Comparison

Pencil Planner vs Countdown Fred

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

Head to head
About

Pencil Planner

This app allows users to visually plan their schedules by drawing appointments directly onto a calendar. It offers an intuitive, pen-on-paper experience for effortless scheduling, making it ideal for families and couples to coordinate activities and boost overall productivity.

Highlights
  • Draw appointments directly on calendar
  • Intuitive pen-on-paper planning
  • Visual family planner
  • Couple calendar for shared planning
  • Boost productivity and organization
  • Supports iPad stylus input
Features
Read full description

Ditch the Text, Draw Your Schedule with Stift! Tired of typing appointments? Stift lets you unleash the power of your tablet pen. Draw your schedule directly on the calendar! Why Stift? Effortless Scheduling: Draw appointments for any day, week, or month. It's that simple! Natural Planning: Forget the keyboard frustration. Stift feels intuitive, just like using a pen on paper. Perfect for Families: Coordinate everyone's activities with a visual, fun family planner. Keep track of soccer practice, music lessons, and movie nights - all in one place! Boost Productivity: Manage your time visually and stay organized with Stift. Work together: Use the calendar as a couple calendar and plan your year together. Stift: The fun and easy way to schedule your life. Please read the licensed application end user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ And our Terms of Service: https://www.s5t.app/terms

About

Countdown Fred

This app helps you keep track of important upcoming dates by displaying them as colorful cards. You can add events like holidays, birthdays, or gigs, and the app automatically sorts them by date. It offers home screen widgets and customizable display options for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Customizable event cards
  • Automatic date sorting
  • Home screen widgets
  • Days or weeks display
  • Light and dark mode
  • No accounts or clutter
Features
Read full description

Countdown Fred keeps the dates you are looking forward to where you can actually see them. Add the moments that matter — a holiday, a birthday, a wedding, a gig, the first day of something new — and Countdown Fred turns them into a clean grid of colourful cards, always sorted so the next one comes first. No accounts. No feeds. No clutter. Just how long until the good stuff. MAKE EVERY EVENT YOURS • Give each event a name, a date and one of eleven symbols • Choose from four card colours • Cards sort themselves by date, so what is next is always at the top • Tap any card to edit it or take it off the list DAYS OR WEEKS One tap switches the whole app between days and weeks. "45 days" or "6 weeks 3 days" — however you naturally think about time. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN • A small widget for your next event • A medium widget showing what is next plus two more coming up • The widget takes on the colour of your next event • Refreshes itself every day, so the number is always right MADE TO BE LOOKED AT • Flat, friendly design with rounded type and soft colour • Light and dark mode are each designed properly, not one inverted copy of the other • Quick to open, quick to add, then out of your way YOURS ALONE Everything stays on your iPhone. There is no account to create, nothing to sign in to, no tracking and no analytics. Your events are nobody else's business.

Screenshots

Pencil Planner3 screens
Countdown Fred3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Countdown Fred at none against Pencil Planner's 3. Countdown Fred also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Pencil Planner's advantage is ratings volume (12 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Pencil Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months. Countdown Fred asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Countdown Fred holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pencil Planner has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pencil Planner ships an update every 3 weeks, Countdown Fred monthly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pencil Planner versus Countdown Fred: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPencil PlannerCountdown Fred
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (12 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTNX Apps UGDaMtech

Customer experience

Pencil Planner

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive84.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative10.5%

Countdown Fred

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pencil Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Quarterly Pro$2.993 Months
  • Yearly Pro7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Pro$12.99
None

Countdown Fred

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pencil Planner free?
Pencil Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Countdown Fred free?
Countdown Fred is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pencil Planner or Countdown Fred?
Countdown Fred is rated higher. Pencil Planner averages 4.6 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Countdown Fred averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Pencil Planner or Countdown Fred have ads?
Neither Pencil Planner nor Countdown Fred shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pencil Planner or Countdown Fred?
Pencil Planner ships an update every 3 weeks, and Countdown Fred monthly. Most recently, Pencil Planner was updated on November 3, 2026 and Countdown Fred on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons