# Outside vs Upcoming

The clearest difference is monetization model: Outside at freemium against Upcoming's subscription. Outside also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). Upcoming's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Outside sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Upcoming sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Outside against 4.7 for Upcoming. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outside has 2.8K ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of Outside's written reviews are positive against 57% of Upcoming's.

Outside ships an update every 6 days, Upcoming every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Outside | Upcoming |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (2.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outside-countdown-for-couples/id1611434405/reviews) | [4.7 (40 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upcoming-countdown-widget/id6444080645/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **2.8K** | 40 |
| Positive reviews | 53.5% of reviews | **56.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 6 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | **Freemium** | Subscription |
| Size | 144 MB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **16.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Outside HQ LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/1611434707) | [Kok Keong](https://appshunter.io/developer/1643079389) |

## What reviewers say

### Outside

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outside-countdown-for-couples/id1611434405)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (17)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly subscription | $2.99 | per month |
| Outside Pro Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Monthly Plan | $4.49 | per month |
| Monthly subscription | $6.99 | per month |
| Yearly Pro Deal | $12.49 | per year |
| Annual Pro | $12.49 | per year |
| Outside Pro Annual | $19.99 | per year |
| Annual Plan | $29.49 | per year |
| Outside Pro Annual | $31.49 | per year |
| Annual plan | $44.49 | per year |
| Unlock Countdown styles | $0.99 | one-time |
| Ad supported tier | $4.99 | one-time |
| All Time Deal | $5.49 | one-time |
| All Time Deal | $7.49 | one-time |
| All Time Pro | $9.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Access | $29.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime access | $44.49 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Free home/lock screen countdown widget
- 👍 Simple and chic design
- 👍 Highly customizable
- 👍 Seamless calendar integration
- 👍 Useful AI assistant

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- Widget not working after iOS updates
- Countdown events suddenly blocked by paywall
- Paid subscription not working as expected

**Requested features**

- More customization options for widgets
- Ability to delete or edit events
- Improved Android support
- Memories/map feature to track past events


### Upcoming

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upcoming-countdown-widget/id6444080645)

Track important dates with a customizable countdown widget. Visualize your progress towards goals, events, or holidays with daily updates. Stay motivated and focused by seeing how much time remains until your next milestone.

**Highlights:** Daily countdown tracking, Customizable icons and colors, Event card styling, Motivation for goal completion, Sense of urgency for tasks

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $1.49 | per month |
| Yearly | $11.49 | per year |
| Lifetime - Early Bird Discount | $5.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $20.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Outside free?

Outside is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Upcoming free?

Upcoming is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Outside or Upcoming?

Outside and Upcoming are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2.8K and 40 ratings respectively.

### Do Outside or Upcoming have ads?

Upcoming shows ads; Outside does not.

### Which is updated more often, Outside or Upcoming?

Outside ships an update every 6 days, and Upcoming every 2 months. Most recently, Outside was updated on September 23, 2026 and Upcoming on September 22, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*