# Christmas Countdown vs Santa Tracker

The clearest difference is rating: Christmas Countdown at 4.6 against Santa Tracker's 4.1. Christmas Countdown also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 10 months). Santa Tracker's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Christmas Countdown sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per year and Santa Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Christmas Countdown holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Christmas Countdown has 868 ratings behind it against 85, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Christmas Countdown's written reviews are positive against 65% of Santa Tracker's.

Christmas Countdown ships an update every 3 weeks, Santa Tracker every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Christmas Countdown | Santa Tracker |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (868 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown/id325476623/reviews)** | [4.1 (85 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santa-tracker-countdown-2023/id1535905936/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **868** | 85 |
| Positive reviews | **88.4% of reviews** | 65.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 10 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 124 MB | 14 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Nicole Hankinson](https://appshunter.io/developer/502305137) | [Aamir Elahi](https://appshunter.io/developer/975019159) |

## What reviewers say

### Christmas Countdown

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-countdown/id325476623)

This app provides a real-time countdown to Christmas, displaying hours, minutes, and seconds. Enjoy festive music, customizable backgrounds, and interactive snowflake effects. Stay updated with daily badge notifications and access the countdown from your watch or home screen.

**Highlights:** Real-time countdown (hours, minutes, seconds), Customizable backgrounds (including own photos), Festive background music selection, Interactive snowflake effects, Daily badge updates, Watch app and home screen widgets

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Christmas Countdown Premium | $3.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app for Christmas countdown
- 🎄 Customizable features (music, snowflakes, background)
- ⏱️ Detailed countdown (days, hours, minutes, seconds)
- 🕰️ Accurate and reliable countdown
- 🎅 Fun and festive design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Premium features locked behind paywall (e.g., widgets)
- 🐛 Bugs with badge/notification functionality
- 🔧 Lack of updates to keep up with OS changes
- 📱 Compatibility issues with newer devices

**Reported bugs**

- Countdown not updating correctly with time changes
- Inability to use custom photos as background
- Music playback issues after app updates

**Requested features**

- Allow custom font and text customization
- Add support for other holidays/events
- Improve social sharing capabilities
- Introduce more background/theme options


### Santa Tracker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santa-tracker-countdown-2023/id1535905936)

Discover how many days, minutes, hours, and seconds remain until Christmas. This app allows you to track Santa's current location around the world and provides a countdown to the festive holiday.

**Highlights:** Christmas countdown, Track Santa's location, Count days, minutes, hours, seconds, Real-time Santa tracking, Festive holiday app

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove ADS | $2.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Christmas Countdown free?

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

### Is Santa Tracker free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Christmas Countdown or Santa Tracker?

Christmas Countdown is rated higher. Christmas Countdown averages 4.6 out of 5 from 868 ratings, while Santa Tracker averages 4.1 from 85 ratings.

### Do Christmas Countdown or Santa Tracker have ads?

Santa Tracker shows ads; Christmas Countdown does not.

### Which is updated more often, Christmas Countdown or Santa Tracker?

Christmas Countdown ships an update every 3 weeks, and Santa Tracker every 10 months. Most recently, Christmas Countdown was updated on October 21, 2026 and Santa Tracker on October 20, 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.*