdown styles, links and checklists. Available plans, prices and introductory trial eligibility are shown before purchase. Terms: https://outside.so/terms Privacy: https://outside.so/privacy Support: https://outside.so/support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Outside at Free against Bears Countdown's $3.99. Outside also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs monthly). Bears Countdown's advantage is review sentiment (89% vs 54%) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On ratings volume, ads 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
Outside is free to download; Bears Countdown costs $3.99 up front. Bears Countdown sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Outside sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bears Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.6K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Bears Countdown's written reviews are positive against 54% of Outside's.
Bears Countdown ships an update monthly, Outside every 6 days. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.
| Parameter | Bears Countdown | Outside |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (2.6K ratings) — better | 4.7 (2.8K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.1% of reviews — better | 53.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.6K | 2.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #186 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 278 MB | 144 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Isuru Wanasinghe | Outside HQ LTD |
Customer experience
Bears Countdown
Outside
User reviews
Bears Countdown
From 2.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💖 Cute and aesthetically pleasing design
- 📆 Helpful for keeping track of events and important dates
- 🔍 Useful countdown feature
- 🎨 Wide variety of illustrations and themes
- 💰 One-time purchase for unlimited access
Room to improve
- 🔒 Limited free version (only 5 events)
- 🔍 Difficulty finding specific illustrations
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🤖 Limited customization options
Outside
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Free home/lock screen countdown widget
- 👍 Simple and chic design
- 👍 Highly customizable
- 👍 Seamless calendar integration
- 👍 Useful AI assistant
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy, crashes, and glitches
- 💰 Subscription-based model, expensive pricing
- 🔒 Limits free features, forces paid subscription
- 🤔 Confusing and changing pricing structure
- 🤔 Lack of transparency around free vs paid features
Bugs and requests
Bears Countdown
Reported bugs
3 issues- Dates randomly shifting back by a day
- Widget not working properly on macOS Ventura
- Inability to scroll through months and dates on desktop
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to set reminders for specific times
- Implement recurring event options (e.g., every 2 weeks)
- Allow syncing between devices
- Introduce a search function for illustrations
- Add support for Apple Watch
Outside
Reported bugs
3 issues- Widget not working after iOS updates
- Countdown events suddenly blocked by paywall
- Paid subscription not working as expected
Requested features
4 requests- More customization options for widgets
- Ability to delete or edit events
- Improved Android support
- Memories/map feature to track past events
In-app purchases
Bears Countdown
- Dragons$0.99
- Christmas Apple$0.99
- Snowman$0.99
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- Vegan Milk$0.99
- Red Envelopes$0.99
- Exam$0.99
- Princess$0.99
- Meditation$0.99
- Deliveries$0.99
- Bears Unlimited$2.99
Outside
- Monthly subscription$2.991 Month
- Outside Pro Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Monthly Plan$4.491 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Monthly subscription3 Days trial$6.991 Month
- Yearly Pro Deal3 Days trial$12.491 Year
- Annual Pro3 Days trial$12.491 Year
- Outside Pro Annual$19.991 Year
- Annual Plan3 Days trial$29.491 Year
- Outside Pro Annual3 Days trial$31.491 Year
- Annual plan3 Days trial$44.491 Year
- Unlock Countdown styles$0.99
- Ad supported tier$4.99
- All Time Deal$5.49
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- All Time Deal$7.49
- All Time Pro$9.99
- Lifetime Access$29.99
- Lifetime access$44.49
Questions
Is Bears Countdown free?
Is Outside free?
Which has better reviews, Bears Countdown or Outside?
Do Bears Countdown or Outside have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bears Countdown or Outside?
Other comparisons
